The state of Washington recently passed the WA LTC Trust Act, now renamed as the WA Cares Fund. This legislation is intended to provide a limited amount of long-term care coverage for qualified Washington residents by levying an uncapped payroll tax of .58% on all wages beginning January 1, 2022. The state is allowing residents to opt-out of this long-term care payroll tax; however, the employee must attest that he or she has a long-term care insurance policy in force on or before November 1, 2021. Due to the approaching deadline, we are experiencing a significant increase in application volumes.
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ATTENTION AGENTS! LTC New Business Rate Refresh and Benefit Changes in Additional States
As a leading long-term care insurance carrier, Mutual of Omaha has a responsibility to our policyholders and distribution partners to ensure our pricing strategy and product offerings are in line with industry trends, internal claims data and the economic environment. Last year, Mutual of Omaha began implementing new rates and benefit option changes to the MutualCare Solutions Portfolio in approved states. Effective June 1, 2021, we will be implementing these changes in four additional states. Impacted States Delaware, Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota Rate Adjustments Premium adjustments may vary by age, sex and benefit selection. You may view the
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Encourage Clients to Purchase LTCi Now, Not Later
Your clients have busy lives. Between family and work obligations, they have a lot going on. So even if they understand the value of long-term care insurance, purchasing a policy often isn’t a top priority. But they may not be aware there’s cost associated with waiting. It’s easy to put things off until tomorrow. But some of life’s decisions are too important to ignore. Waiting to purchase a long-term care insurance policy is one of them. Waiting may mean paying higher premiums down the road. Procrastinating also could lead to the inability to qualify for coverage. That makes this concept
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Reminder: Updated Other Than Applied Processes
As a reminder, effective March 1, 2021, the other than applied processes listed below have been updated. Declined Spouse: When both spouses apply and one is declined, underwriting will issue the approved spouse with a reduction in partner allowance percentage and remove Shared Care, if applicable. No hold will occur. Rate Class or Benefit Selection with Shared Care: When one or both spouses are approved other than applied due to rate class or benefit selection, a communication is sent to the application designated contact notifying them of the required changes. We will hold issue for 7 days. Underwriting Evidence: When
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Help Your Clients Stay at Home
Some clients considering an LTCi policy believe the benefits would only cover services provided in care facilities. And since they don’t plan to go to a care facility, they may think they don’t need to purchase long-term care insurance. By walking through how LTCi provides in-home services, you can help clients feel more secure in their purchase of an LTCi policy… and, possibly help keep them in their home longer. Download the Sales Idea to learn more! Help Your Clients Stay at Home #goldencareagent #mutualofomaha
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New Association Marketing Materials
We’ve updated our Association Marketing materials. Our new flyers and brochures are a great way for you tell the story about our how long-term care products can benefit association members. Getting Started This brochure provides some of the key reasons and ways you can grow your business by working with associations, including products you can offer. The Guidelines This flyer lists association requirements and provides a step-by-step association approval process, from submitting a proposal to receiving approval. For more details and additional materials, visit our dedicated Association Marketing page on Sales Professional Access. New Association Marketing Materials
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Secure Messages from the LTC Administrative Office
Secure Messages from the LTC Administrative Office As you receive secure messages from the LTC Administrative Office, you will notice that messages you sent on the Symantec platform do not automatically save in your sent folder. If you would like to be able to save copies of messages sent on the Symantec secure email platform, you can click on “Settings” icon at the top of your screen. Then check the box that says “Save a copy of all outgoing messages in my “sent” messages folder.” Please keep in mind that if you check this box, the amount of available space
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Updated Massachusetts Medicare Documents
Updated Massachusetts Medicare Documents The commonwealth (state) of Massachusetts has revised the Massachusetts Medicare documents that must be left with applicants prior to completing the application. Effective May 14, 2021, the following changes are being implemented for Massachusetts Application documents. New Replaces A Massachusetts Consumer’s Guide to Medicare (2021) Massachusetts Bulletin for People with Medicare Guide to Choosing a Medigap Policy (2021) Guide to Health Insurance for People with Medicare (2020) The updated documents will be available on the EssentialLTC Agent Resource Center under the Massachusetts application documents on May 14, 2021. This can be accessed by selecting the
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NGL – EssentialLTC Update
Annual Statements In the coming weeks, we will begin generating yearly statements on the anniversary date of inforce policies. The statement will provide the insured with policy information, coverage information, two privacy statements and a briefing on NGL’s financial strength. If you are the agent of record on a policy when the statement is generated, then you will receive a copy for your records. EssentialLTC Product Introduction Guide Looking for an overview of the features and benefits that EssentialLTC can provide your clients? The EssentialLTC Product Introduction Guide provides all of this in one place. It gives a breakdown
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NGL solidifies its commitment to Long Term Care insurance and gaining additional market share
With it’s recent upgrade to A (Excellent) from AM Best, National Guardian Life Insurance Company (NGL) is looking toward the future and solidifying its commitment to the Long Term Care insurance (LTCi) industry with its EssentialLTC long term care product. NGL believes that its diverse product mix, and history of financial strength and stability make it a go-to-choice for LTCi that customers can personalize within their budget. “As we look to the future, NGL is committed to further its expansion of our distribution into the long term care marketplace. NGL’s upgraded A (Excellent) rating from AM Best means we can
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