New Form Of Long Term Care Insurance Attracting Younger Buyers

The sale of asset-based long-term care insurance protection continued to grow significantly according to research by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance the national trade organization.   According to data gathered from leading long term care insurance providers, premium increased nearly 20 percent and the number of covered lives increased 13.5 percent.

           

"We expect the sale of asset based or linked LTC products will continue to grow as they offer some highly attractive benefits to a category of buyers looking to protect their retirement savings," states Jesse Slome, AALTCI's director.  "The growth of sales will only continue as more large players enter the marketplace.”  Pacific Life recently introduced a universal life insurance policy that provides long-term care benefits.
           

According to the Association's annual study of new policy sales, more than half (53%) of male buyers were under age 65.  In the prior year’s study, only 48 percent were under age 65.  The percentage of women buyers under age 65 also increased to 50 percent, up from 44 percent in the prior year.
           

"We are seeing two market conditions fueling growth,” Slome explains.  “Younger buys facing a long time horizon before needing care favor the money-back provision of these policies and older buyers are being priced out of the market for traditional long-term care insurance making this a more attractive option.”   “At a time when long-term care is increasingly top of mind, these life insurance-based solutions avoid the ‘use it or lose it’ risk associated with traditional long term care insurance,” says Chris Coudret, CLU, ChFC, Vice President, OneAmerica one of the nation’s leading insurers offering linked benefit solutions.  “In most cases, people make a single payment, effectively removing the risk of future premium increases.”

           

For 2011, the Association study found that the initial single premium face amount of policies purchased was $100,000 or greater for nearly three-quarters (73%) of new policies.  In addition, the vast majority (96%) of new Life+LTC policies issued did not include a benefit increase option that bumped up available benefits to keep pace with inflationary growth of costs.  By comparison, the Association's study of traditional individual long-term care insurance policy sales, found that in 2011 some 96 percent included a growth option.

           

The complete findings will be published in the Association's 2012 Long-Term Care Insurance Sourcebook.  Founded in 1998, the AALTCI is the national trade organization established to educate both consumers and financial professionals about the importance of long-term care planning.

Hospitalized Patients With Sepsis Seniors More Likely To Get Alzheimer's

Older patients hospitalized for severe sepsis are at higher risk for long-term cognitive impairment and physical limitations than those hospitalized for other reasons.

The conclusion was reported following a study by ached by the Department of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University Medical Center and reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Sepsis is a condition in which the immune system goes into overdrive releasing chemicals into the blood to combat infection. Sepsis occurs in 1 percent to 2 percent of all hospitalizations in the United States. Sepsis often results after common problems such as pneumonia and urinary tract infections.

Approximately 40 percent of those with severe sepsis die from the condition.  Among surviving patients the researchers found that the odds of acquiring moderate to severe cognitive impairment were 3.3 times higher following an episode of sepsis than for other hospitalizations.

Overall, the study also showed that 60 percent of hospitalizations for severe sepsis were associated with worsened cognitive and physical function among surviving older adults. Severe sepsis also was associated with greater risk for the development of new functional limitations following hospitalization.

Among patients who had no limitations before sepsis, more than 40 percent developed trouble with walking. Nearly 1 in 5 developed new problems with shopping or preparing a meal. Patients often developed new problems with such basic things as bathing and toileting themselves both conditions that result in the need for long-term health care services according to the American Association for Best Long-Term Care Insurance Information (AALTCI) a national trade group.   

Patients in the study had a mean age of nearly 76.9 years. The cohort involved 1,194 individuals with 1,520 hospitalizations for severe sepsis drawn from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of U.S. residents from 1998 to 2006, which collects information on the health, economic, and social factors influencing the health and well-being of Americans over age 50. 

Alzheimer's Tab Surpasses $600 Billion

Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are having an enormous and growing impact on the world economy.  Today is World Alzheimer's Day.

According to a new report the cost will surpass $601 billion by the end of this year; over 1% of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product).  The new report published by Alzheimer's Disease International.

The report was authored by Professor Anders Wimo of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and Professor Martin Prince, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.

"This should be an important wake-up call that Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are the single most significant health and social crisis of the 21st century," declared Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  "Individuals are woefully unprepared for the social and economic disruptions this disease will cause."

The reports highlights the following information:

Global costs of dementia will surpass 1% of global GDP this year

Global costs of dementia will exceed $601 billion for the year 2010

There will be two times as many people with dementia in 2030 as there are today

There will be three times as many people with dementia by 2050 as there arean today

The costs of caring for individuals with dementia will probably increase faster than the increase in prevalence. This will be especially so in developing nations.

Although dementia is one of the costliest illnesses, research and development, as well as investments are considerably smaller than for other major illnesses which do not impact as much on national economies.

One expert nooted that this new Report gives us the clearest, most comprehensive picture yet of the global economic and social costs of dementia. The World Alzheimer Report 2010, merged the best available data and the most recent insights regarding the worldwide economic cost of dementia. This enabled researchers to provide more detailed estimates than before, by making use of recently available data that considerably strengthens the evidence base.