A controversial Washington state long-term care benefits program led to a big increase in 2021 sales of life insurance policies that offer LTC benefits.
The number of new individual life-LTC combination policies sold increased 39% from the number sold in 2020, to more than 558,000, according to new data from LIMRA.
The total amount of premiums paid for those policies increased 22%, to $4.3 billion.
The average amount of premiums paid per new individual life-LTC combination policy fell 12%, to about $7,700.
What It Means
The number of clients who are using stand-alone long-term care insurance, or LTCI, to protect themselves against long-term care risk may be falling, but the percentage who are using life insurance, annuities or other arrangements to prepare might be high — and growing.
Any comprehensive analysis of a client's protection arrangements needs to include an analysis of any LTC benefits or related benefits that their life insurance policies might offer.
The Washington State Effect
State lawmakers disrupted Washington's private LTCI market in 2021 by approving one law that was going to fund a new, universal, long-term care program with a 0.58% payroll tax, and a second law that was going to let workers avoid the LTC program payroll tax by buying either approved stand-alone LTCI policies or approved life-LTC combination policies.
