Featured session will explore growing consumer, industry and political support for private pay funding solutions to help seniors pay for long term care

Life Care Funding Group will lead a panel discussion entitled Consumer Disclosure Law: The Changing Face of Long Term Care Funding on August 25th at the Annual Senior Market Advisor Expo in Las Vegas. The panel session will consist of Chris Orestis, CEO of Life Care Funding Group as host and moderator with panelists: Jayne Sallerson Executive Vice President of Emeritus Senior Living, Rep. Rob Damron (KY) immediate past president of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), and David Kitaen, CLTC one of the first long term care insurance producers in the United States. This will be an interactive session representing a cross section of views and backgrounds all focused on the same goal of how to provide funding for seniors in need of long term care services.

The growing Boomer and senior population of this country is driving the need to fund more and more LTC costs. The timing could not be worse as the economic downturn and crushing costs to pay are limiting the availability of public monies for heavily pressured government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. “I have been selling LTCi for over 20 years, but I have never seen the situation in this country more desperate for solutions”, said David Kitaen, CLTC. “Having recently helped place someone in long term care by converting their life insurance policy they were about to lapse into an Assurance Benefit, I can speak first hand about the importance of these kind of win-win options for the consumer.”

Legislative action by governmental bodies such as the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) points to the fact that states and the federal government are facing serious budget deficits and runaway costs to keep up with 10,000 Baby Boomers a day reaching retirement age. The Life Insurance Consumer Disclosure Model Law unanimously passed by NCOIL will be discussed during the session. The model law is intended to be “a strong stand for life insurance policy owners and would empower consumers through education about their options”, said Rep. Rob Damron (KY) of NCOIL.

Statistics show that the majority of people do not understand the various forms of long term care, the different means to pay for it, and most do not plan for long term care until they are beset by a health care crisis. Seniors and their families are already struggling with the costs of every day living– if you add the costs of long term care to the picture it is a back breaking scenario for most Americans. “Our goal at Emeritus is to ensure that seniors are properly cared for, and part of that goal is to help families with the financial decisions and details involved in caring for their loved ones,” said Jayne Sallerson, EVP, Sales & Marketing at Emeritus. “Many seniors and families are unaware that their life insurance policies are valuable assets and can be used in this way, and as a result some let active policies lapse. We hope that we can help educate seniors about their resources, so that more seniors can have access to the long term care that they need.”

The panel brings representatives from politics, Senior Living, insurance producers and private market funding solutions together to discuss the crisis situation for seniors attempting to pay the costs of long term care in today’s environment. “There is a perfect storm of economic, demographic and political circumstances converging that threatens to blow seniors out of the water. The aging population is increasing while at the same time available dollars to pay for long term care decreases. Political leaders are looking to make deep cuts in Medicaid now and will be forced to address Medicare and Social Security soon whether they like it or not”, said Chris Orestis. “Private funding options to pay for long term care will play an increasing role in the equation and this panel is configured to discuss the situation from the perspective of the consumer, the long term care service provider, and the government.”