Commentaries on New York Times Long-Term Care Articles

New York Times article on long-term care insurance - Long-term care insurance is risky  Why would the New York Times article on long-term care insurance say that long-term care insurance is risky when over 95% of the long-term care insurance policies sold today are backed by companies with high financial ratings?  “Doug Baker, a director in Fitch’s U.S. life insurance group, said long-term care insurance ‘is one of the riskiest in our universe’ because of the lingering financial burden...

New York Times article on long-term care insurance - "Yugo is proof the auto industry is in decline!"  Does that make any sense? Of course not. That’s absurd. Yugo’s failure is not a blight on the auto industry.  But that’s what the NY Times is implying. They want us to believe that one small insurance company that had less than 1% market share is proof that the entire long-term care insurance industry is collapsing.  The Wall Street Journal tried to paint the same picture in 2016 with...

What the New York Times article on long-term care insurance got VERY wrong!  The policyholder who paid $120,000 in premiums did NOT pay $120,000 in premiums. Here’s how I know: A typical policy bought in the early/mid 1990’s had an $80 per day benefit amount. Most of the policies purchased then did not have any inflation protection, especially if the policy was purchased through a group sponsored by an employer.  That explains why the policyholder received only “about $90,000 of benefits”...

Four things the New York Times article on long-term care insurance got right  That’s 100% true. Long-term care insurance is NOT for “most people”. At least 50% of retirees do NOT need long-term care insurance because they can qualify for Medicaid-funded long-term care. Why is it that so many people can qualify for Medicaid-funded long-term care? Because it’s pretty easy to qualify for Medicaid-funded long-term care. In most states, a married couple can qualify for Medicaid-funded...

Savvy Consumers? More half-truths in the New York Times article on long-term care insurance  “The private insurance market has proved wildly inadequate in providing financial security for most of the millions of older Americans who might need home health aides, assisted living or other types of assistance with daily living.” The implication is that the policies are bad. But then, halfway through their article, the Times makes this statement:  “Industry officials also failed to account for...

“Half-right”: Two things the New York Times article on long-term care insurance almost got right  The New York Times article on long-term care insurance states: “By 2020, sales of traditional policies had dropped to 49,000 and the number of carriers offering plans had fallen to fewer than a dozen from more than 100.” It’s true that over 170 insurance companies used to sell traditional long-term care insurance. It’s also true that fewer than a dozen companies sell traditional long-term...

Three Things the New York Times Long-Term Care Insurance Article Omitted Long-term care insurance policies sold before 1993 were TERRIBLE! Newer LTCi policies have different pricing rules than the older LTCi policies 41 States have affordable long-term care insurance policies for the middle-class  Everyone knows this: regulators, insurers, consumer advocates, and even most insurance agents. We all know that “pre-1993 long-term care insurance” is nothing like “modern long-term care...

Every few years, there’s a New York Times article about long-term care insurance. Most New York Times articles about long-term care insurance have had a negative bent. For example, in 2015 the New York Times headline bemoaned: “Long-Term Care Insurance Can Baffle with Complex Policies and Costs”. A few years earlier, in 2010, the NYT headline was even more ominous. It warned: “When a Safety Net is Yanked Away” The most famous New York Times article about long-term care insurance was written in...