“US long-term care insurers see large spike in new customers in 2021”

 

“US long-term care insurers see large spike in new customers in 2021,” by Jason Woleben and Hailey Ross, S&P Global

Quote:

“The number of new individual long-term care customers nearly tripled in 2021. The spike was likely a one-time bump related to the creation of a public option in the state of Washington, which caused many residents to seek private coverage instead of participating in the government-mandated program, according to Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association of Long-Term Care Insurance. In aggregate, U.S. underwriters added 153,687 new lives to their books in 2021, compared to roughly 57,200 during the previous year, according to a review of annual regulatory statements.”

 

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

WA Cares had it backwards forcing everyone into a compulsory, payroll funded, mediocre government program with an escape hatch. Far better to offer the escape hatch first with enforcement of an individual LTC responsibility only if people fail to plan. How to do that? See “LTC Bullet: Medicaid’s Plan to Fail.”