Some of the nation's leading insurers are filing new long term care insurance (LTCI) policies that use sex-distinct pricing. That could result in women paying 20 percent to 40 percent more than comparable men.
LTCI carriers suspected all along that women were likely to live longer than men and consume more formal long-term care (LTC) services than men.
LTCI carriers now know that women account for two out of every three LTCI claim benefit dollars paid out, and that single women alone account for about 41 percent of all LTCI benefits paid out.
The carriers have, in effect, been giving women — especially single, divorced and widowed women — what amounted to a significant price advantage.
At the carriers shifting to sex-distinct pricing, that advantage will be ending soon.
This change is of special interest to female clients ages 55 to 65, who are likely to be old enough to understand the need for LTCI coverage and healthy enough to qualify for coverage.
At the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), we've been trying to get this message out to insurance professionals. I've been writing about this issue in communications to AALTCI members, and putting it in press releases aimed at publications that could reach other agents, brokers, consultants and financial advisors.
