Reminder: Agent Guidelines for Multiple-State Sales

Licensing, Appointment and Product Guidelines For Long Term Care insurance, the policy will be issued based on the insured’s resident state and policy delivery is required in the same state. Consequently, the soliciting agent must also be licensed and appointed in the state in which solicitation occurs, and if different, also in the resident/delivery state of the insured. Agents should only solicit a prospective insured under circumstances in which the policy form being solicited is filed and approved in the state in which it is to be delivered, which in the case of LTCI is the resident state of the
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Categories: Genworth and Long-Term Care.

In-Force Rate Action Announcement: Ohio (Privileged Choice® and Classic Select®)

As part of the strategy for our long-term care insurance business, we continue pursuing initiatives to improve the risk and profitability profile of our business, including premium increases on our in-force policies, as needed. In September 2013, we announced our intention to seek premium rate increases on certain Privileged Choice® and Classic Select® policies sold between 2003 and 2012. Subsequent to that announcement, we received approval for, and implemented, a 15% premium increase in Ohio. At the time, a larger increase was justified, based on projected experience, but rate stability requirements prevented us from requesting the fully justified amount. In
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Categories: Genworth and Long-Term Care.

“Health insurers may pay for long-term care insurer failures,” by Allison Bell, LifeHealthPRO

“Cantilo has been the special deputy receiver in charge of Penn Treaty America Insurance Company, a troubled LTCI issuer, since 2012. He told task force members that health insurers may end up paying about 75 percent of the guaranty fund costs for liquidating Penn Treaty.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): More tribulation for LTCI and health carriers. Health insurers may pay for long-term care insurer failures #goldencareagent
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Many Medicare cancer patients hit by high out-of-pocket costs,” by Laurie McGinley, Washington Post

“Cancer patients with only Medicare coverage face steep out-of-pocket costs, spending on average almost a quarter of their household incomes on treatment, according to a study published Wednesday.  …  Medicare beneficiaries with the lowest out-of-pocket costs also had coverage through Medicaid or the Veterans Health Administration. Their expenses were $2,116 and $2,367 a year, respectively. Seniors with additional coverage through employers had costs of almost $5,500, while those with private ‘Medigap’ policies, which cover copays and deductibles not picked up by Medicare, had expenses of $5,670. Beneficiaries in private Medicare plans — part of Medicare Advantage, which one-third of beneficiaries
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Categories: Critical Illness and Industry News.

“U.S. Dementia Rates Are Dropping Even as Population Ages,” by Gina Kolata, New York Times

“Despite fears that dementia rates were going to explode as the population grows older and fatter, and has more diabetes and high blood pressure, a large nationally representative survey has found the reverse. Dementia is actually on the wane. And when people do get dementia, they get it at older and older ages.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Read this one.  Good news with fascinating details including: “The findings about obesity were especially puzzling. Compared with people of normal weight, overweight people and obese people had a 30 percent lower risk of dementia,
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

“Majority of LTC residents turn down dental care, study finds,” by Emily Mongan, McKnight’s LTC News

“Almost 90% of long-term care residents don’t receive dental care during their stay, according to new research.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): What’s the real reason nursing home residents “long in the tooth” don’t get proper dental care?  Two-thirds of them rely on Medicaid and:  “In most states, the largest single financial barrier to dental care is the lack of adequate dental coverage for residents who depend on Medicaid.”  Just one more reason to plan early and avoid dependency on publicly funded LTC. Majority of LTC residents turn down dental care, study finds
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Categories: Industry News and Long-Term Care.

Good News | CareOptions Wins Top 2016 eHealthcare Award

CareOptions just received the top award for “Best Healthcare Content” from eHealthcare! As you can see in the bulletin below, CareOptions was up against very substantial and well-known competition! Some 230 healthcare organizations, representing 17 industry classifications, received recognition for their outstanding websites and digital communications at a special presentation in Las Vegas on November 9th, during the Twentieth Annual Healthcare Internet Conference. Judges looked at how websites and other digital communications compared with others in their organization’s classification. The best ones had to address more than 40 factors. Remember, GoldenCare provides this as a complimentary program to appointed agents!
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Categories: GoldenCare News.

GoldenCare Newsletter | November 21 2016 Edition

In this GoldenCare Newsletter Edition From GoldenCare: The GoldenCare Office will be closed Thurs, November 24th &  Fri, November 25th, for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Please see the newsletter for details on our current promotions! ★ 3-in-1 Promotion (Mutual of Omaha LTCi & Minnesota Life CareShield) The Race To The Finish Line Has Begun! ★ CareShield Sales Incentive Program Downtime during the holidays is the perfect time to brush up on sales skills or learn a new product!   Check out our hot webinar topics and join us for a product demo. Our Guest Article is “Majority of Consumers Nearing or in
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Categories: Genworth, GoldenCare News, Industry News, Long-Term Care, Medicare Supp./Adv., and Mutual of Omaha (& Affiliates).

Important Update on our Individual LTC Insurance Products

This is to inform you of an important development concerning our long-term care (LTC) insurance product portfolio. John Hancock has recently completed another comprehensive claims study, which we generally conduct every three years and which examines the usage trends for our insured population. Similar to our previous analysis, the new data demonstrates that claims, particularly at higher ages, continue to last longer than expected, and more policyholders are initiating claims at older ages than previously expected. Based on that data, we have determined that there is a need to increase premiums on certain policy series. As a result, this month,
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Categories: Long-Term Care.