Long-Term Care
LTC Insurance and the Worksite – A Winning Combination
by John Wane and Lenny Anderson

Some things go together perfectly. A prime example is selling long-term care (LTC) insurance at the worksite. The worksite offers a captive audience of all candidates for the coverage: seniors, Baby Boomers, and young working adults. The good news continues. LTC insurance is the fastest growing employee benefit, according to a recent MetLife study.

We’ve been marketing and selling LTC insurance since it was introduced more than two decades ago. It didn’t take long for us to discover that the worksite is an ideal environment for promoting the product. We soon achieved high closure rates and we continue to do so. So, we highly recommended worksite marketing to agents who are already selling LTC insurance as well as to those who decide to add the coverage to their portfolio.

The product’s growth in popularity at the workplace is largely due to highly trained LTC insurance agents. After studying the coverage and the marketplace, these agents understand that long-term care insurance isn’t bought; it must be sold. They know that most seniors, Baby Boomers, and younger workers need LTC insurance whether they realize it or not.

Employers and employees understand the importance of having LTC insurance because they have learned that being without it could cause severe emotional and economic hardships to themselves and their families.
Employers often suffer great economic loss when their employees take absences to care for family members who need long-term care due to a disabling illness or a catastrophic accident. ComPsych, a provider of employee assistance programs and outsourced HR solutions, says that its caregiver absences are up 22% over last year.

Valued employees are often forced to give up a job or career to provide around-the-clock care to a stricken family member. This grim scenario is even darker when the person in need doesn’t have adequate LTC insurance. These are just some of the important facts that should be included in presentations to employers and their employees at the worksite and in other sales situations.
It’s a sad fact that most of those in our nation, including some within our industry, are still clueless about how important the coverage is. It’s rather hard to understand given that almost one in two Americans may spend some time in a nursing home, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. A disabling sickness or catastrophic accident can happen to anyone of any age at any time. In fact, 40% of the nation’s functionally disabled people who need long-term care are 18 to 64.

The huge and ever-growing LTC insurance market consists of more than 111 million seniors and Baby Boomers plus millions more young working adults. Yet, only eight million long-term care insurance policies have been sold in the U.S., according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTC). AALTC also reports that most insurance and financial services professionals sell one to five LTC policies a year. We believe LTC insurance agents can do much better than that.

Unfortunately, an LTC insurance agent can only reach a few people on any given day; so many more LTC insurance agents are needed to get our message out. We encourage those who have tried to sell LTC insurance and not achieved the success they expected to take another look.

There are many places agents can gain the knowledge to improve their presentations. Many carriers offer seminars and educational courses, including online, as well as a multitude of other services. Other educational opportunities are provided by insurance marketing organizations with long and impressive track records.

Prospects are everywhere. Check your client and prospect files. Many of those people need LTC insurance. Develop relationships with CPAs and lawyers including elder law attorneys. Most of them have clients in need of LTC insurance.

In addition to the worksite, LTC insurance is also successfully promoted through several venues including the following:
Individual and group presentations.
LTC seminars for seniors and Baby Boomers, which are targeted to the needs of each group.

Speaking engagements before local Chambers of Commerce and civic organizations.

Ads in local media.
Related seminars on agency and company websites.
News releases and seminars for nearby print and electronic media.
Given the small number of LTC insurance policies sold, a great opportunity awaits agents who take the time to learn more about the product, the market, and the people who so badly need this important coverage.

For those who would like to use worksite marketing to market LTC insurance, here are some effective points for presentations:
Early in the presentation, ask people to raise their hands if they know someone who needs long-term care or has needed it. Ask one or two of these people a few questions about their experience. Then let them tell their stories briefly. This will break the ice and help focus the attention of the audience who should now pay more attention to what you have to say.

Stress the high costs of long-term care. The annual cost of a nursing home stay is $74,806, according to Genworth Financial’s 2007 Cost of Care survey. That figure could balloon to $200,000 by 2030, reports the American Council of Life Insurance. The cost of care at home, in an assisted living facility, and adult day care center also continues to accelerate with no let-up in sight.
Follow by asking if they could afford such costs for very long if at all. We have met very few people who said they could.

Explain that individual or group health insurance policies do not cover LTC, nor do Medicare or Medicare supplements. Stress that Medicaid, which does cover some LTC expense, is a welfare program for the poor. So, it’s highly improbable that they would qualify for benefits.
Emphasize that Medicare and Medicaid shouldn’t be considered the entitlements they once were. They are in deep financial trouble. Some industry observers, financial experts, and members of Congress have predicted the programs could go belly up within the next 10 to 20 years.

Emphasize the very real possibility of becoming a caregiver. We have found it to be one of our most important sales points. It has resulted in many sales to Baby Boomers and young working adults. It has also caused some of them to purchase LTC insurance for an elder family member. If they can’t afford to purchase the coverage, some of them will explain the importance of having LTC insurance to their parents and other older family members. As a result, the agent will often get a good referral from these contacts.

It’s also important to emphasize the many positives of owning an LTC insurance policy. They include the following

Having adequate long-term care coverage can help your prospects preserve financial independence; avoid being a burden to family or friends; preserve their freedom to make choices; protect savings, assets, and their standard of living; conserve their estate and ensure that their is an income for their surviving spouse; guarantee affordable quality care and services; and avoid having to go on public assistance (Medicaid).

Care can be provided at home, in an assisted living facility, or in an adult day care center. While nursing home care is also part of the LTC insurance package, prospects will be heartened to hear it has become the least chosen option due to continuing medical advances and many people living healthier lifestyles.
Thanks to innovative product designers, many worthwhile additions and options are available with LTC insurance plans or can be added to satisfy the various needs and desires of seniors, Baby Boomers, and young working adults.
To counter a misconception, today’s LTC insurance policies aren’t prohibitively expensive. They can often be tailored to fit within most people’s financial means.

The bottom line is that LTC insurance is the only viable option that most people will ever have when it comes to paying for the very high cost of ongoing long-term care.

What we have described here is, perhaps, the largest target market ever available to brokers, agents, and financial services professionals. Yet, it has barely been touched. Some continue to avoid getting involved. They say it’s a hard sell. But we see the LTC insurance market as a growing opportunity full of possibilities for those who will pursue it with dedication.

We hope you will join us in our quest to provide LTC insurance coverage to every person in the country who needs it. If you do, you will never have to worry about a client asking why you didn’t mention the coverage before they needed the benefits. Finally, we know that you will get much satisfaction from helping those who need your service and you will certainly enjoy the additional commissions and renewal income that will add greatly to your bottom line.
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John Wane is president of American Independent Marketing, Yakima, Wash. He can be reached atinfo@AIMforLTC.com. Lenny Anderson is president of GoldenCare USA, Inc. He can be reached atlga@goldencareusa.com. Their organizations have recruited more than 50,000 agents and conducted more than 1,000 LTC insurance seminars over the past seven years. Online training is available at http://goldencareusa.webex.com.