Post by Logan on Mar 7, 2016 20:16:50 GMT -6
Long-term care insurance policyholders who spent many years unaccustomed to rate increases have been undergoing price shock recently, a quietly disturbing trend that will be spelled out publicly in Pennsylvania for the first time this week.
The latest round of eye-popping price increases sought by four insurers — ranging up to the 130 percent that industry leader Genworth Life Insurance Co. wants to impose on some of its longtime customers — has prompted a rare public hearing Thursday by the state Insurance Department. It will hear from both insurers and consumers as well as explain its rate approval process.
The discussion will shed light on a product that can help a portion of the relatively affluent population but was never considered a great deal for everyone. Financial planners say there’s no formula to determine just who should pay for it, as it should be part of an overall strategy for the future by someone nearing retirement with substantial savings and assets to protect and sufficient income to afford a couple hundred dollars monthly for it. Recent price adjustments, however, have put it in a new light.
“A person purchasing a long-term care insurance policy is getting the risk of spending money on long-term care off the table, but a new risk has appeared — that premium increases will take it to unaffordable levels,” said Anthony Webb, a research director who studies retirement issues at the New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis in New York City.
Read more: www.post-gazette.com/business/healthcare-business/2016/03/07/Long-term-care-policy-sticker-shock-to-get-airing-by-state-unit/stories/201603070013
The latest round of eye-popping price increases sought by four insurers — ranging up to the 130 percent that industry leader Genworth Life Insurance Co. wants to impose on some of its longtime customers — has prompted a rare public hearing Thursday by the state Insurance Department. It will hear from both insurers and consumers as well as explain its rate approval process.
The discussion will shed light on a product that can help a portion of the relatively affluent population but was never considered a great deal for everyone. Financial planners say there’s no formula to determine just who should pay for it, as it should be part of an overall strategy for the future by someone nearing retirement with substantial savings and assets to protect and sufficient income to afford a couple hundred dollars monthly for it. Recent price adjustments, however, have put it in a new light.
“A person purchasing a long-term care insurance policy is getting the risk of spending money on long-term care off the table, but a new risk has appeared — that premium increases will take it to unaffordable levels,” said Anthony Webb, a research director who studies retirement issues at the New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis in New York City.
Read more: www.post-gazette.com/business/healthcare-business/2016/03/07/Long-term-care-policy-sticker-shock-to-get-airing-by-state-unit/stories/201603070013