OMG Our Long term Care Insurance Just Doubled--Update Post 25

[BridgetBordeaux]

We have LTC insurance with John Hancock and just recieved notice that our premium is going to double on our 2 policies. We got them 10 years ago and have not had any increases up until now. Imagine the shock when I saw the sentence that said "we are increasing your premium by 100 percent".

We have some options to lower the cost but that would also provide less coverage. It just stinks that this has happened. It means we need to pay an extra 100 dollars a month to keep the policies in force.

They said this has nothing to do with the health care laws or the economy.....but that they had not accurately predicted expenses and costs when the products were first offered.

OUCH--this hurts. Imagine how much Disney fun we could have with 1200 dollars a year.

We are thankful that we are still in good health and have not had to use it yet, but there will be no extra joy in spending the extra 1200 bucks each year.

And to add insult to injury, they reminded us that there can always be future increases.

Thanks for listening.

 

[disneymomto5]

I can kinda relate. Our health care insurance premiums went up 64%. That's an additional $7000 a year!!! Since we haven't gotten a pay raise in 2 years, we're definately NOT keeping up with inflation.

 

[eliza61]

Or it could be that your policy was due to increase. Most policies after a set amount of time will increase. My life insurance premium will stay the same for 15 years and then the end of 15 years the premiums will increase annually until I hit age 95.

Or you are older than you were 10 years ago ergo, insurance is more expensive. shop around if you are still relatively young(early 50's) you maybe able to get a decent rate.

 

[RitaE]

The LTC Insurance industry is in turmoil right now, many analysts predict it is going to just disappear. Already, several providers are no longer writing policies.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardg...illing-the-long-term-care-insurance-industry/

 

[Happy 2 B Me]

Thank You for posting the Forbes link. A few years ago my LTC rate increased by more then 50%. I was also given options to pay less for less care. Option one was 5 years care at full coverage, then 10 years coverage at 85% or something like that, or I could remain paying the same. I wanted to take the cheapest method offered but husband wanted me to stay with life time coverage at 100% . I have been waitng for a kidney transplant for almost 6 years. I do not think I will ever need LTC as when and if time comes my last stay will be at hospice. I did try to use the insurance once. I was surprised to find out what we were told by the sales person is not what actually happens. The way the sales agent tells you how the product works is not what actually happens. It is worded so close to the contract I am sure others have had same issues when trying to use the plan. after reading the Forbes article I am sure we will get a rate increase with other options included. Again thanks for sharing this information.

The LTC Insurance industry is in turmoil right now, many analysts predict it is going to just disappear. Already, several providers are no longer writing policies.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardg...illing-the-long-term-care-insurance-industry/

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Thanks for posting the link.

 

[a1tinkfans]

frustrating situation! the far reaching downward economic situation reaches all facets of life, and many areas that are not "thought about' This LTC insurance situation is a directly impacted. While the article outlines the issue, I would have liked to see some sort of "help" and or suggestion/s for those that are and will be negatively affected.
The LTC policy reminds me of the whole life policy sold to so many people. It too was under evaluated and people that paid in and paid and paid ultimately had to either UP their payments or lose the coverage. It happened to a family member who had to cut her losses and gave up the policy after years of payments, just sad...

 

[runwad]

Ugh I have a JH LTC policy thru my work benefits. I'm 3 years into paying off my policy in 10 yrs. I hope it lasts to 10 years. So far my premiums are locked in but once I get to year 5 they could raise but I hope no 100%, yikes. I do have an option that if I stop the policy the amount of money i've paid will stay in a pot for use for care.

 

[disneyhand]

We started trying to use my parents ltc in March. They have both had policies since the 80's.

It is a paperwork nightmare and so not what my parents thought they were purchasing. If they didn't have my sister and I jumping thru the hoops, fighting, advocating, making the calls, doing the paperwork I don't know how they (or any other elderly person) could deal with it on their own.

I believe it was designed by the insurance companies with the intent that it wouldn't/ couldn't be used. I get it, they are a business. It's just a very misleading and expensive product.

I wish my parents had just saved that amount of money on their own. We would have had more freedom with our decisions. I am proud that my sister and I have challenged the insurance company and sought lots of advice. We are at least making them pay now.

 

[OLT2004]

I thought all health care would be totally free in 2013?
No?

 

[dsneprincess]

I thought all health care would be totally free in 2013?
No?

