Single Premium LTC Insurance?

OhSoClose · 06-01-2008, 01:54 PM

Anyone here have any experience with single premium long term care (LTC) insurance? Many years ago, my siblings and I went in together to buy LTC insurance for our parents with periodic premium payments. The state of California has seen fit, however, over the past several years to let Penn Treaty, my folks' insurer, raise the premium rates by double digit percentages on several occasions. Now my wife and I are thinking about LTC insurance for ourselves, and I was hoping that single premium might somehow be exempt from future raises. Wishful thinking on my part, I know.

brewer12345 · 06-01-2008, 08:27 PM

Read the fine print very carefully. I would be surprised if you could find such a policy from a reputable/strong insurer at anythiing less than a crippling price. Do you have a specific company in mind?

ltcpomakoy · 06-02-2008, 08:14 AM

Single premium long-term care insurance programs are pretty much gone from the market, but there are 10-pay options where you pay for 10 years and then you are paid in full. Most companies offering them guarantee that the rate will not increase once you are paid up. Be careful because some companies offering it do not guarantee that the rate stays the same after 10 years, so look at the fine print. Buy from a reputable company! Don't look for "bargain" long term care insurance because you will buy yourself a headache down the road. Some people look at long-term care insurance premium as expensive, but when you look at the cost of care today - around $75,000 average across the country - and growing at almost 6% a year, it is "cheap" compared to the risk (just my opinion). Be sure to get advice from a professional who really knows LTCI. Some just know enough to be dangerous - others specialize in it. Find someone who specializes and/or is very knowledgeable. And, be sure to ask them if they own a long-term care insurance policy themselves.

OhSoClose · 06-04-2008, 09:21 PM

Brewer - I haven't researched single premium LTC. I was hoping to get some sort of feel first for whether it was subject to future, additional premiums or not.

Ltcpomokoy - thanks for the info. Sounds like researching single premium LTC isn't worth the effort. Ten-pay over ten years doesn't sound like much difference from the standard periodic payment LTC. Believe me, its hard to research LTC now and determine whether its a "bargain" when future premium increases are totally beyond your control. Penn Treaty and the state of California nailed me and my siblings with whopping premium increases when there was no way my folks, with their age and health problems, could qualify for any another LTC policy.

OhSoClose

06-01-2008, 01:54 PM	#1
OhSoClose Dryer sheet aficionado Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 28	Single Premium LTC Insurance? Anyone here have any experience with single premium long term care (LTC) insurance? Many years ago, my siblings and I went in together to buy LTC insurance for our parents with periodic premium payments. The state of California has seen fit, however, over the past several years to let Penn Treaty, my folks' insurer, raise the premium rates by double digit percentages on several occasions. Now my wife and I are thinking about LTC insurance for ourselves, and I was hoping that single premium might somehow be exempt from future raises. Wishful thinking on my part, I know.

06-01-2008, 08:27 PM	#2
brewer12345 Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 9,255	Read the fine print very carefully. I would be surprised if you could find such a policy from a reputable/strong insurer at anythiing less than a crippling price. Do you have a specific company in mind? __________________ “When you realize that you are one of the rare few who observe moral principles in their relationships with others, there is a temptation to sink into amorality, not out of conviction or pleasure but simply to avoid further pain, because there is no greater suffering than being an angel in hell, whereas a devil feels at home wherever he goes.” – Martin Page, How I Became Stupid

06-02-2008, 08:14 AM	#3
ltcpomakoy Confused about dryer sheets Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1	10-pay LTCI Single premium long-term care insurance programs are pretty much gone from the market, but there are 10-pay options where you pay for 10 years and then you are paid in full. Most companies offering them guarantee that the rate will not increase once you are paid up. Be careful because some companies offering it do not guarantee that the rate stays the same after 10 years, so look at the fine print. Buy from a reputable company! Don't look for "bargain" long term care insurance because you will buy yourself a headache down the road. Some people look at long-term care insurance premium as expensive, but when you look at the cost of care today - around $75,000 average across the country - and growing at almost 6% a year, it is "cheap" compared to the risk (just my opinion). Be sure to get advice from a professional who really knows LTCI. Some just know enough to be dangerous - others specialize in it. Find someone who specializes and/or is very knowledgeable. And, be sure to ask them if they own a long-term care insurance policy themselves.

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06-04-2008, 09:21 PM	#4
OhSoClose Dryer sheet aficionado Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 28	Brewer - I haven't researched single premium LTC. I was hoping to get some sort of feel first for whether it was subject to future, additional premiums or not. Ltcpomokoy - thanks for the info. Sounds like researching single premium LTC isn't worth the effort. Ten-pay over ten years doesn't sound like much difference from the standard periodic payment LTC. Believe me, its hard to research LTC now and determine whether its a "bargain" when future premium increases are totally beyond your control. Penn Treaty and the state of California nailed me and my siblings with whopping premium increases when there was no way my folks, with their age and health problems, could qualify for any another LTC policy. OhSoClose

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