“Millennials May Care Deeply About Long-Term Care Benefits,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Workers in the ‘Millennial’ generation — those born from 1979 to 2000 — may like seeing long-term care insurance (LTCI) options on the benefits menu even more than older workers do. All workers combined say they like LTCI benefits almost as much as they say they like life [and] disability insurance. Workers seem to be much more interested in LTCI benefits than in benefits sometimes seen as LTCI substitutes, such as critical illness insurance and cancer insurance. Analysts at the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies have posted figures supporting those
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“Voices Pushing through client fears about LTC needs,” by Chelsea Emery, Financial Planning “‘Don’t freak them out.’ That’s one thing Senior Editor Charles Paikert quickly learned when researching how advisors should approach long-term care planning with clients. Another takeaway: Planners shouldn’t avoid the subject, no matter how much clients resist.  ‘Try and get them to come to terms with the need to plan,’ he says advisors told him while he was reporting the cover feature, ‘Help clients face up to long-term care .’  Advisors use dramatically different approaches when broaching the topic. Some are more direct than others.” LTC Comment
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“Some Advisors Call for Early Long-Term Care Planning,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Consumers with cash should start thinking about future long-term care (LTC) expenses as early as possible, many wealth advisors say. Key Private Bank, an arm of Cleveland-based KeyCorp., learned about some advisors’ passionate advocacy for LTC planning recently, when it surveyed bank advisors who work with high-net-worth clients. … Fifty percent said the right to time to bring up the topic is ‘at the outset of the relationship.’” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Not age 50 or 60, but “at the
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“Hannover Re Backs OneAmerica Life-Based LTC Product,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “A U.S. arm of Hannover Re thinks backing life insurance-based long-term care (LTC) products can be a good business. The Hannover Re arm, Hannover Life Reassurance Company of America (Hannover Re US), has agreed to reinsure Asset Care products written by a unit of OneAmerica, Hannover Re and OneAmerica announced today.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Confidence builder. Hannover Re Backs OneAmerica Life-Based LTC Product #hannover #goldencareagent
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“Help clients face up to long-term care,” by Charles Paikert, Financial Planning “When advisors try to broach the topic of long-term care with clients, they often hit a brick wall of denial. This makes it even more urgent that they do everything possible to break down resistance. ‘What I hear most often is, ‘It won’t happen to me,’‘ says elder care attorney Robert Fleming. ‘And then it’s, ‘I’ll off myself if it does, or go on Medicaid if I can’t go through with it.’ You’ve got a lot of planning by denial going on out there.’” LTC Comment (from Stephen
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“Survey: Older adults prefer assisted living over home health or nursing home care,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living “‘Older adults’ first choice for living arrangements as they age is to stay at home and remain completely independent, according to the latest adviser poll by Key Private Bank. Moving to an assisted living community, however, was a ‘close second,’ by far topping being cared for by family or professional caregivers at home or moving to a nursing home. … Fifty-five percent of advisers said that only ‘some’ clients are discussing long-term plans with children and other family members. Twenty-two
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“Spending on Medicare Advantage Plans Nearly Doubled Over Last Decade,” by Maggie Flynn, Skilled Nursing News “Between 2007 and 2017, payments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans for services covered under Part A and Part B almost doubled, jumping from $78 billion to $210 billion, according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). Put another way, as a proportion of overall spending on Medicare, MA plans have grown from 18% to 30% of the total pie. … The rise of Medicare Advantage is a major concern for skilled nursing providers, as MA reimbursement rates are 13% lower than traditional fee-for-service rates
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“AHCA/NCAL President Parkinson Shares Lessons Learned from China Visit,” by Patrick Connole, Provider “In an exclusive interview, American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Parkinson provides his thoughts from a recent four-day trip to China where he saw first-hand the development of new long term and post-acute care (LT/PAC) facilities there and took part in an industry conference. … Parkinson: There is definitely opportunity for long term care providers. This is due to not just the enormity of the population and the aging of the population, but it is also a very
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“Senior living might want to take a new look at an old friend,” by John O’Connor, McKnight’s Senior Living “Odd as it now seems, there was a time when private insurance was allowed to sit with the grownups. … Turns out the sellers grossly underestimated how expensive and likely senior living services would turn out to be. Most of the dozens of firms that once sold private long-term care coverage culled it from their portfolio as quickly and quietly as possible. … But a rebound of sorts appears to be underway. A growing number of firms are starting to sell
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“New Stand-Alone LTCI Player Continues to Move Forward,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor  “The team behind a new stand-alone long-term care insurance (LTCI) policy, the EssentialLTC policy, is continuing to expand its LTCI effort. National Guardian Life Insurance Company (NGL) and LifeCare Assurance Company report that they have achieved Long Term Care Partnership program status in seven more states. The EssentialLTC team can now offer policyholders access to state LTC Partnership programs in a total of 13 states, the companies say.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Bucking the trend. New Stand-Alone LTCI Player Continues
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