“Some LTCI Issuers Count More on Future Rate Hikes Than Others: S&P,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “If state insurance regulators started rejecting too many long-term care insurance (LTCI) rate increase requests, that could cause serious reserving problems for some U.S. LTCI issuers, according to a new report from S&P Global Ratings. … Eight insurers  with large blocks of LTCI policies on their books have assumed, when they set their LTCI reserves, that they will get permission from state insurance regulators to implement future LTCI premium increases with a total value of about $12 billion, according to S&P analyst figures.” LTC Comment
Read More

“Long-Term Care Insurance Issuers Face a Form Tsunami: Idea File,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Millions of Americans still have long-term care insurance (LTCI) policies in force, and hundreds of thousands of the LTCI policyholders are eventually going to file claims. Someone will have to pay the claims. Peter Goldstein, the chief executive officer of LTCG, has an idea about LTCI claims. Everyone had better recognize that paying benefits according to the terms of the policies will be complicated.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Congratulations to Center friend Peter Goldstein, CEO of corporate member
Read More

“Countdown to Retirement: 10 Years Away,” by Eileen Ambrose and Sandra Block, Kiplinger “You could pay the bills out of pocket (in other words, self-insure) if you have the assets. Or consider long-term-care insurance. Consumers often worry that premiums will skyrocket over time or that they will buy the insurance and never use it, says John Ryan, a CFP with Ryan Insurance Strategy Consultants in Greenwood Village, Colo. People who bought policies decades ago were shocked to see steep increases later. But today’s policies are more accurately priced—meaning premiums are higher—than those issued back then, and actuaries are not forecasting
Read More

“LTC insurance industry is ‘imploding’ as new numbers show chasm in costs for private plans,” by Marty Stempniak, McKnight’s LTC News “While long-term care insurance options continue to diminish, a new industry report finds a huge spread in costs for virtually identical coverage plans. The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance on Monday released its 2019 price index. It notes that a couple in their mid-50s purchasing such coverage can expect to pay an average annual premium of about $3,000 for combined benefits of $770,000, if they start needing care at age 85. Director Jesse Slome noted the gap between
Read More

“Older Americans worried about insurance coverage, health costs as they approach retirement,” by Rose Meltzer, Fierce Healthcare “A sizable percentage of Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 are worried about their healthcare coverage as they head toward retirement, according to a new poll from the University of Michigan. Although some of these concerns include things people can’t directly control, such as policy changes, many are focused on maintaining current coverage provided through an employer while reducing personal healthcare expenses. … About a quarter (27%) of respondents fear they won’t be able to afford their insurance over the next
Read More

“The New Retirement Strategy,” by Reshma Kapadia, Barron’s “Though few people buy long-term care insurance, Mitchell argues that it remains a good, albeit expensive, option for middle-income households.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): A nice tip of the hat from Barron’s.  
Read More

“Maybe not such a safe bet after all,” by John O’Connor, McKnight’s Senior Living “So what are the takeaways here for senior living operators? I’d submit there are two. … One is that private insurance is not going to be the financial salvation for eldercare services its early backers had hoped for. Going forward, we can expect policies will cost far more and deliver far less. The business may not completely dry up. But it certainly will become more selective in nature. What we are far more likely to see – and in some corners are already beginning to see
Read More

“Big claims strain senior living market for U.S. insurers,” by Suzanne Barlyn, Reuters “As the U.S. society ages, senior living communities are on the rise. So are claims and lawsuits against them. And when they lose, it is usually down to insurers to pay up. … Some senior living facilities could see insurance rate hikes in 2019 as high as 30 percent, according to insurance broker Willis Towers Watson. (WLTW.O) Fewer insurers are offering coverage today than they were five years ago and some Lloyd’s of London members stopped writing the coverage during the past year, said John Atkinson, managing
Read More

“Is Genworth Financial a Buy?,” by Mathew Frankel, Motley Fool “Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW), a leader in long-term care (LTC) insurance and mortgage insurance, is trading for about $4.50 per share. This is rather cheap, considering there’s a pending acquisition of the company at a price of $5.43 that management is hoping will close within the next few months. However, there’s a big caveat here. The acquisition still has quite a few regulatory hurdles to cross before it’s a done deal. Let’s look at why there is such a disparity between the current stock price and the acquisition price, and see
Read More

“How and Why Entrepreneurs Should Focus on Seniors in 2019,” by Jeannette McClennan, Entrepreneur “We see a lot of headlines about how our population is aging, but we don’t see what businesses are doing about it. By 2035, for the first time in American history, people aged 65 and older will outnumber those 18 and younger, and it’s time for entrepreneurs to take note. As someone who has worked in innovation in the senior space, for AARP and elsewhere, I can offer some predictions for what I see as the path forward, and what entrepreneurs — of any age — can
Read More