Working my way through the NY Times today, I was brought up short by a headline alleging systematic Long Term Care (LTC) denial-of-claim problems, particularly with Conseco.
For those of you not familiar with LTC, this is a policy that one purchases long before (ideally) one approaches the age of infirmity, paying regular premiums that, in theory at least, guarantee that one’s time in assisted living or a nursing home won’t bankrupt oneself or one’s family. This worked for my family – my father, bless his heart, paid over $300 a month to insure my mother’s care should she need it. She did. He didn’t buy a policy for himself, since he’d already been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease – he got mom one, though, and it made the last several months of her life a little easier financially. Particularly in the month between dad’s death and hers, since his death ended his large pension payment.
Lest you think that John Grisham’s “The Rainmaker” was an amped-up-for-fiction view of insurance malfeasance, read this – the only LTC insurer that ends up looking good is Genworth Financial.
Caveat emptor, baby.
