The need for and costs of long-term care (LTC) are substantial and are increasing dramatically each year. Based on previous cost increases and a significant anticipated rise in demand for care, those cost increases are expected to continue. However, despite the substantial anticipated long-term care need and costs that could adversely affect a family’s lifestyle, sales of stand-alone LTC insurance policies have never been strong.

But changes in tax laws have made long-term care benefits payable under annuity and life insurance policies more attractive. This course presents a comprehensive look at hybrid insurance products:specialized annuity and life insurance contracts that offer "linked" benefits for covered long-term care services. Notably for producers who specialize in the retirement or senior needs market, there is a critical need to understand the various ways that long-term care can be funded. Given the additional benefits they provide, hybrid annuities and hybrid life insurance products may be appropriate alternatives to traditional stand-alone long-term care insurance policies.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• describe the nature of long-term care and the settings in which it is customarily provided
• demonstrate an understanding of the risks of needing long-term care and its costs in various settings
• explain the tax rules applicable to distributions to pay for coverage under annuity and life insurance hybrid products
• describe the principal benefit designs and features of annuity/LTC hybrid products
• explain how long-term care benefits are delivered under life insurance/LTC hybrid products
• identify the suitability factors to consider when recommending annuity/LTC and life insurance/LTC hybrid products