Long Term Care Insurance industry is imploding

[Jwheel86]

Lawmakers, regulators seek long-term care insurance solutions - Roll Call

ROLLCALL.COM

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Companies providing long-term care insurance are leaving the business, raising the risk of higher premiums for patients.

 

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In 2020, SHIP was placed into rehabilitation by then-Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman, after racking up a $1.2 billion shortfall. Traditionally, insolvent long-term care companies were placed into liquidation, triggering state guarantee funds — backed by insurers and taxpayers — whose purpose is to pick up the claims of failed insurers.

Altman’s potentially precedent-setting move, however, placed the burden of that debt on SHIP’s remaining roughly 30,000 policyholders, whose average age is 87.

According to a court-approved plan of rehabilitation — which is opposed by a majority of the country’s insurance commissioners — those policyholders were forced to choose between a steep premium hike or a loss of benefits.

A group of insurance commissioners challenged the decision in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, but no verdict is expected until at least the fall.

 

This one part is a blatant lie though:

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Despite the proposals, Congress hasn't taken major action to address challenges in the long-term care insurance industry. In 2021, President Joe Biden proposed $400 million in funding for long-term care (HR 5376), but his proposal lacked details about how those funds would be allocated, and the proposal ultimately died in the Senate without support from moderate Democrats or Republicans.

$150b is still alive and the proposal was extremely detailed.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

As far as I'm aware, most insurance companies have stopped writing long-term care policies.

 

I recently inquired of State Farm if it was possible to amend my mother's long-term care policy to increase the amount of the daily reimbursement once the policy kicks in and they flat out said that they're no longer in that particular business nor were they aware of any companies that were.

[Zaku3]

1 minute ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

As far as I'm aware, most insurance companies have stopped writing long-term care policies.

 

Considering medical costs I don't see how a company could possibly profit from a long term care plan. 

 

Oh well guess prices just have to keep rising.

[Jwheel86]

12 minutes ago, Zaku3 said:

 

Considering medical costs I don't see how a company could possibly profit from a long term care plan. 

 

Oh well guess prices just have to keep rising.

 

They could save some money by encouraging policy holders to not go into nursing homes and instead switch to consumer direct models where family members (or whoever the family hires) get paid to do the care with a nurse agency on call. 

 

 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

34 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

As far as I'm aware, most insurance companies have stopped writing long-term care policies.

 

I recently inquired of State Farm if it was possible to amend my mother's long-term care policy to increase the amount of the daily reimbursement once the policy kicks in and they flat out said that they're no longer in that particular business nor were they aware of any companies that were.

There are not many new LTC policies per se being issued (there is still some!) but the industry is largely moving to riders on life insurance policies that pull from the same pool of money. 
 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

25 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

There are not many new LTC policies per se being issued (there is still some!) but the industry is largely moving to riders on life insurance policies that pull from the same pool of money. 

 

This absolutely correct and that was one of the options presented to us by the State Farm insurance agent.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

The craziest thing is that this 30k lives is a very, very small block and these issues of debt and underperforming actuarial assumptions are rampant throughout the industry and have been for YEARS. 

[Zaku3]

4 hours ago, Jwheel86 said:

 

They could save some money by encouraging policy holders to not go into nursing homes and instead switch to consumer direct models where family members (or whoever the family hires) get paid to do the care with a nurse agency on call. 

 

 

 

I think that would work better.

 

When my grandma had Alzhimer's we sent her to stay with family in Colombia. The only way she could have stayed with us would be someone staying with her while my mom and I are working. Or one of us taking the L and having to take care of her.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

1 minute ago, Zaku3 said:

 

I think that would work better.

 

When my grandma had Alzhimer's we sent her to stay with family in Colombia. The only way she could have stayed with us would be someone staying with her while my mom and I are working. Or one of us taking the L and having to take care of her.

Alzheimer’s and dementia account for about a third of all LTC claims payments. Not many ways to care for these people cheaply (unless you’re relying on familial labor which may or may not be eligible for claims payments)

[Zaku3]

16 minutes ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Alzheimer’s and dementia account for about a third of all LTC claims payments. Not many ways to care for these people cheaply (unless you’re relying on familial labor which may or may not be eligible for claims payments)

 

I don't think we ever looked into it. We well my mom broke one day and decided to bring her back because she kept complaining about wanting to go home. Wasn't a wise choice. I think that's the time my mom came home and found the stove on. (Well the gas from the stove was on but no flame)