I don't know where you got this. Health care will not be free: it will for most people cost more than it has in the past! And the uninsured will be forced to purchase insurance or pay a fine. I don't know how this constitutes free to you. Nothing in life is free.......

 

[eliza61]

I thought all health care would be totally free in 2013?
No?

I'm sorry didn't you ask that question on another thread?
why would you think that?

 

[ilovemk76]

We have LTC insurance with John Hancock and just recieved notice that our premium is going to double on our 2 policies. We got them 10 years ago and have not had any increases up until now. Imagine the shock when I saw the sentence that said "we are increasing your premium by 100 percent".

We have some options to lower the cost but that would also provide less coverage. It just stinks that this has happened. It means we need to pay an extra 100 dollars a month to keep the policies in force.

They said this has nothing to do with the health care laws or the economy.....but that they had not accurately predicted expenses and costs when the products were first offered.

OUCH--this hurts. Imagine how much Disney fun we could have with 1200 dollars a year.

We are thankful that we are still in good health and have not had to use it yet, but there will be no extra joy in spending the extra 1200 bucks each year.

And to add insult to injury, they reminded us that there can always be future increases.

Thanks for listening.

Did you have the flat premium rider? That is what we have on our LTC.

 

[Sadie22]

Am I correct in thinking you have paid level premiums of $1200 per year for ten years, and now will be paying $2400 per year? Is that for one person or two? Either way, those premiums are lower than any I had heard of for decent coverage.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Hi Everyone,

We did not have any sort of flat premium rider.

My policy is for a modest daily amount for "lifetime".

DH has a higher daily amount for 5 years.

Yep we used to pay about 1350 a year for both and now it will be 2700 per year.

Yep, we also felt that our previous payment was reasonable.

We got these policies when we were about 40 and now we are about 50.

One more thing-- for those not familiar with this product, it basically pays for a portion of the cost in case you have to go to a nursing home or need 24/7 care because you can not do certain tasks like bathe yourself, feed yourself, go the the bathroom by yourself, or make decisions about how much and when to take meds.
The "lifetime" products are not even offered anymore because the ins co realized it was bad for them.

 

[Eastern]

I wish my parents had just saved that amount of money on their own. We would have had more freedom with our decisions.

I agree. It's disturbing that your parents are having trouble using a policy that they paid into for 30 years.

 

[vacationer1954]

The kind of coverage we'd all want would cost us far more than we'd be willing or able to spend. So I don't see how this can work out well. Either they offer us something that we won't buy or they offer us something that we'll be upset about when we need to capitalize on it. It's really just a matter that things cost so much and things cost so much because no one wants to do hard work for peanuts and who can blame them?

 

[Lucky4me]

At this point in time with the cost of nursing home care, LTC policies are a joke. I sure wouldn't be paying $2,400 a year for one.
You would be better off putting that money into a savings account, then putting that and everything else you've saved in a trust so that if the time comes you need a nursing home, Medicaid will take care of most the expenses.

My cousin had LTC, $100 a day for life. His nursing home care came to $400 a day. Getting the insurance company to actually send that money to the nursing home was like pulling teeth.
It took about three years, but he spent his life savings at that nursing home before becoming eligible for Medicaid. He could have not had that LTC policy and become eligible for Medicaid a year or so sooner. Or, he could have put his life savings into a trust for his children and they would have had his savings/home when he died, not the nursing home. Some call doing this unethical. I call it being smart.
There is also a good chance you will never even need to go into a nursing home. In the three generations on my Mother and Fathers side, only my cousin needed to go into one. The rest died at home or in a hospital.


My advice- find a trustworthy estate planner or get the Suze Ormon series on estate planning, cancel the LTC insurance and have fun at Disney!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Hmmm......not getting much positive feedback on these LTC products.

Now that the price has doubled, I am motivated to do a re-evaluation of the cost/benefit tradeoff. All of your comments have been helpful. Thanks.

 

[johnsontrio]

I had always heard that you needed to start looking to purchase a policy around the age of 50. This year when we met with our financial planner, I asked him about buying one and he told me "don't bother." He went on to say that they were extremely expensive, offer not much compensation, are hard to collect and we should wait until there is a better product on the market. Don't know if that day will ever come when a better more straightforward product is available, but until then I'll keep saving and hope I don't ever need it.