About 75 percent of people aged 65 or older will need to take advantage of long term care services, regardless of their race or economic background. Unfortunately, it seems only certain members of the population are taking advantage of the one thing that could best help them prepare for a long term care event — long term care insurance.

According to a new study by the Urban Institute, 10.7 percent (4.8 million) of adults aged 55 and older had long term care insurance coverage in 2008. While that percentage is small, it's nothing compared to the number of minorities with coverage; only 3 percent of Africans Americans and 2.4 percent of Hispanics in the same age bracket had private LTCI.

Coverage rates increased with income; for those with an annual income of $100,000 or more, 19.3 percent had coverage.

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

  • Critical BenefitsPRO information including cutting edge post-reform success strategies, access to educational webcasts and videos, resources from industry leaders, and informative Newsletters.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM, BenefitsPRO magazine and BenefitsPRO.com events
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.