Most LTCI policies allow buyers to customize their coverage significantly. So which benefits should you recommend clients consider and which should they ignore? Mike Westling, CLTC, LTCI specialist with Newman Long Term Care in Richfield, Minn., says that inflation protection is "number one" to include. He notes that the industry norm previously was a 5 percent inflation-increase compounded annually, but that's been changing. Some companies are moving to 3 percent annual compounding and others are shifting to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for their increases.
A second feature Westling recommends for a couple is shared-care, which allows insureds to share the coverage pool. "If one person needs to dip into the other person's pool, they can do that," he says. "If the one insured doesn't need it or dies before being able to use it, the pool transfers over to the other spouse. The good news is they get the whole pool but they don't have to pay the premium for the insured who is now deceased." Westling also recommends a zero-day elimination period and 100 percent payout for home care. Most baby boomers want to receive care at home, he says, and this feature provides them the ability to be able to pay for it on day one.
