How To Save Money On Premiums

Your Age When You Apply

Premiums are based upon your age at the time you apply for coverage and you will not save on long-term care insurance premiums by waiting to purchase. Every year you wait to purchase means the more you will ultimately pay in long-term care premiums over your lifetime.

Besides, you also must health qualify for coverage. Any changes to the good health you’re enjoying today can make it impossible to qualify for coverage in the future at any price.

Choosing the Best Insurance Company

Depending upon your age, health history and benefit selection, there can be significant premium and benefit differences between insurance companies. We shop all of the major carriers to get you the best value for your premium dollar.

Discounts for Good Health

Your health history can be a big factor in helping you to save on long care insurance premiums — 100% or more. If you’re enjoying good health today, it makes good financial sense to purchase now and take advantage of lower premiums. It’s worth repeating, those who develop medical conditions may not be able to buy LTC insurance from any of the carriers at any price.

Spouse and Partner Discounts

Married and spousal discounts can be as much as 40% off your LTC Insurance premium. This discount can be applied for spouses, partners, siblings and significant others.

Smart Plan Design

You have the flexibility to choose how much long term care risk you want to transfer to the insurance company and how much to retain. In other words, you can save on long-term care insurance premiums by partially insuring the risk.

• Choose a Smaller Policy: By choosing to retain a portion of the risk you can substantially reduce your premiums. For example, if you lower your daily benefit by 25% you can enjoy a 25% lower premium. Choosing a $300,000 policy rather than a $500,000 policy can save 20-30% annually.
• Choose a Longer Elimination Period: Think of the long term care insurance elimination period as a deductible. It is the number of days that either you, Medicare or your health insurance pays for care. If you increase your elimination period from 0 to 90 days you can save 15 to 20% off your premiums. Many people choose this option because they are most concerned about longer term needs.

Federal & State Tax Deductions

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines currently list long-term care insurance premiums as a medical expense. Therefore, if your medical expenses exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income you can take a write off on Schedule A as an itemized deduction. Also, many states offer tax incentives to encourage the purchase of long-term care insurance.

• Larger Tax Deductions: You may be able to deduct the entire amount of your long-term care insurance premiums if you’re a Sole Proprietor, Partner or LLC Owner. This is true whether or not you itemize. Ask your long-term care advisor for a complimentary long-term care insurance tax guide.

Group Discounts & Executive Carve-Outs

Are you an employee of a company that offers long-term care insurance? If so, you may be able to get lower priced group coverage. However, many group policies have significantly reduced benefits. Therefore it’s important to obtain a side by side comparison with an individual LTC policy.

If you’re a business owner or executive, you may be able to offer LTC insurance to a subset of employees—often with a group as small as 3 persons. This is referred to as “executive carve-out” and policies are identical to standard individual policies but with discounted premiums. It is also common to have fewer underwriting requirements. Even the spouses of the owner or executives can qualify for coverage under an executive carve-out plan. Visit our group long-term care insurance page to learn more about the benefits of a group long-term care plan.

Discount for Annual Premium Payment

You can save up to 9% annually by paying your premium once a year. The carrier will send you a premium notice in advance of your anniversary date. You will not have to worry about when the premium is due.

Your long-term care advisor will help you determine which of these strategies apply to your situation. Some discounts can be combined and others cannot. Discounts may vary by state of residence.