St. Louis Missouri (MO) Small Business Social Media Marketing

Phyllis Shelton is someone I consider a mentor and friend. I’ve worked with Phyllis off and on for many years. She’s the best, and a super star like Oprah in the LTCi world. I’m sure she wouldn’t agree, but I know better!

Here are some basics about LTCi that you need to know, and your clients do too!

“Common Money Mistakes: Things To Avoid To Secure Your Financial Future.”
This article, posted January 11, 2009 on the CBS News website at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/11/uttm/main4713803.shtml, said:
“In addition, plan ahead for any health-related costs that may crop up, including those for any aging parents you may be taking care of in the near future. ‘A nursing home can easily set you back $75,000 or more a year, and Medicare does not cover long-term care,’ says AuWerter. For the typical middle-class family, she suggests considering long-term care insurance in your early sixties. This will allow you to still be eligible for the insurance, but gets you into a plan before the premiums become too high.”
Here’s how Phyllis Shelton replied:
“Hi Stephanie – you have interviewed me in the past so I wanted to get in touch with you about this article. It’s great that you are recommending long-term care insurance so thanks for that…two things:

1) If you wait ’til early 60’s, it’s almost too late. Underwriting has gotten much tighter (about 30% are declined at age 65 and about 50% at age 75 from a recent survey I did with the insurance carriers) and the premiums are so much higher now in the 60+ age bracket. 40s and 50s are much better. In fact 45% of policies in 2007 were bought at work so the average purchasing age there is 42.

2) Also, less than 15% of care (and LTCI claims) are for nursing home care, so it’s always helpful to point out that the policies could be the only thing that keeps people out of nursing homes by paying for extensive home care and the really nice assisted living facilities. Since very few people ever go to a nursing home, it’s easy for the reader to dismiss the advice when he or she reads about the insurance as just referencing nursing home payment.

Hope this helps make your excellent reporting even better!

Phyllis
Phyllis Shelton, Pres.
LTC Consultants and LTCiTraining.com
www.ltcconsultants.com and www.LTCiTraining.com
615-590-0306 / 888-400-1118
615-590-0307 fax