As the Baby Boomer generation continues its grinding march toward senior citizenship, sales of insurance products associated with aging, such as long term care (LTC) insurance, are also keeping pace, according to a recent analysis of data from the Claritas Insurance CLOUT™ database. The database houses current-year estimates and five-year projections of product usage and demand for insurance products and services.

The analysis estimated that within the next five years the number of U.S. households that own LTC insurance will increase from 16.5 percent to nearly 18 percent, and in the Washington, D.C. Designated Market Area (DMA), which is projected to be the most active market during this time, the number goes even higher -- to 21 percent. A DMA is the geographic area surrounding a city in which the broadcasting stations based in that city account for a greater share of the listening or viewing households than do broadcasting stations based in other nearby cities.

Currently, the Washington, D.C. DMA also leads the nation for LTC sales with a household penetration rate of 8.1 percent and an index score of 129, meaning that households in this market are 29 percent more likely than the average to buy LTC insurance.

Claritas Vice President Jane Crossan said one reason the Washington, D.C. DMA, which also comprises portions of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia, is at the top of the list is because 40 percent of its households are in the highest growth segment for LTC insurance products -- the upper end of the Mass Affluent segment (households with between $500,000 and $1 million in Income Producing Assets).

"Also, the findings from a number of surveys have shown that the so-called aging Baby Boomers are increasingly concerned about outliving retirement savings as the mortality rate continues to increase, but, by the same token, they also want to be able to take care of health care needs," said Crossan.

The next two DMAs behind Washington D.C. are both in Florida, which Crossan said is not surprising given its large senior citizen population. They are Ft. Myers-Naples on the Gulf Coast and West Palm Beach on the East Coast with penetration rates of 7.9 percent and 7.7 percent and indexes of 126 and 124 respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 active markets as ranked by penetration percentage and index rates are:

4. Baltimore, MD, 7.7 percent, 123 index.

5.-9. Charlottesville, VA, Atlanta, GA, Austin, TX, Richmond-Petersburg, VA and Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, all with a ranking of 7.4 percent, 119 index.

10. San Francisco, CA, 7.3 percent, 118 index.

To learn more about Claritas and VNU products and services visit their web sites at www.claritas.com and www.VNU.com.