Whether youre selling life-health or property-casualty products, or both, youre missing a great opportunity if you arent also selling long-term care insurance (LTCI). Theres a huge void waiting to be filled and countless numbers of people are in need of your services.

Most of them have no idea theyre at risk. Many more agents, brokers, and financial services providers are needed to get the story out. By adding LTCI to your portfolio, you should soon be able to realize an excellent flow of new commission and renewal income. Its a golden opportunity " one you shouldnt let slip by.

The Importance of Long-Term Care

There are over 111 million seniors, baby boomers and millions of other younger working adults in this country. Most of them have no LTCI coverage. Many of them are at high risk and could face disastrous times ahead. When the need for long-term care strikes, as it often does, without warning, the emotional and economic turbulence will not only affect them, but also some members of their family. But most of them dont know that because theyve never been contacted.

Granted, some retired seniors had the foresight to establish reasonable financial plans, and are now enjoying their retirement comforted by a security blanket they envision will cover them for the rest of their lives. But thats not necessarily so. In our over two decades of promoting and selling LTCI, we have often found that their seemingly rock solid financial plans are anything but, since they lack any provision to pay for long-term care. And that possibility will become more of a probability with each passing year.

Baby Boomers Recognize Problem, But Are Ill Prepared

As for our 76 million baby boomers, The MetLife Survey of American Attitudes Toward Retirement: Whats Changed?, conducted in 2005 with Zogby International, reports that the number of people who are worried about retirement has doubled since 2001. They recognize they are likely to need some form of long-term care, but they have not purchased long-term care insurance. Many erroneously believe, as do most seniors and young adults, that government programs will take care of them and pay for their long-term care needs.

What LTC agents know, but the vast majority of the public doesnt, is that individual health insurance plans, Medicare, and Medicare supplements do not cover long-term care. And while Medicaid does cover some LTC expense, its a welfare program for those with few, if any, savings or assets. That eliminates most of your clients and prospects from qualifying for the program.

People need to know this " and its our responsibility to tell them. Not understanding this important point is a major reason many people show resistance to buying LTCI.

Courting the Young Adults

Young working adults arent usually considered very good prospects for LTCI. They should be, because almost 40 percent of the disabled populace in this country that require long-term care are between the ages of 18 and 64. Most people dont know that, either.

This younger generation represents a sizeable audience waiting to be reached. Worksite marketing is an excellent way to do that. We have found they will listen, and often purchase LTC coverage not only for themselves, but, when they can afford it, for their parents and at times for their grandparents. And, when thats not possible, many of them will tell their parents and grandparents about the product and encourage them to buy it, too. Valuable word-of-mouth advertising like that can help you convince these older folks to become LTC policyholders.

What often brings our message home loud and clear to young and middle-aged adults is the fact that if a member of their family suddenly required long-term care, and didnt have the money or an adequate LTCI policy to pay for it, they could, out of necessity, become a full-time caregiver and be forced to leave their job and career. Few of them could afford to do that, and virtually none of them want to.

Relying on the Government

Those who have not purchased LTCI, perhaps because they still believe that the government will take care of them, also need to know that both Medicare and Medicaid are in serious financial trouble and can no longer be considered the entitlements they once were. Fraud and abuse of these programs have long been prevalent, with some providers overcharging, and others charging for services never performed.

Some wealthy individuals continue to use various loopholes to falsely qualify for Medicaid with the result that truly needy patients are unable to get the care they so desperately need. Increasing numbers of physicians, due to low Medicare reimbursements, are refusing to take new Medicare patients, who then have a difficult time finding another doctor to care for them. These people must go to the emergency room when they are sick or hurt.

As more and more people grow older, a steadily increasing number of them need nursing home care. This is putting a severe strain on state Medicaid budgets. Facing worsening financial troubles and a lack of federal government funding, many states are forced to cut back their support for Medicaid. In some states, large numbers of people are being cut from the Medicaid rolls.

