Reader TTS

THE PROBLEM: A PREMIUM THAT TRIPLES Thirteen years ago, retiree Terry Koplan, 69, a woodworking and radio-control airplane hobbyist in the Los Angeles area, bought long-term care insurance

for himself and his wife, Claire, 64. The policy had an inflation-protected benefit, currently $270 a day, for an unlimited time. Last May, however, the Koplans learned that their annual

premium would triple in 2024 to $14,315. The insurer gave them options if they chose not to pay up, such as losing their inflation protection or canceling their policy in return for a

partial refund of past premiums. Terry didn’t like any of the choices. THE ADVICE: 4 CHOICES Terry’s letter was one of several I received from readers with a similar complaint: After years

of paying premiums on long-term care insurance policies that are meant to cover many of the costs of late-life in-home or nursing home care, they’d suddenly been hit with big rate increases,

along with a menu of alternatives if they couldn’t or wouldn’t pay the higher amount. This has happened because insurers that have sold long-term care policies have been getting the math

wrong: * THEY’VE OVERESTIMATED the number of people who would drop their policies. * THEY UNDERESTIMATED how long people would live. * THEY FACED UNEXPECTEDLY LOW INTEREST RATES that reduced

returns on the investments intended to cover claims. As a result, insurers are going to state regulators, who largely oversee the insurance industry, saying they won’t be able to pay claims

unless they raise rates. And state regulators are granting permission. So if you get the same sort of letter the Koplans got, what do you do? You can, like Koplan, complain to the insurance

company. Instead of satisfaction, that got him a response reminding him that when he bought his policy in 2009 he received, and acknowledged, several statements along the lines of “Premiums

are subject to change.” You can also hope that someone has filed a class action suit related to your particular policy, in which case a lawyer likely will get in touch with you and fight

for a better deal. Unfortunately, rate increases alone don’t appear to be a strong basis for lawsuits. Here’s how to work through your other options. 1. IF THE INCREASE IS MANAGEABLE,

consider paying it. A 2014 analysis from Marc Cohen, a professor of gerontology at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, found that 22 years of average long-term care premiums cost the

same as a five-month stay in a nursing home.