When we hear something once, we might pay attention but when we hear the same thing from totally unrelated people, we begin to suspect there is a trend.
Some of the most enlightening and interesting professional conversations I've had recently have been with long-term care (LTC) claim departments. Okay, perhaps I should get out more!
Two different claim departments from two different leading LTC carriers tell me that they regularly get LTC claims submitted 12 or even 24 months after the claim event.
Why on earth would someone wait that long to receive the money for which they are entitled? Because the family just found the LTC policy!
The insured was ADL dependent but not communicative, and the family just "happened" to find the policy in a shoebox or file cabinet in the basement.
Have you ever been into the basement of the house that someone has lived in for 30 years and tried to find a specific file? It is wonderful that this policy got found and even more wonderful that the carriers are paying "late" claims, some of which they are no longer contractually obligated to pay.
What about the other LTC policies on other insureds that never get found?
If some get found, others surely do not get found!
We've had employees in our caregiving education and LTC sessions tell us about finding policies and others tell us about "knowing" mom bought one, but they never could find it once mom needed it.
We were hoping these were somewhat isolated incidences; however, after talking with leading LTC carriers, we know these are not isolated. If someone lapses their policy and takes the carrier "off the hook," I'm okay with that.
