For many policy owners, life insurance is an easily abandoned illiquid asset. The vast majority of in-force life insurance policies will never pay a death benefit because they either expire, lapse, or are surrendered for cash value. The New York law, as well as other legislative and market activities, point to the growing realization that life insurance policies are an asset well-suited to help pay for long term care. Too few seniors realize that their policy could be used for purposes other than a death…
Senior Care Blog
Baby Boomers 2011 – the Beginning of the Silver Tsunami
Happy Birthday Ed Mahern of Indiana! On January 1, 1946 at two seconds past mid-night, Ed was one of the first Baby Boomers born in the Untied States. On January 1, 2011, he was one of the first Baby Boomers to turn 65. Over the course of today, 10,000 other Baby Boomers will join him in celebrating their 65th birthdays. And then every day going forward approximately 10,000 more Baby Boomers will turn 65—for the next 19 years!! 79 million Americans born between 1946 and…
Costly Medical Surprises for Seniors
Ben Schull-MBA, CPCU, ARM: Posted Linked-In 12/30/10 In 2009 1.1 Million seniors received unpleasant and costly surprises from Medicare, the hospital where they were initially treated and the Skilled Nursing facility that they were sent to for recovery and continuing treatment. These seniors thought they were “admitted” to a hospital for treatment for the three days Medicare requires in order to have the doctor order continuing medical rehabbing at a Skilled Nursing Facility which would be covered by Medicare and many Medicare Supplements. The key…
When the Assisted-Living Bill Balloons
New York Times By PATRICK EGAN This fall, my father sat down for a semi-annual assessment with staff members at his assisted living facility in Tinton Falls, N.J. They decided his condition — at 72, he has advancing Parkinson’s disease — necessitated an upgrade to the next level of care. The meeting yielded an upgraded bill, too: a nearly 18 percent bump, about $12,000 a year. Most assisted living residents foot the bill on their own or with help from family. Cost increases typically come…
NCOIL Passes National Life Insurance Consumer Disclosure Model Law
Final Testimony – Life Care Funding Group National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) Life Insurance & Financial Planning Committee November 19, 2010 Thank you to the members of the Committee for allowing me to participate in this very open, inclusive and thoughtful process. I am Chris Orestis, President of Life Care Funding Group. We work with seniors and their families throughout the Untied States to help them raise funds they need to cover the costs of long term care. We specialize in converting a life…
MetLife to Exit Long Term Care Market
An unexpected announcement by MetLife that it will exit the long term care insurance market in less than two months stunned an industry that has been forced to endure an escalating series of negative announcements over the last three years. The industry has worked for years to meet the needs of baby boomers would begin crossing over into retirement age, and long term care insurance policy sales should be booming. But instead, the industry has been set back by decreasing sales, rate increases, blocks of…
MetLife Ending Long-Term-Care Insurance As Costs Rise
MetLife said Thursday that it will no longer offer long-term-care insurance, the coverage that people buy to pay for nursing-home stays or assisted living in the latter part of life. The company will still honor the obligations it has to existing customers, but it will not take new customers after Dec. 30. People have typically paid for long stays in a nursing home or assisted-living facility by taking out a reverse mortgage or by buying long-term-care insurance. The insurers have had more customers cashing in…
Honoring our Veterans with Access to Care they Deserve
My grandfather and his three brothers all served in World War II. My other grandfather served in World War II and Korea. My uncle served in Viet Nam. All of them saw active, combat duty and all returned safely except my uncle who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country. On today’s Veteran’s Day it is important to take a moment and honor the sacrifices that so many have made, and continue to make today, for this country. Many of those who have served as…
Genworth Assesses Caregiving Impact
Many Americans underestimate how much family members’ long term care needs could affect their own finances — and marriages. Genworth Financial Inc., Richmond, Va. (NYSE:GNW), has published that finding in a summary of results from a recent online survey of 2,151 U.S. adults ages 18 and over. About 66 million Americans—or 20% of U.S. residents—are serving as unpaid family caregivers, Genworth notes. Genworth found that 40% of caregivers had expected to contribute financially to family member in need of care, and that 83% had ended…
Funding Solution for Long Term Care: Convert a Life Insurance Policy
Now that we have arrived at the long awaited generational stage in our society that “Baby Boomers” are reaching the age of Medicare eligibility, the need to address the question of who is going to pay for a massive increase in long term care spending has become paramount. Exacerbating the growing crisis is the impact of the economy on the availability of private pay dollars and government spending. For the last two years we have watched as one of the primary sources of private funds,…
NCOIL Rejects Carrier Changes to Consumer Disclosure Model Act
Posted September 21, 2010 4:24PM PST Proposed changes to the consumer disclosure model act by life insurers were rejected last week by a National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) committee. The Life Insurance & Financial Planning Committee plans to hold a second conference call on Friday to look at the proposed model act again, according to Jordon Estey, director of legislative affairs and education for NCOIL. NCOIL’s proposed consumer disclosure model act would require insurers to let insureds who are 60 or older or are…
Cost of Long Term Care and Nursing Home Prices Jump
The cost of private nursing home care may have increased about 14% over the past 2 years, causing the average nursing home prices to jump. Prudential Financial Inc., Newark, N.J. (NYSE:PRU), has reported that figure in its 2010 long term care cost study. Prudential found that the cost of assisting living facilities has increased just 2% since it published a review of 2008 long term care prices. The recession has slowed cost increases at some facilities and caused others to close down completely, the company…
It’s Time for National Life Insurance Consumer Disclosure Legislation
First it was passed in Washington State. Oregon and Maine soon followed with similar laws and now more states are in the process of following their lead. The law that started out small but is now growing fast is the Life Insurance Consumer Disclosure Law and now the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) is drafting a model law for every state legislature in the country. It will require that life insurance companies inform policy owners that they have numerous alternative means to extract value…
NCOIL President Advocating ‘Bill Of Rights’ For Life Policyholders
Copyright 2010 SNL Financial LCAll Rights Reserved SNL Insurance Daily August 6, 2010 Friday Katie Darden The president of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators added his voice to a chorus of concern over retained-asset accounts for life insurance death benefits. “NCOIL has grave concerns and awaits with extreme interest the outcome of current probes, including Veteran Administration and New York Attorney General investigations,” Kentucky state Rep. Robert Damron said in an Aug. 4 press release. Damron advocated a “Beneficiaries Bill of Rights” that would…
Life Care Funding Group Testifies Before National Conference of Insurance Legislators
Chris Orestis discusses Life Insurance Consumer Disclosure legislation before the NCOIL Life Insurance and Financial Services Committee (July 9, 2010)— Life Care Funding Group’s president, Chris Orestis testified in Boston on Friday, July 9th about the important role that Consumer Disclosure Legislation in states such as Maine, Washington, Oregon and Kentucky can have as a model for other states to consider in the coming legislative year. The legislation enacted in these four states has become an important precedent as it compels life insurance companies to…