Insurance spending provides look at long-term care preferences, needs

Long-term care (LTC) insurance policyholders’ spending of funds offers a glimpse into seniors’ care preferences and needs.

More than half of claims (51 percent) opened in 2012 against long-term care insurance policies were to cover care provided at home, 30.5 percent were to pay for skilled nursing home care and 18.5 percent were to cover care in assisted living community settings, according to data compiled by the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

LTC insurance companies paid $7.5 billion in claims to 273,000 policyholders in 2013, says the trade group. That amount compares with the $6.6 billion paid to 264,000 people in 2012 and will keep growing as policyholders age and need services, says Jesse Slome, director of the trade group.

More than seven million Americans own an LTC insurance policy that they purchased on their own or through an employer or membership organization, Slome says.

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