“GE Responds to Markopolos LTCI Reinsurance Reserving Criticisms,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “A General Electric Company executive, Steve Winoker, has posted a detailed rebuttal of allegations that the company has misled investors about the reserves at its long-term care insurance (LTCI) reinsurance business. … A copy of the note is available here. … Winoker writes in his note that GE believes that its current LTCI reinsurance reserves are well-supported for the company’s portfolio characteristics.”     LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): The other side of the story.  
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“The looming crisis in long-term care,” by Sam Baker, Axios “How it works: Medicare doesn’t cover most long-term care services. The market for private long-term care insurance is tiny and fraught with failure. That leaves three real options: Be rich enough to pay out of pocket, be poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, or lean on family and volunteer caregivers. In many cases, seniors must do all three: They begin paying out of pocket, then quickly spend everything they have, making them Medicaid-eligible, but still rely on family members for at least some additional help.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A.
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“Training Webcast: Long-term Care Insurance with Expert Bonnie Burns,” Administration for Community Living “On August 22, 2019, from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the SHIP National Technical Assistance Center (SHIP TA Center) will present a national livestream training webcast with nationally known long-term care insurance expert Bonnie Burns.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): How will Bonnie Burns present LTCI? Tune in to find out.  
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“5 Markopolos GE Long-Term Care Insurance Report Highlights, for Agents,” by Allison Bell, ThinkAdvisor “Here are five more things to know about the Markopolos report, for agents. GE is blasting Markopolos’s and conclusions. Markopolos himself says he has a strong financial incentive to be hard on GE. Markopolos says he thinks Unum Group and Prudential Financial Inc. have done a good job with their LTCI blocks. Markopolos also has nice things to say about Genworth and CNO. Markopolos says Allianz and MassMutual made great reinsurance deals.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): More on
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“HHS Office of Inspector General plans assisted living report,” by Lois A. Bowers, ThinkAdvisor “Assisted living providers who serve Medicaid beneficiaries will be the focus of a report released by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2020, the office said Thursday in releasing updates to its work plan.”   LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform): As high as 19% of assisted living residents are on Medicaid nowadays. This IG report is one to watch. We’ll keep an eye on it and let you
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“GE shares tank more than 13% after Madoff whistleblower calls it a ‘bigger fraud than Enron’,” by John Melloy and Kate Rooney, CNBC “General Electric shares fell more than 13% Thursday after Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos targeted the conglomerate in a new report, accusing it of issuing fraudulent financial statements to hide the extent of its problems. … One area of Markopolos’ case focuses on GE’s long-term care insurance unit, for which the company had to boost reserves by $15 billion last year. By examining the filings of GE’s counterparties in this business, he alleges that GE is hiding massive losses
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“ObamaCare’s Medicaid Deception,” by Brian Blase and Aaron Yelowitz, Wall Street Journal “ObamaCare wasn’t supposed to give free health insurance to everybody. The Affordable Care Act’s authors expected the poor would enroll in Medicaid, while those with higher incomes would buy coverage through the new insurance exchanges, with subsidies that decrease as income rises. It isn’t working. A study published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that in several Medicaid-expansion states most people who gained coverage have enrolled in Medicaid regardless of their income. In practice, ObamaCare has turned Medicaid into an entitlement program for the middle class.
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“CalPERS faces ‘very serious risk’ in $1.2 billion long-term care case, judge warns,” by Wes Venteicher, The State Worker “A judge is urging CalPERS to settle a major lawsuit over price increases for its long-term care insurance policies, suggesting the system could have to pay a lot of money if the lawsuit goes to a jury trial in October. … Superior Court Judge William Highberger issued a tentative ruling last month saying he was inclined to decide CalPERS raised rates for an impermissible reason for a group of about 85,000 policyholders with a unique plan benefit.”   LTC Comment (from
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