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Fewer people are using private long-term care insurance for subsidizing a skilled nursing facility stay, according to a new analysis.

Only about 30% of claims for such plans ended with the beneficiaries in a SNF. The vast majority of LTC insurance claims both begin and end in an individual’s home, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, which based its study on 2018 claims data from seven insurers.

“There is some transition from say home care or assisted living to more skilled care settings, but it’s not as significant as people might think,” Jesse Slome, director of the AALTCI, said in an announcement. “For the most part, people with long-term care insurance begin care in a specific setting — typically their home — and that’s where the claims end due to death, recovery or the exhaustion of policy benefits.”

More than half of claims are tapped while the policyholder is at home, and about 43% of claims end there, as well. Most consumers associate LTC insurance with nursing home care, Slome noted, but less than one-fourth of claims start with someone receiving SNF care.

About 72% of claims last year ended with the death of the policyholder, and 14% concluded because the person recovered and no longer required care. The other 13% ended with the policyholder exhausting his or her benefits, according to the analysis. More than 300,000 individuals received benefits last year from a long-term care insurance policy., AALTCI estimated.