Long-Term Care Insurance Association Commends U.S. Congressman

Los Angeles, CA - August 6, 2009 - The American Association for Long Term Care Insurance commended U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander (R - LA) today for his leadership and efforts to encourage Americans to take personal responsibility for long-term care planning.

"The Congressman's comments recommending tax deductions for individuals purchasing long-term care insurance creates an enormous incentive for people to consider this protection," states Jesse Slome, Executive Director of the national professional organization. "When more Americans plan, the nation avoids an unsustainable liability that will fall on all taxpayers."

According to Association data, some 8.25 million individuals currently own long-term care insurance. "The Congressman's proposal could rapidly double the number of people protected," Slome notes. Social Security and Medicare have promised $42.9 trillion more in benefits to senior and disabled workers than the programs will be able to pay, according to a new report by the Heritage Foundation.

"The Congressman understands that Americans must plan for their own future and that a tax incentive is a small price to incent action," Slome adds.“Increased life expectancy, coupled with the rapidly aging baby boomer generation forces more Americans to face the challenges of caring for either themselves or their loved ones," Congressman Alexander remarked. “To ease the burden and encourage taxpayers to take steps towards securing long-term care, I have introduced the Sunset of Life Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 1891). This legislation seeks to provide individuals a 50 percent non-refundable tax deduction on the cost of long-term care insurance costs."

“My intention is to minimize the need for individuals to rely on public resources in their later years by taking measures now to ensure a comfortable and complete long-term care coverage package," he added. "As Congress looks for ways to improve the affordability and availability of quality health care for all Americans, this is an option to lessen the costs of tomorrow by investing in insurance today.”

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance is the national organization serving insurance and financial professionals who market LTC solutions. The organization was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Los Angeles.