Quote:
Originally Posted by Aurora
My premium is $1,908 per year and increasing to $3,300 per year. It currently has a daily benefit of $225 per day ($82,125 annual) which just happens to be the average cost of nursing home care in Florida. So, any option except paying the higher cost would result in inadequate coverage. And who is to say the premium won't increase again in future years. There is no cap. Hindsight is eye opening.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dstege
You might look into lowering your inflation protection (if you have it). If you have 5%compound, lower it to 3% compound, or 5% simple. If you have a policy with lifetime protection, lower it to 3-5 years of coverage. (If you have Alzheimers in your family, you might want it longer). Both these reductions will still offer you good coverage, and will lower your premium.
I have been selling LTCI for over 12 years, and I'm upset that Hancock has been allowed such increases (it's actually 44%) by the state of Florida.
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dstege gives you some good potential remedies. I too was chartered financial consultant, in the insurance business in a management capacity for many years, and my advice was and is to consider lowering the daily benefit. You are paying for a benefit that would pay 100% of the nursing home cost. Instead, you should consider what your current or alternatively, your retirement cost of living is or will be. For example, if you are or will spend (and have sufficient income to cover) $50,000 per year, you don't need to indemnify the whole anticipated cost of $82,125. You should consider cutting your benefit down to $32,125 or slightly more if you want a cushion (cut it in half to $41,000 for example. Your social security, pension benefits, or other passive income will not go away if you are confined to a nursing home, and there is little reason to have excess income at that point. For those who are married, you may need to keep the benefit at a higher level so that your spouse would have money to live on if they were living and in good health if you were confined to a facility - you may benefit from a consultation with an eldercare attorney.