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Choosing the Long-term Care Insurance Company That’s Right for You

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Becoming familiar with the foundational features and options of a good long-term care insurance (LTCI) policy requires taking the time to educate yourself before making your final decision. This will help ensure that you get the policy that will best fit your particular needs.

The next step is to find the insurance provider that will suit you best. Since there are a number of LTCI carriers to choose from, here are a few suggestions for selecting a company that offers a quality product and is worthy of your trust in the many years ahead.

The Big News You’ll Never Read in the Media

Among the companies that offer LTCI, there are a few that have an outstanding reputation. By that, I mean these companies have distinguished themselves over a long period of time as financially solid, rate-stable carriers with an excellent customer service record. Unfortunately, we see so many stories in the media these days of other LTCI companies whose record in these areas is being seriously challenged. It’s been reported that some have appeared to excessively deny claims in order to make a profit. Others have had to request hefty premium increases due to a much higher number of claims than they had projected. While these stories may hold some truth, what we don’t hear is the good stuff: LTCI companies that really adhere to their claims of the customer being #1.

Finding an LTCI Company That is Worthy of Your Trust

The June 18, 2007 issue of Newsweek magazine recommended the following four companies as being major carriers that can be worthy of your consideration: Genworth, John Hancock, MetLife, and Allianz Life.

Of course, that does not mean that there aren’t other fine companies represented in the LTCI field, but the four carriers identified by Newsweek are among the oldest and financially strongest in the industry. They also have extremely favorable records of customer satisfaction.

Health Factors to Consider Before Buying an LTCI Policy

Genworth, John Hancock, MetLife and Allianz Life are all fine choices if you are in excellent health. However, if you have health issues that are not serious enough to render you uninsurable, but will most likely disqualify you for “preferred” rates, the company you choose can have a significant impact on your premium.

The reason for this is that each company has its own underwriting procedures that it uses for rating policyholders. These procedures can vary greatly from one company to the next. For instance, one company will not issue a “preferred” rating to anyone who uses even a single blood pressure medication, while others will allow the use of up to four of these medications and still award the highest rate classification.

If you have more serious health conditions, the difference in the way individual carriers treat those issues can be even more dramatic. In other words, some health conditions that one carrier may accept may be cause for rejection by another provider.

Here is where having the assistance of a knowledgeable, experienced agent who can choose from several top companies in the LTCI field, can be a real asset in finding the company that is not only trustworthy and reliable, but also best fits your particular needs and health history.

Until next time...Duane

Posted in Financing Long Term Care: Duane Lipham, Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI), Planning for Long Term Care

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2 Responses to “Choosing the Long-term Care Insurance Company That’s Right for You”

1. ralph Says:
   

   i thought having a chronic condition automatically disqualified you from this kind of insurance. are there levels usually? like if you have diabetes but otherwise in good health is it hard to get a policy?

2. Duane Lipham Says:
   

   That’s a great question, Ralph. There are a couple of things to keep in mind regarding chronic health conditions.

   1. From one carrier to another there can be a vast difference in how they view certain health conditions. While one may decline an application based on a certain health condition, another may accept it with little problem. Here is where an experienced LTCI agent can help you choose the best company that fits your particular health history.

   2. Even though some health conditions may exclude you from the best rating possible, you may still be able to qualify for coverage, although perhaps at a lower rate classification instead.

   With regard to your question about diabetes, actually many very solid companies will accept a person who has Type 2 diabetes as long as it has been stable for awhile and there are not other major health conditions going on at the same time.

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