[brewer12345]

As with most products where the pitch sounds appealing, I suspect that there is little meat on the bones here. I haven't intimately reviewed any of these policies and the numbers don't mean that much, since most of these are some flavor of UL where the insurer has considerable leeway to jack up expenses or reduce crediting rates if they choose to do so.

The reason these riders are less expensive than a standaloe LTC policy is twofold:

1) the cost to originate and service the rider is a LOT less than a stand alone LTC policy
2) The benefit amount is generally capped at the face amount, which means that the insurer is on the hook for less $$$.

I guess another possible reason is that the insurer would be shielded from the insured buying such a policy in the interest of reselling to an investor.

Frankly, I am not all that crazy about LTC insurance in the first place. It is expensive and still in its inf ancy as a product. I am also not all that sure that the companies selling it really know how to price it properly. We'll know for sure in 25 years, but in the meantime many companies could be jacking rates for years to come. That means that a lot of the risk ultimatley rests with the buyer of the coverage.