Shrinking Health Care Options; Higher Costs

And thats not all. In recent years: some health care agencies throughout the country have shut down; a number of HMOs have pulled out of the senior market; and doctors in certain specialties, increasingly concerned about the threat of lawsuits, are leaving their chosen profession and either retiring or going into another line of work.

Meanwhile, the cost of health care continues to escalate " with the average annual cost of a nursing home stay now $74,095, according to the latest survey by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. And cost of care at home or in an assisted living facility can be as much or more in major metropolitan areas.

So whats the result of all this for those in need of various forms of health care? With increasing frequency, people will either have to pay out-of-pocket, or go without. Patients suddenly in need of long-term care as a result of a disabling illness or a catastrophic accident will abruptly discover that its up to each one of us to take care of our own long-term care needs. And the best way to do that is to have adequate LTC insurance.

Spreading the Word

Unfortunately, unless people get the message, they wont even know they need the coverage. And thats why many more LTC agents are needed to spread the word. If youre not already marketing the LTC product, we strongly encourage you to learn as much about it and the marketplace as possible and then join us in the trenches. The need is so great we know you will be immediately pleased with your decision.

If youre wondering where you will get the information you need, many insurance/financial services publications run ads on LTC seminars, books, and videos. Excellent online training is available from some industry marketing organizations specializing in LTC insurance. Other good sources include the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), Washington, D.C.; National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), Arlington, Va.; and many of the insurers currently offering the product.

When youre ready to begin selling the product, youll have an important story to tell to a large and growing number of individuals and organizations about how LTC insurance, and only LTC insurance, can help:

Assure choices about how and where care will be provided;

Provide quality and affordable care at home, in an assisted living facility, adult day care center or, of deemed necessary, in a nursing home;

Protect savings and assets;

Provide inflation safeguards;

Eliminate the possibility of having to be dependent on a family member, friend, or neighbor;

Assure a lifetime income for the surviving spouse of the insured.

And you can explain with confidence how important features and benefits that were unheard of in plans offered just a few years ago are continually being added to todays LTC policies so they can more easily be tailored to fit almost anyones needs and pocketbook.

You will also be able to assure your clients and prospects that despite the problems currently facing our nations health care system, the LTC insurance they purchase now will be there for them when they need it, and even decades into the future.

Finding Potential Clients

As you move into your new venture, we understand you may be concerned about where you will find prospects. Dont be " they are all around you.

Start by reviewing your client and prospect files. They are probably full of seniors, boomers, middle-aged, and young working adults " all of whom should be excellent prospects for the coverage. If you dont think you have enough current prospects to keep you busy, start placing ads in targeted publications, include promotions on your website, send press releases to the print and electronic media announcing youre offering the product, and concentrate your efforts on one-on-one presentations and/or worksite marketing and LTC seminars.

Both worksite marketing and LTC seminars offer you the added benefit of working with groups of prospects which increases both your chances of making increased sales and expanding your base of referred prospects.

There are no age restrictions when it comes to long-term care. It can, has, and will continue to strike people of all ages, often without warning. Point-blank, almost every American adult needs the coverage because LTC insurance, and not the government, will be their only hope of avoiding the stress, strain and emotional upheaval the individual and his or her family will have to endure. And it will be the best, and perhaps the only means they have to pay for the extremely high cost of care.

Today, when almost every other insurance need has already been taken care of, long-term care insurance provides a new and exciting solution to a very real and growing need. So take up the challenge and begin earning the rewards. We know you will be delighted with the results. And perhaps best of all, your clients will be buying the product from you, not your competitor. Thats got to be a real value-added inducement.

John Wane, president of American Independent Marketing, Yakima, Wash., can be reached at info@AIMforLTC.com or 800-672-7202. Lenny Anderson, president of GoldenCare USA, Inc., Plymouth, Minn., can be reached at lga@goldencareusa.com or 800-842-7799. Their organizations have recruited and trained over 50,000 agents and have conducted over 1,000 LTC seminars in the past six years. Online training is available at http://goldencareusa.webex.com.