* What So-Called “Sales Training” Can Never Teach - LTC Insurance from the Heart

How does one sell Long Term Care insurance with integrity and a compassionate heart? If you think you can convince people to buy long term care insurance without knowing the reality of long term care itself, think again…

I just read an article on the Moore’s Lore blog. It was called The Tao of Long-Term Care written by Martin Bayne. Clay and I know Martin, bless his heart. We speak often, Clay from his wheelchair here at home, Martin from his room in an assisted living facility. Though we live hundreds of miles apart, we share the same passion - educating people about long term care and long term care insurance.

As Martin sold LTC insurance for many years and is now receiving care
himself for Parkinson’s, he is in the perfect place (mentally and physically) to witness the shortcomings of both the long
term care-giving industry and LTC insurance companies.

To be of assistance to humanity, Martin is hoping to provide training to LTCi agents, right inside a facility, so that they can gain understanding and compassion about what it’s like to live with some form of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) failure.

Clay sold LTCi, too, before the Multiple Sclerosis kicked in. Clay and I try our best to educate people about the importance of buying long term care insurance BEFORE it’s too late. Don’t procrastinate like Clay did, and become un-insurable!

We also encourage all LTCi professionals to be compassionate and informed.

Clay was trained by a super consumer-focussed LTCi broker. Charlie took Clay to several nice facilities so that Clay could see for himself what kind of lifestyle long term care insurance can help to provide. They visited Charlie’s friends and relatives who lived in various facilities and they spoke with the care-givers and administrators. During their visits, Clay also had the opportunity to play piano for the residents.

Then one day Charlie drove Clay down to Tucson to a facility that housed people who were mostly on Medicaid. “There was no piano to play”, Clay remembers. “There weren’t even televisions in the rooms. People were parked in the hallways in their wheelchairs or laying in bed with nothing to do. They stared blankly at the gray cinder-block walls. The entire building smelled of urine. It was horrendous. I’ll never forget it.”

Clay goes on,”Why anyone who could afford to do otherwise would actually plan to ’spend down’ their savings so that Medicaid would pick up their long term care costs is beyond me! They obviously haven’t taken the time to visit a predominantly Medicaid-funded facility.”

And neither have many long term care insurance agents.

Martin Bayne feels very glad that he bought LTC insurance. He has been a resident of a lovely assisted living facility for years now. Still, while he enjoys all the perks of receiving benefits from the long term care policy he bought many moons ago, he also faces the financial limitations of the policy he chose to purchase. And even though he’s blessed with the ability to live in a “palace-resort of a facility”, as he calls it, he also experiences the pain of loneliness that comes from being unwillingly sequestered by immobility.

On the flip side, Clay can’t get long term care insurance. He has no financial assistance. He can see the short-comings of both the long term care and insurance industries, but he can only wish he had a policy to complain about. As a married couple, we have too much money to qualify for welfare, yet only enough to cover our rent and daily expenses. I can only dream about getting relief from daily caregiving duties.

While facility living has it’s drawbacks - not the least of which is the lack of loving touch - being homebound is it’s own form of captivity. Clay gets lots of hugs and kisses, but he rarely has the company of friends. He almost never sees another male! He spends every day at home with his wife (me). Can you imagine being stuck in a house with one person every single
day, because you can’t afford a vehicle that is wheelchair accessible? Think hard about how you would feel and you might be provoked into visiting a “forgotten” friend or relative!

Now that you’re in thinking mode, I double-dog-dare you to imagine what it’s like to not be able to feed yourself. What if you couldn’t toilet or shower yourself, stand up by yourself, roll over in bed or transfer yourself from one chair to another without help? These imaginings can take you into some pretty dark recesses of your mind. It’s a known fact that people would rather think about dying than needing care, but long term care needs are daily realities for Clay and Martin, as well as hundreds of thousands like them.

Over half of us will need long term care of some kind in our lives. It’s important that LTCi agents, who sell the one product that can provide a bit more freedom and security for future long term care needs, can say that they somewhat understand these challenging realities.

There are two questions LTCi professionals need to be able to answer: What’s it like to have ADL failure? What’s it like to live in various kinds of care facilities? What’s it like to be home-bound? If you don’t know, you shouldn’t be selling long term care insurance. If you don’t already know, find out.

And if you don’t have Long Term Care insurance, contact your Buyer’s Advocate today.

Technorati Tags: assisted living, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, long term care insurance, care-givers, Medicaid, caregiving, ADL