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 began to seek premium rate increases on certain Privileged Choice® and Classic Select® policies sold between 2003 and 2012. Subsequently, we received approval for, and implemented, a 12.8% premium increase in West Virginia. 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 2016, we began requesting
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“Americans Are Baffled By Long-Term Care Financing, But Want Medicare To Pay For It,” by Howard Gleckman, Forbes
“Growing public support for a Medicare long-term care benefit is an important trend that could someday help convince Congress to pass such a proposal.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Another visit to this writer’s broken-record fantasy world. All but the poor will lose Medicare before the insolvent entitlement program expands to cover long-term care. Americans Are Baffled By Long-Term Care Financing, But Want Medicare To Pay For It #goldencareagent #medicare
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“Retirement Savings Gap Seen Reaching $400 Trillion by 2050,” ThinkAdvisor
“Longer life spans and disappointing investment returns will help create a $400 trillion retirement-savings shortfall in about three decades, a figure more than five times the size of the global economy, according to a World Economic Forum report. That includes a $224 trillion gap among six large pension-savings systems: the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Netherlands, Canada and Australia, according to the report issued Friday. China and India account for the rest.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Need some help imagining how much $400 trillion is? Check this out and multiply by
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“Survey: 75% of 40+ adults do not know how much assisted living costs,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living
“Only 25% of adults queried by investigators at the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research correctly estimated costs, which the center said average $3,000 to $4,000 per month, whereas 44% underestimated them and 30% overestimated them. Underestimating has grown since the first surveys were conducted in 2013 and 2014, when it was 31%, according to center representatives.” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): Ignorance is bliss, until . . . Survey: 75% of 40+ adults do not know how much assisted living costs #goldencareagent #assistedliving
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“Home gaining on LTC as final residence for those with Alzheimer’s,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior
“Of those who died with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014, the most recent year studied: 54.1% died in a nursing home or other long-term care facility, compared with 67.5% in 1999 24.9% died at home, compared with 13.9% in 1999 6.6% died in a hospital, compared with 14.7% in 1999 6.1% died in a hospice These realities, wrote the authors of an article in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, have implications for the government and the healthcare system, because some states and counties operate publicly funded long-term care facilities and because payments for more than two-thirds of the anticipated
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Best practice: Use the Ascend Virtual Sales Office app to submit enrollments
Run your office from anywhere, and submit applications for MA/MAPD and PDP plans electronically, using the Ascend Virtual Sales Office app. Ascend allows you to save time, prevent errors, and eliminate all the paperwork that bogs down your schedule. Through the app, you can also use our new e-kit option, which is another easy way to grow your business. To request the Ascend app, just login to Producer World, click “request access” and then complete a short registration form. #goldencareagent #aetna
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Strengthening the Mutual of Omaha Brand
Introducing our Customer-Focused Strategy For the past year, Mutual of Omaha has been on a journey to better understand our customers. We’ve conducted significant research and listened to customers and associates to bring together our company’s rich history with a new strategy to identify what makes us unique in the marketplace. Now we’re ready to unveil how we’ll bring this customer-focused strategy to life. The central message is simple and reflects what we do best: Begin by Listening. You’ll begin to see this expressed in tangible ways. A new advertising campaign begins in May. The new campaign will run in
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SecureCare: New states and marketing materials added
SecureCare Universal Life (SecureCare) is a single-premium universal life product with long-term care benefits. This hybrid life/long-term care product is ideal for individuals wanting to: Maintain flexibility in deciding where and how they would like to receive care, should they become chronically ill. Protect their assets from the costly expenses associated with care, particularly over long periods of time. Leave a death benefit to loved ones after they die. As of May 3, SecureCare is available in Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Montana, North Dakota and New Jersey, in addition to the previously approved states. Visit our advisor website, www.securian.com (login
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GoldenCare Newsletter | May 22, 2017 Edition
In this GoldenCare Newsletter Edition From GoldenCare: The office will be closed on Monday, May 29, 2017 for Memorial Day. Join us for brand new webinar topics including a brand new short-term Home Health Care product and special guest speakers. See our full list of hot topics. We are gearing up for another Promotion! Look for the announcement in your inbox. Our Guest Article is “Thinking Gen X: An Overdue Look at an Overlooked Generation,” by Olivia Mellan and Sherry Christie, ThinkAdvisor. Enjoy! Compliance: Please see the Newsletter for June’s State Holiday Ban hours. Industry Updates: From Mutual of Omaha:
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“Assisted living hospice care, HCBS, Medicaid make OIG list,” by Lois A. Bowers, McKnight’s Senior Living
“Assisted living hospice care, Medicaid personal care services, home- and community-based services waiver programs and Medicaid data are four topics that made the top 25 list included in the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s ‘2017 Compendium of Unimplemented Recommendations.’” LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): What’s the use of my former employer, the HHS-IG, conducting these studies and making these recommendations if the agency ignores them? Hopefully, that’ll change with new leadership. Assisted living hospice care, HCBS, Medicaid make OIG list #goldencareagent
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