We have been hearing that the leading LTC (long term care) insurers have all filed or will soon be filing for sex distinct rates. Up until now, there has been no distinction in the pricing of contracts between male and female. Some companies offered discounts when husband and wife both bought a policy which was really a concession to the fact that males don’t live as long and with one person healthy, there was someone to take care of things.

Those companies that do not create sex distinct rates will likely face some anti-selection (assuming their rates are lower) that will certainly cause concern; prompting them to follow suit.

We’ve been told some will just raise rates for single women … while others will raise rates for all women. In either case women will soon pay between 20 and 40 percent more than men for long-term care insurance as leading insurers move to sex-distinct pricing. The issue has been reported widely in the media with no backlash, so I would anticipate that products will start being rolled out sooner rather than later.

So this blog post is to alert my clients and those of you who have been “thinking about LTCi” and suggest you quit thinking and commence shopping to get in before rates are increased. Women are often the drivers behind the purchase. These rate increases will not only affect women living alone. This applies to married couples as well.

I you would like to have a good news article to confirm this (for validation), here is the link to the AALTCI-placed news story in MarketWatch / The Wall Street Journal.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/avoid-coming-long-term-care-insurance-rate-increases-for-women-2013-01-23

Insurers paid over $6.6 billion in claims last year according to the Association, and women account for 65 percent of all new claims opened. Dementia, cancer, fractures, stroke, osteoarthritis and hip fractures or replacements are the most frequent reasons women require long term care insurance benefits.

Call us for quotes and design assistance. I have a source in southern California that has been specializing in this since the 1980’s. I can provide you with quotes, comparisons and case presentation material; and when you decide to go forward, let us know and those same folks will call you and make it happen. So all I have to be concerned with is delivering the policy that will arrive in a couple of weeks.