Aging and Long-Term Care Insurance
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L ONG-T ERM C ARE I NSURANCE S ECTION August 2007, Issue No. 19 “A KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITY FOR THE SOCIETY OF ACTUARIES” Long-Term Care News Aging and Long-Term Care Insurance: A National Policy Perspective by Chris Orestis and Eli Rowe contents he aging baby boom generation and the bur- Aging and Long-Term Care Insurance: geoning LTC financing T A National Policy Perspective crisis that lays in their wake has by Chris Orestis and Eli Rowe..................................1 been a subject of national discu- A Few Good Words: Figaro! Figaro! ssion for well over a decade. No by Brad S. Linder .......................................................2 one institution, be it public or private, will be able to handle the From the Chair: What Have You Done for Me Lately? care of our nation’s aging by Dawn Helwig .......................................................4 population alone. The debate about A Letter to The New York Times Public Editor this issue has been ongoing since by Peter S. Gelbwaks ...............................................8 the administration of FDR Response to The New York Times conceived of social security; then by Stephen R. LaPierre ...........................................10 Lyndon Johnson ushered in the era of Medicare and Medicaid. LTC E-Alert #7-043: 125,000 LTCI Policies and No Claims Payment Problem by Stephen A. Moses ............................................11 We were fortunate enough recently to sit down with Robert The ABCs Behind the Actuarial Standards of Blancato, a principal and president Practice by Bruce A. Stahl ...................................................13 of Matz, Blancato & Associates at their K Street office in Washington, Reply from the ASB D.C. to discuss the perspective of national policymakers regarding the current state of the by Godfrey Perrott .................................................15 LTC insurance industry. Random Variation in Claim Reserves James Berger .........................................................16 Blancato is a recognized expert and leader on the topic of aging, having spent 30 The Lost Promise of Long- Term Care years in Washington, D.C. involved in this issue. He was staff director on the House by Robert W. MacDonald......................................18 Select Committee on Aging’s Human Services Subcommittee from 1977-1988. He currently serves on the Policy Committee and Executive Committee of the 2005 Long- Term Care: Public, Advisors Need White House Conference of Aging, as appointed by Speaker of the House of Education by Peter S. Gelbwaks.............................................19 Representatives Nancy Pelosi. He was executive director of the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, as appointed by the president of the United States. In 1998, Dissecting the Worksite: Where True Group and Blancato was a delegate to the White House Conference on Social Security. He has Multi-Life Long-Term Care Fit by Laura Smith ........................................................20 worked closely with the insurance industry over the years through numerous initiatives with the major trade organizations and carriers of LTC insurance, and Group or Individual LTCI? serves on the boards of numerous advocacy and charitable organizations with the A Marketer’s Perspective by Jim Lowder and Steve M. Cain .......................22 mission of improving the quality of life for the aging. continued on page 5 Long-Term Care News Issue Number 19 • August 2007 Published by the Long-Term Care Insurance Section Council of the Society of Actuaries 475 N. Martingale Road, Suite 600 Schaumburg, Ill 60173-2226 Phone: 847.706.3500 A Few Good Words: Fax: 847.706.3599 Web: www.soa.org Figaro! Figaro! This newsletter is free to section members. To join by Brad S. Linder the section, SOA members and non-members can locate a membership form on the LTCI Web page at www.soaltci.org. Back issues of section newsletters have been placed in the SOA library and on the SOA Web site (www.soa.org). ver 10 years ago, I remember laughing when I first heard of the term “the 2006-2007 SECTION LEADERSHIP sandwich generation” at a LTC conference. The term refers to those who • Dawn E. Helwig, Chair, Membership, O happen to have the problem of taking care of their parents as well as their Networking Tracks non-adult children at the same time. I laughed because I knew that the problem was • Malcolm A. Cheung, Vice-Chair a bit more serious than that. I knew of families that were taking care of their • Timothy (Edwin) Hale, Secretary, Treasurer • Loretta J. Jacobs, Communications grandparents as well as other extended family. • Ronald L. Lucas, Annual Meeting and Education There are a lot of us who happen to have parents old enough to have “conditions” • Cynthia S. Miller, BOG Partner of their own, causing them to be incapable of caring for the needs of their • Steven W. Schoonveld, Annual Meeting and grandparents. Call it now a super-sandwiched generation, but a surprising