Choosing the right broker
Find a broker who specializes in this insurance. Ask a lot of questions:
- Do they hold the CLTC designation?
- How long have they sold long-term care insurance?
- How many policies have they sold?
- How many carriers do they represent?
- How many products do they represent?
- What do they do if a client has a challenging health history?
- What do they do if a client is uninsurable?
- How do they keep in touch with clients?
- How many claims have they filed for their clients?
Ask a lot of questions because it’s important to work with the right broker. Someone who will be around if you have questions or need to file a claim.
You want to do long-term care expense planning just one time. And you want to get it right the first time because a redo will cost you more.
We hold the CLTC (Certification for Long-Term Care) designation which means that we have special training in long-term care insurance. Because we are a brokerage we represent many insurance companies and product designs. We represent you to carriers not a carrier to you.
Our focus is on education. We want you to be informed about long-term care and what insurance covers so you can make prudent decisions about funding long-term care expenses.
You define the risk or expense you need to offset with insurance and the premium budget that is comfortably affordable. We then work to align cost and coverage based on your requirements.
Long-term care expense planning is all we do. It’s our exclusive focus. If you purchase through our brokerage you will enjoy service for life. We want to be the first resource for your questions or concerns including helping you through the claims process.
In order to do this we stay in touch through our blogs, newsletters and annual letter that outlines IRS-defined eligible premiums that may be deductible on your state and federal taxes.
Today, many consumers can no longer qualify for insurance products as a result of aging out or an uninsurable medical condition. As a result we have expanded our product offerings to be able to provide funding strategies for those who are no longer insurable.
Who We Work With
We work with individuals, couples, small business owners and large employers.
Primarily we work with planners -- the financial type and the consumer type. By that we mean people who understand that the cost of long-term care can derail retirement and have a significant impact on a family’s standard of living. Thus they plan.
We can define our clientele in a number of ways – age, wealth and health. Most of our clients are between 45 and 70 but we have clients in their thirties and nineties.
The market for long-term care insurance depends on who you read and believe.
The Wall Street Journal defines the market as those with assets under management between $500K and $5MM, excluding real estate. We have many clients with much less wealth and many with much more.
One of the reasons that we branched out to hybrid product designs – life insurance and annuity based – was that traditional products can be difficult to qualify for from an underwriting perspective. Many hybrid designs have more lenient underwriting.
We’ve also expanded our product offerings to help those who are uninsurable. We have funding solutions for those who are disabled and already receiving care.
Our Three-Step Process
We know planning for long-term care expense can be a complex project. We’ve simplified the process for our clients in three-steps:
- Health history – Your health will determine the carrier, product and ultimately the cost of this insurance.
Understanding your medical history enables us to determine the best option(s) for you and to conduct prescreening consultations directly with carrier underwriters if we think prudent to do so.
You can download our health history questionnaire here. - Educational meeting – This takes 45 to 60 minutes depending on how many questions you have.
We’ll cover risk, current and projected costs of care venues where you live, funding options, products in the market today including pros and cons, plans and premiums and much more.
We’re licensed throughout the country. Depending on where you reside and your preference we can meet in person or hold this meeting via conference call. - Application -- If you elect to move forward we’ll pre-fill the application for you.
We’ll review the application with you and secure signatures. Then we manage the underwriting process and provide you with updates. Once issued we deliver the policy to you, review the contract and manage any revisions or appeals on your behalf.
You will never experience any pressure working with us. Buying decisions are yours not ours. We’ll provide the information you need to make a prudent decision about funding and coverage. You’re the client. We’re the consultants. We get that!
How we get paid
Carriers pay us directly when a new policy is issued and placed. There is no cost to you to work with us if applying for coverage.
We also evaluate existing policies and consult on rate increases with policyholders who purchased long-term care insurance through another firm. When we do these consultations we do charge an hourly fee.