Legislation to expand access to long-term care insurance introduced.

Legislation to expand access to long-term care insurance and strengthen consumer protections of these insurance products has been introduced in the House. The Long-Term Care Affordability and Security Act of 2009 would permit long-term care insurance to be included in employer-sponsored cafeteria plans and flexible spending accounts, enabling people to pay long-term care insurance premiums using pre-tax dollars.

The Long-Term Care Affordability and Security Act of 2009 is endorsed by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI).

I am a proponent of long term care insurance. In fact my wife has carried it from before I met her. She bought it in her 30‰Ûªs and it was offered by her employer at the time, a very progressive company indeed.

All this is great of course but just because you allow people to buy using pre-tax dollars in no way means that they will buy long-term care insurance. Our culture denies aging and its consequences. As we say everyday in this blog, prepare now so you will not face a crisis in the future. So in short, don‰Ûªt just support this legislation do something after it is passed. Individuals don‰Ûªt have many options for affording long term care. This is one way to prepare for it without losing all that you own.