Long Term Care Insurance Planning - Why 64 Is The Magic Cut Off Age

What’s the best age to buy long term care insurance? This is the leading query posed by consumers according to consumer research and a report from the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.
 
“We believe that the right age to start long term care planning is somewhere between ages 52 and 64,” explains Jesse Slome, one of the nation’s leading long term care insurance experts and director of the trade group.  “There’s nothing wrong with starting earlier but there is a very good reason to do so before age 64.”

The reason according to Slome is the fact that when individuals reach age 65, they qualify for Medicare health coverage benefits.  “Ask anyone within a year or two of Medicare eligibility and they can’t wait,” Slome declares.  “They delay seeing their doctor knowing that once Medicare kicks in, they are basically free to have every little ailment examined and treated.”
 
What consumers do not recognize however is the fact that long term care insurance companies will request medical information from individual applicants.  “You finally visit the doctor thanks to Medicare and his or her diagnosis makes you uninsurable or heath-rated so that you have to pay more for insurance coverage,” Slome notes.  “It’s those conditions that are not life threatening but that will worsen as you age that long term care insurers are most cautious about.”

According to research conducted annually by the Association some 24 percent of individuals who applied for insurance between ages 60 and 69 were declined last year.  Between ages 70 and 79 the percentage declined rises to almost half, 45 percent.  The organization reported that in 2010 over half (56%) of new buyers were between ages 55 and 64.  The research examined over 153,000 purchasers of individual policies during 2010.

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance makes available free, no-obligation cost comparisons with a national network of designated long-term care insurance professionals.  To request information, call the organization at (818) 597-3227 or use their online system to request a long term care insurance cost quote   (link to:  http://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/free-quote/)

Contact Information

Jesse Slome

Executive Director

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance

(1) (818) 597-3227

jslome@aaltci.org