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Have you ever had clients who just couldn't afford or just didn't want to pay for long-term care insurance coverage? Of course you have. We all have, or maybe they didn't quite fit into all of the underwriting requirements for traditional long-term care (LTC) . What I have found is many producers are now turning to short-term care (STC) policies as an alternative in such cases.

I’m not suggesting STC replaces the need for LTC by any means. However, in certain situations, it’s a viable alternative that is often overlooked and can solve the needs of candidates who may be interested in some type of LTC coverage. According to the National Center for Health Statistics:

• The average length of stay for all nursing home discharges is 290 days.


• 73 percent of all nursing home discharges were alive.


• Since 1985, the average length of stay for a nursing home discharge was decreased from 416 days to 290 days. (I am sure that number is even better with updated statistics.)


• Only 7.4 percent of all nursing home stays exceeded three years or more.

You may be surprised how many clients you are overlooking that could be taken care of with a short-term care plan. Some of the traditional things covered, usually for up to 360 days, are as follows:

• Coverage for nursing facility care


• Coverage for assisted living facility care


• Bed reservation benefit


• Choice of lifetime maximum benefits


• Choice of lifetime elimination periods


• Restoration of benefits


• Waiver of premium


• Optional inflation protection


• Optional home health care rider

Stay tuned for more to come on short-term care insurance.