Producers Not Selling Long-Term Care Insurance to Be Focus of Industry Association Meetings

The vast majority of insurance agents and brokers who sell life, health, Medicare Supplement, annuity and investment products still do not offer long-term care insurance to their own clients. To meet the growing consumer interest in the product, the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance has scheduled a series of 1-day training programs specifically for non-LTC specialists interested in simplified selling. The first two conferences will be held in California on April 10 and 12, 2007.

"Between 80 and 90 percent of long-term care insurance policy sales today are made by producers who sell only one or two policies a year typically to their own clients," states Jesse Slome, executive director of the Association. "Most producers are unaware of the significant tax and product changes that have occurred in the past 12 months or the simplified sales processes that successful LTC specialists use."

Producers with clients in their 50s and 60s who don't inform their clients about LTC protection are increasingly likely to find they have purchased one of the newer, lower-cost offerings from a competitor," Slome notes. "That's not just a lost sale but a potentially lost client." Unlike other insurance or financial products that can be revisited or replaced, once long-term care insurance is purchased it rarely pays to switch carriers due to attained-age premiums.

The industry Association has scheduled one-day training conferences in Northern California (South San Francisco) for April 10 and Southern California (Anaheim) for April 12. Early registration is $99 and includes lunch, 4 hours of continuing education and free parking. Details are available online at www.AALTCI.org/success or by calling the Association at (818) 597-3227.