We were working with a financial company last week who was looking to buy some stock photos from our library they could use on their Hybrid Long Term Care Insurance web-site.  They wanted pictures of seniors who were having health issues to convey to their readers what their Hybrid Long Term Care Insurance Stock Photos offers.  I had no idea what they were referring to so I asked them to send me some background info on Hybrid Long Term Care Insurance.  They sent me a Q&A to help:

We have some follow on questions, and perhaps we could chat sometime this week to go over these and other items.  These questions are ones we are asking across all the policy and company options:

1. Will the benefits apply overseas?  If so, are there any countries that are excluded?
2. If we sign up now, do we ever have to “renew” the policy?
3. Can we use a partial amount of the lifetime maximum and have the remainder left over for future use?
4. What does the 5-year time span mean?  Does it mean that from your first request or claim that you must use the remainder in the next 5 years?  It was confusing to see the Hybrid Long Term Care Insurance lifetime maximum and also a time duration
5.  Does the yearly premium stay the same?
6. Do all the policies stop requiring premiums while you are making a claim against the policy?
7. Is the 30-day elimination policy a lot better and is it worth it?  We like this option to have a 30 day instead of 90 day waiting period
8.  Is the policy maximum for each of us or pool for both of us?  For example, if the max is $306K for a joint policy does that mean we each have $306K available to us?
9. If the Hybrid Long Term Care Insurance inflation rider will increase the monthly maximum, is it safe to assume that the daily limits will go up as well?
10. Do all of these policies require you to pay your expenses first and then file for reimbursement?
11. Does the international policy cover if you are on a cruise and get hurt?

So here is what we would prefer as characteristics of the plan we choose.

1. a) One that will pay directly to healthcare providers and will not require the pay first and file for reimbursement approach
2. b) 30 or 45 day elimination period
3. c) International support in case we get injured overseas .. more than 30 days.
4. d) Inflation protection
5. e) 5-year benefit .. but we’re not what that means actually

Right now, we are leaning towards Plan B.. and specifically LINCOLN FINANCIAL MONEY GUARD II or National Guardian Hybrid Long Term Care Insurance plan.

1. The benefit doesn’t play well over the seas.  Most companies will cover the US, UK, and Canada no problem but other countries will be limited to typically just one year of benefits overseas.  Nationwide has a hybrid Life/long-term care product that does much better overseas but of course, since it has a cash value the premium is much more.
2. No, these are guaranteed renewable meaning as long as you pay your premium you are covered for life or until benefits to run out if on the claim.
3. Yes.
4. It’s the benefit multiplier that’s used to compute the pool of money.  In short, you can use your money until it runs out even if it’s longer than five years.
5. The rates do not increase with age but the benefits do grow each year at 3%.  The only way a premium could be increased is if the company’s actuaries miscalculated the risk and began talking on more claims than anticipated.  They then could file for a rate increase with the North Carolina Insurance Commissioner. This is a highly regulated process and one that the companies in hand have only done 2-3 times in the 45-year history of the product.
6. Yes.
7. It’s would add about 20%.  I don’t think it’s worth it because you’ll have up to 100 days coverage by Medicare and 20% premium savings all those years would add up.
8. You each have a policy maximum.  306K times 2.
9. Yes.
10. Yes, with the exception of Nationwide’s CareMaTTERs II Hybrid Long Term Care Insurance product which just pays you the cash and you can spend it however you see fit.
11. Yes, this is actually how most are designed.  You’re out of the country and something happens… they will cover you until you are stable enough to get back home.

The above question and answer session they shared gave us a wonderful insight into their business and then proceeded to offer them our full stock photo subscription service which gave them unlimited pictures they could then use royalty-free.