Incubating Long-Term Care Sales: K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple ______

I will let you fill in the blank in the title above. Regardless of what noun you choose, the subject of conversation in the long-term care insurance industry for many years has been the call for policies that are easier to explain and easier to understand.

We at Senior Global Solutions are excited about the future for Californians. Coming very soon is a product with a monthly cash benefit that gives the insured, not the company, full discretion over benefits. There are no exclusions or limitations on who may be a paid caregiver or how, when, or where care is received. Because benefits are paid as a monthly cash amount, you can be anywhere in the world and receive the full benefits of the policy. There is no need to be bothered with submitting receipts for reimbursement as with many traditional policies today. This policy really shines at claim time when you and your client need to have the least amount of hassle.

Senior Global Solutions operates as a national marketing organization specializing in long-term care insurance. For 13 years, we have worked with thousands of agents who consider long-term care insurance a vital commodity for our future.

In recent years, many agents have overlooked long-term care insurance for more familiar products, such as annuities, life insurance, and supplemental health insurance. However, with 8,000 Baby Boomers turning 60 every day, this trend must change. If we continue to ignore the threats of an aging population, we flirt with severe consequences.

In the 1940s, there were 41 workers paying into the system for every retiree drawing benefits. Over time, the number of workers per beneficiary continued to decline as more and more retirees entered the system and stayed in the system for a longer period. By the 1950s, about 16 workers paid in for every person drawing out. Today, it's about three workers for each beneficiary. By the time our youngest workers those just entering the work force today Ð turn 65, the ratio will be down to two workers for each beneficiary. Yet despite that, a recent Health Insurance Association of America survey revealed that 74% of people in the United States over 55 have never been approached by an insurance representative about long-term care coverage.

An even more startling fact is that 40 cents of every federal income tax dollar supports entitlements primarily Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. As more people deplete their own resources and go on Medicaid, the reserves are going to diminish and will have to be replenished through tax increases.

With the approval and implementation of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, we can be assured of having at least some protection from people bent on manipulating and abusing entitlement programs (specifically Medicaid) through spend-down loopholes in the previous Medicaid guidelines. However, it does not protect the average citizens who see their life savings evaporate before their eyes because of a long-term care need.

I have spoken to thousands of agents and consumers through the years. The most common reasons people give for purchasing long-term care insurance remains the same as they have for years, "I do not want to become a burden to my children," and "I am afraid of outliving my savings or assets."

So, with new ideas of simpler more understandable products being introduced to our industry, if you are not representing long-term care insurance to your clients, don't you think it's time you did? If you, like many other agents, were once offering long-term care insurance and set it aside for less complicated products, now is a great time to step back into the market. Millions of prospects are educated about the dangers of needing long-term care and are just waiting for someone to show them how to respond to their fears.

If not now, when? If not you, then who?

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For more information call 800-942-7355 or email us at marketing@sgsltc.com