With a variety of products ranging from pre-packaged to completely customizable, we give you the ability to choose one that meets your client’s needs. All our policies provide coverage for home health care, assisted living and nursing home care. They also contain many of the same great features, including:

• A built-in cash benefit with no elimination period that provides cash (in lieu of reimbursement benefits) that can be used to pay for any type of care the client chooses
• The ability to switch between cash and reimbursement benefits to give clients the flexibility and freedom to control their care options from the first day of qualified need
• A monthly benefit for greater flexibility to maximize policy benefits
• Calendar day elimination period to allow clients to receive reimbursement benefits sooner
• Stay-at-home features for clients who want to remain in their homes as long as possible
• Multiple spouse-friendly benefits, including our Spouse Security Benefit that can be used to provide protection for an uninsured spouse

 With all these options, your clients can select a policy with the features that are just right for them.

 You’ll find more information about our LTCi products on Sales Professional Access.

Date: Tuesday, May 15

Each month, we bring you a different teleconference topic designed to help you sell LTCi. This month, you’ll learn how our LTCi products allow clients to maximize their policy benefits.

For details on how to participate in our monthly teleconference, including times and dial-in instructions:

• Go to Sales Professional Access
• Look for the “Teleconference Archive” link on the LTC home page
• Download the teleconference schedule

• Go to Sales Professional Access
• Look for the “Teleconference Archive” link on the LTC homepage
• Listen to the March call – Finding the Right Words

Knowing what to say when a client presents an objection is just as important as knowing how to begin the LTCi conversation. In fact, industry expert Margie Barrie said she kept a notebook filled with objections and her planned responses, and she reviewed it before each appointment.

 Download our sales tip flyer to learn the best way to respond to five common objections.

 1.    What’s your plan? If you’re like most people, your plan for the future probably includes living a long life. Let’s talk about how that plan could impact your spouse and your children. As people get older, they generally need help. Have you thought about …

• Who will take care of you?
• Whether that person will be able to be a full-time caregiver?
• Where will you live?
• Which one of your children you would live with?

 2.    Who do you know? Many of my clients have experienced the need to care for a loved one. I want to make sure what happened to their families doesn’t happen to yours. A long-term care situation has the potential to…

• Affect the caregiver through missed work, lost wages, stress or exhaustion
• Cause family disagreements or hard feeling when one person assumes a greater share of care giving duties
• Deplete the family’s savings or require assets to be liquidated to pay for care

 3.    How will you pay? How do you plan to pay for the care you may need someday? A long-term care insurance policy can…

• Help you get the care you need in the setting you prefer, including your own home
• Ensure funds are available when you need them so you don’t risk depleting your retirement savings or liquidating assets you’d planned to use for other things
•  Allow your family to care for you longer and better by supplementing the care they provide with hired services

 Once you get people talking about the future and considering the implications of a long-term care situation, the need to plan will become apparent. So instead of shying away from the conversation, start talking to your clients today.

 Learn more about our LTCi products.

Each month, we bring you a different topic designed to help you sell LTCi. This month, you’ll learn effective ways to begin a conversation with prospective LTCi clients.

For details on how to participate, including times and dial-in instructions:

• Go to Sales Professional Access
• Look for the “Teleconference Archive” link on the LTC home page
• Download the teleconference schedule

If you missed past teleconferences, you’ll also find them archived on Sales Professional Access.

• Go to Sales Professional Access
• Look for the “Teleconference Archive” link on the LTC homepage
• Listen to the March call – Back to Basics

 You see, a funny thing happens when people live a long life. They get older. And as people get older, they generally need help with everyday activities. Get it? People who plan to live a long life are probably going to need long-term care services. And the best way to help pay for long-term care services is with an LTCi policy. Download our sales tip flyer to learn more.

 1. The chance of needing care is high – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that nearly 70 percent of people over age 65 will need long-term care services at some point in their lives.

2. Long-term care services are expensive – Most people haven’t thought about how they would come up with the amount of money needed every year to pay for long-term care services.

$76,662 – nursing home (semi-private room)

$37,912 – assisted living facility

$36,113 – homemaker services (eight hours per day, 20 days per month)

3. Funding options may be limited – When it comes to paying for long-term care services, people have these options:

Self-funding – Even people who think they have enough money to self-fund their long-term care expenses may find the money isn’t accessible when they need it. And often, that means liquidating assets that are planned for other purposes.

Government programs – Some people think the government will take care of all their long-term care needs. But Medicare pays only for a limited amount of care to help people recover from an illness or injury. After that, they’re on their own. And Medicaid is a program of last resort for people with limited assets. That means spending down assets in order to qualify.

Long-term care insurance – Purchasing long-term care insurance makes good sense for many people. It allows them to pay a relatively small amount in premium to protect a larger amount in assets.

 Four Reasons LTCi May be the Best Option

1. People get the care they need – People who own long-term care insurance are more likely to seek hired services because they know they’ll have help paying the bills. That allows them to get the care they need in the setting that’s right for them.
2. They don’t have to go to a nursing home – Most people who need long-term care services don’t need the “skilled care” nursing homes provide. A long-term care policy provides benefits for “custodial care,” which is help with the activities of daily living (ADLs) such as bathing, dressing and transferring. Medicare doesn’t cover this type of care, but long-term care insurance does.
3. Family relationships are preserved – Most caregivers are family members who typically provide more than 20 hours of care each week. Being a full-time caregiver can put a lot of stress on family relationships – particularly on adult children who have their own family and career obligations or may not live nearby. A long-term care policy allows the insured to hire services to supplement the care provided by family members.
4. Retirement assets are protected – A long-term care insurance policy provides the funds to help people pay for the care they need – whether in a nursing home, assisted living facility or in their own homes. Protecting their assets from the high cost of care gives them more freedom to enjoy their retirement years as planned.

 Learn more about our LTCi products and how they allow you to help your clients plan for their long-term care needs.