A three-year-old state-run LTCI initiative in Texas has so far failed to elicit much public participation, and those involved in the industry say they need to do more to get Texans involved in the effort.
In a story from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Texas Department of Insurance says that only 10,443 partnership policies have been sold in the three years since the state LTCI partnership program was launched.
Organizers stress that the LTCI partnership program allows residents to protect their assets if they end up needing to apply for Medicaid coverage, but say that the benefit has been largely overlooked.
LTCI specialists such as Cathy Flanagan of the Dallas-Fort Worth office of Long-Term Care Financial Partners say that residents simply do not seem to be aware of the benefits available.
Texas is one of several partnership states across the country which included asset disregard benefits in their plans, allowing policy owners to protect assets equal to the amount of insurance benefits received, rather than requiring them to be liquidated in order to qualify for Medicaid coverage.
