The NC health insurance market is changing, causing consumers to look for new ways to make sure their health care needs are met at a price they can afford.  For instance, there has been a marked decrease in the public’s interest in long-term care insurance over the last few years and there are many reasons for the decline. Due to more and also more expensive claims, as well as the waning economy over the last few years and the impact that has had on insurance companies, the premiums for long-term care policies have spiked, making them unaffordable for many consumers.  In fact, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance the average cost of LTC insurance premiums can be as high as $3500 annually and for people living on a fixed income, that becomes difficult, if not impossible, to afford.

For this reason, only about 8 million Americans have long-term care insurance, despite the fact that there are around 45 million Americans who are age 65 and older.  Because people are living well into their 80’s and 90’s, the possibility of needing a long-term care policy is greatly increasing; however, affordability has become a huge problem.  Many people are looking for other options. (more…)