Demographic and attitudinal characteristics of federal long-term care insurance buyers

Lifeplans, Inc. (2004). "A Comparative Analysis of the Socio-Demographic and Attitudinal Characteristics of Active Buyers and Non-Buyers of Long-Term Care Insurance in the Federal, Private and Public Sectors." U.S. Dept. Of Health and Human Services

As expected, the long-term care plan contracted by and developed for the federal government's employees and eligible relatives quickly became the largest long-term care group plan in the nation. Enrollment, however, was not as high as it could have been, and this study was commissioned in order to determine the demographic differences that existed between those who enrolled in the program and those who actively did not (i.e. received information and made a considered choice not to enroll). The resulting demographic information, obtained by interview, was compared to the demographics observed in other long-term care markets.

When compared to other markets, the buyers of the federal long-term care plan were less likely to be married, more likely to be male, and significantly more likely to be older (above the age of 60). Those enrolling in the federal program were also likely to have higher incomes than buyers of long-term care plans in other markets, though they generally had a lower valuation of assets than private plan enrollees. Most of these comparisons hold true for the non-buyers of the federal program when compared to non-buyers in other markets, questioning the validity of the comparison and suggesting an overall demographic difference between markets.