A first-in-the-nation state long-term care insurance program is likely to become law within a few weeks. In Washington State, both houses of the legislature have approved the measure, though they must resolve relatively minor differences between the two bills. Gov. Jay Inslee has promised to sign it. Washington would be the first state in the US to enact a public [...]
Genworth, once the largest seller of long-term care insurance policies, has announced that it has stopped selling individual stand-alone coverage, as well as immediate annuities, through brokers and agents. Company officials say the decision is temporary, but for now it will sell only through direct-to-consumer channels or through employers or affinity groups--currently a very small market. Independent brokers fear the [...]
Washington State may soon approve the nation’s first publicly-funded long-term care insurance program. The measure, called the Long-Term Care Trust Act, would provide a maximum benefit of $36,500 for people who need assistance with at least three activities of daily living (ADLs) such as bathing, toileting, transferring, dressing, or eating. It would be funded with a payroll tax (or what [...]
Would you buy a term life insurance policy that automatically converts to long-term care coverage once you reach retirement age? How about paying a modest additional premium to add some home care benefits to your Medicare Supplemental (Medigap) insurance or your Medicare Advantage plan? Minnesota, a state that has been a leader in long-term care delivery reform, may soon experiment [...]
Only about 89,000 people bought private long-term care insurance in 2016, a nearly 14 percent decline from 2015, according to an industry survey. Nearly all were bought in the individual market, though about 15,000 people purchased coverage through their jobs. The sales decline continues a stunning trend. At the market’s peak in 2002, consumers bought 750,000 traditional policies, eight times [...]
The House-passed health bill could further batter the already-beaten down market for long-term care insurance. And drive even more middle income seniors into impoverishment and onto Medicaid long-term care. Here’s why: The House bill, called the American Health Care Act (AHCA) would significantly raise health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs for buyers aged 50-64. And that is exactly the [...]
The way you pay for long-term care insurance policies may be about to change in a big way. Genworth, the biggest seller of stand-alone long-term care insurance, is about to ask state insurance regulators for permission to fundamentally revise the way it structures premiums. Instead of holding premiums flat for several years followed by big double-digit rate hikes, it wants [...]
Genworth Financial, the largest seller of long-term care (LTC) insurance policies, has agreed to be acquired by a privately-held Chinese investment firm. At the same time, it announced it will reserve an additional $400 million to $450 million against future long-term care claims. The twin Oct 23 announcements are further indication of just how brutal the long-term care insurance business [...]
About 7.2 million Americans currently own traditional long-term care insurance policies, a number that’s held steady for the last seven years. But who are they? And what does it say about the future of long-term care insurance? Overall, the share of older adults who own long-term care insurance (LTCi) has barely changed since 2002, according to new research by my [...]
Last week, the federal government announced that premiums for nearly all of its existing long-term care insurance policies will increase—by an average of 83 percent. In other words, they will almost double for federal employees and retirees. What does such a price hike on current policies mean for consumers, and for the future of long-term care insurance? First, a bit [...]