number Education • John L. Timmerberg, Professional Community of examples exist. Perhaps my ears just happen to perk up whenever I hear of • Tyree (Ty) S. Wooldridge, Research and another fellow member of the super-sandwiched generation. I knew back then that Professional Community my grandfather was too old for LTC insurance despite his incredibly good health. • John C. Wilkin, Health Meeting and Research Indeed, the theoretical premium would have driven him into bankruptcy before he Brad S. Linder, Content Manager even needed the policy benefits. I wondered if others had similar problems. They A&H Valuation Actuary did, and more. GE 41 Woodford Avenue Our plan became one of carefully managing his remaining assets. Our fallback was Building 5-2 always one where my grandfather would spend his remaining days with my family. Plainville, CT 06062 Phone: 860.793.5931 The key would be to minimize his disorientation caused by moving into a new home. Fax: 860.793.5918 The difficulty of that decision would be made harder as his cognitive impairment E-mail: [email protected] increased and his mobility decreased. Fortunately, the nursing home transition from his right-next-door senior living facility went very well. The staff was wonderful— Bruce A. Stahl, Content Manager Vice President and Actuary no, incredible is really a better description. Our strategy changed. It was important to Long Term Care Insurance keep him in that care facility where the staff provided a warm and loving RGA Reinsurance Company environment and excellent care as he needed it. 1370 Timberlake Manor Parkway Chesterfield, MO 63017 My supporting role changed. I became the provider of periodic “adventure” visits Phone: 636.736.8303 Fax: 636.736.7155 to the neighboring mall where we became the Bad Boyz—experiencing all that the E-mail: [email protected] senses could withstand in our time together. Imagine each of us having a cup of caramel coffee with whipped cream topping while watching the trains at the train SOA Contacts museum. Those were the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had. Jacque Kirkwood, Staff Editor E-mail: [email protected] There are a number of observations from the nursing home that should be Julissa Sweeney, Graphic Designer presented to you: from medication tracking to billing; from the merits of occupational E-mail: [email protected] Elaine Canlas, Staff Partner E-mail: [email protected] Sofi Garcia, Section Specialist E-mail: [email protected] Meg Weber, Director, Section Services E-mail: [email protected] LTC Newsletter Publication Schedule Facts and opinions contained herein are the sole responsibility of the persons expressing them and should not be attributed to the Society of December 2007 Actuaries, its committees, the Long-Term Care Publication Month: Insurance Section or the employers of the authors. We will promptly correct errors brought to our attention. Articles Due: September 24, 2007 Copyright © 2007 Society of Actuaries. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. 2 • Long-Term Care News • August 2007 therapy to organized activities; and from living wills to last wills. Several observations concern the new medications available and being used within the nursing home setting. I must report that they are highly promising for cases of cognitive impairment. In my opinion, these medications are astounding! They will have a definite and profound effect on the underwriting, claims and actuarial tracks. Since this issue is a full one, I must present these to you in future newsletters. It is my hope that other authors will send us articles on these new medications and their effects. In this issue, we are as busy as Figaro, the legendary barber of Seville! Why so busy? Not because everyone needs a haircut! We had another wonderful LTCI Conference in Dallas, Texas packed with interesting sessions causing good follow-up ideas. And, while at the Dallas conference, a front page article appeared in The New York Times. Reactions were swift and hot at the conference. I’ve included letters to The New York Times editor as well as several articles on the reaction and perspectives. Soon after the conference, two articles in Best’s Review raised interesting discussion on several marketing issues. The articles are reprinted with permission to keep you aware of the discussion. Another topic of discussion concerns professional standards. All of us may recognize via television and newspapers that certain professions have these Brad S. Linder, ASA, standards. The most commonly known ones are from the medical profession, lawyers MAAA, FLMI, ACS, ARA, and accountants. Although non-actuaries are becoming more educated about what is an A & H valuation we do, it may be helpful for our readers to have a description of the professional actuary at General practice standards for members of the American Academy of Actuaries. Electric Company Employers Reassurance Additionally, we have an article on the topic of random variation on claim reserves Corporation in Plainville, and two articles from authors in the group track. The group track articles make Conn.