If there is one thing that the pandemic has taught us in the long-term care (LTC) insurance space, it's that aging individuals want to access care at home.
They not only appreciate the convenience of in-home care and support, they also want to maintain independence in order to stay in their homes as long as possible.
While achieving this goal ultimately benefits both the LTC insurance policyholders and insurers — who are facing rising claims costs — helping people age in place isn't always easy. That's because carriers have historically had very little insight into the health history and risk factors of these policyholders.
This lack of data is largely due to the unique product lifecycle of LTC insurance. Policies are usually sold years or even decades before individuals actually need to use them, and during this time period, insurers have a very incomplete picture of a policyholder's pre-claim health history, needs and challenges.
Not a New Idea
Of course, the concept of trying to predict and impact claims in LTC insurance is not a new idea. What is new is that our industry now has the data, tools and technology needed to make it a reality, and insurers are now highly motivated to bring these solutions to market, given recent increases in claims costs. In fact, I predict that pre-claim interventions, like wellness programs and caregiver training and support, will become one of the most transformative forces in our industry over the next several years.
This is also something of a personal passion for me. Three years ago, my dad experienced a bad fall and quickly went from being a healthy, active senior to someone plagued by health issues. After my company acquired LifePlans, which had a proprietary fall prevention program called LIFT, I learned more about the significant risks associated with falls, which are a leading cause of LTC claims. In fact, one out of four people over age 65 will fall every year in the United States.
I also discovered that once someone experiences a fall, the fear of falling again impacts almost everything they do, which makes it difficult for them to fully recover. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to apply this knowledge to my father's own situation, but it's now both my personal and professional mission to help other families avoid this outcome.
The LIFT program was designed to reduce falls by going into the policyholder's home to assess each policyholder's risk factors. Yet falls are only one of a number of different afflictions that put people into claim. Two important questions occurred to me through our experience with this program. If we already are going into the house to assess fall risk, why not leverage that visit to do a more holistic review of risk factors for LTC claims? And since this outreach can be costly, can we do a better job targeting the right people who are most at risk?
