If you are going to apply for long-term care insurance, I may have just saved you thousands of dollars. That is, if math was never your thing and you are asked this question by an insurance expert screener who wants to make sure you’ve still got all your marbles. Practice up and you may get the preferred rate—or even be accepted into their insurance plan at all.
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While I’ve got my Ph.D. in adult development, I’m not up on the scientific testing methodology upon which my acceptance into long-term care insurance was riding. Who knew it was as competitive as, say, getting into the right college? Hoping your grandchild gets into the best pre-school?
The one thing I can tell you for sure is this: I could never have successfully negotiated the downward trend from 20 to 2 (yes, counting backwards by 3’s ends you up with a surprising—to some of us—2.) Not when I was 12 or 21 or 35. I took my GRE’s to get into grad school, for instance, at 40 something. Thank heavens Vanderbilt already knew I was up to snuff, having done my masters there. Because while I did fine on the logic and language aspects of the test, I decided my chances for scoring above zero on the math aspect would be better if I just filled in the pretty little circles. It worked. I got 300 something. (For those of you who haven’t taken your GRE’s recently, perfection is 800 and acceptable is 600 something.)
I understand that insurance companies need to screen, and trust that there are solid reasons as well as scientific validity behind the process that keeps the odds of the insurance company staying viable in their favor. In fact, as my agent—who I trust explicitly—explained: “You want to go with a company that screens thoroughly because you want to make sure they’ll still be around when you’ll need them down the road.” And, honestly, I was impressed with the depth and breadth of context of collected information, medical records and such, within which the math test was given.
That said, from the customer’s viewpoint, administering a math test to the unsuspecting and unprepared seems to my cynical boomer brain to be a productive up-selling marketing technique. Pull healthy, vital boomers into your insurance product based on preferred prices. Test the boomer on the math bit and then bump up your rates for whatever reasons. You’re too embarrassed and humiliated to protest and meekly write out the bigger check.
So take my advice and practice, practice, practice: 20, 17, 14, 11, uh…
Carol Orsborn