Most Americans Aren't Familiar With Long-Term Care Insurance And Overstate Its Cost, According To InsuranceQuotes.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The majority of Americans are not familiar with long-term care insurance and believe it costs more than it does, significantly more in many cases, according to new research released today by InsuranceQuotes.com, a Bankrate (NYSE: RATE) company.

When InsuranceQuotes.com asked people to predict the average annual cost for a long-term care insurance premium covering a healthy 55-year-old couple, the most popular response was $7,000 per year or more. The correct answer is $2,700 per year, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

Fifty-six percent of Americans overestimated the cost, InsuranceQuotes.com found. Twenty percent underestimated it and only 16% correctly pegged it as somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000 per year.

The InsuranceQuotes.com survey found that 53% of Americans are either not too familiar (27%) or not at all familiar (26%) with long-term care insurance. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they would consider buying long-term care insurance and five percent said they already have it.

"Long-term care insurance can be a critically important part of a long-term financial plan, but only if people take the time to explore different options and get educated about what makes sense for them," said John Egan, editor in chief, InsuranceQuotes.com.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:

http://www.insurancequotes.com/long_term_care_insurance_survey

PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,001 adults living in the continental United States. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline (501) and cellphone (500, including 215 without a landline phone). Interviews were done in English by Princeton Data Source from January 10-13, 2013. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

About InsuranceQuotes.com

InsuranceQuotes.com provides consumers with a free, easy way to shop for and compare insurance quotes online, and delivers information about auto, home, health and life insurance and other types of insurance.

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