Why do consumers perceive long-term care insurance is expensive?

Simple: The media has told them so. Reporters love numbers for their articles and industry-focused entities have gladly shared "average" premiums which have historically been in the $2,000 range. Compounding the matter, couples perceive a joint cost of $4,000 -- "expensive". Overcoming perceptions isn't easy. But an effective way to show that costs can indeed be affordable - is to show the actual range that consumers at very specific ages are paying for coverage. Thankfully, the New York State Partnership program does an ongoing study of what consumers pay. The 2009 numbers will be contained in the 2010 Sourcebook (2008 ranges are in the 2009 Sourcebook, page 44).

Here is 2009 data for key age ranges:
Ages 50 - 54 $ 694 - $9,650 (Mean: $2,236)
Ages 55 - 59 $ 794 - $8,824 (Mean: $2,373)
Ages 60 - 64 $1,011 - $8,187 (Mean: $2,935)

It is the tremendous range that creates an average (or mean) amount that is misleading. Again, these are real numbers of what real people paid for coverage in the State of New York in 2009.