Description: A consideration of the issues involved in adding long-term care provisions to the social security system in France, and how the conditions differ from those in the U.S.

Description: A personal experience of joining the LTC industry and a brief perspective on how to address challenges facing the industry.

Description: Recently, the SCAN Foundation, AARP, LeadingAge, and HHS funded economic modeling conducted by Milliman and the Urban Institute around LTC reform elements. The LTC industry has over the years also generated ideas to address the on-coming expansion of LTC needs in the U.S. For this article, we have brought together three individuals who have long involvement with LTC financing to discuss some of the recent ideas and provide some perspectives on their pluses and minuses.

Description: Ideas to improve claim practices, thereby improving public perception of the LTCI industry.

Description: A summary of concerns about the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, including flaws in the underlying premises, opportunism, inadequate sales incentives, insufficient benefits, adverse selection, and cashflow and solvency issues.

Description: A comment letter to policymakers produced jointly by the SOA and AAA presents findings from their actuarial analysis of the proposed CLASS Act. The analysis indicates that the proposed structure and funding approaches will be unsustainable, and will cover only a very small proportion of the intended population. The opt-out and guaranteed issue provisions of the plan pose a risk that soon the program will either need increased premiums and/or significant reductions.

Description: A study of disability experience examines cost burden and degree of disability, and how these measures vary across different subpopulations. This article summarizes a presentation given at the Society of Actuaries’ Living to 100: Survival to Advanced Ages International Symposium held on Jan. 7–9, 2008 in Orlando, Florida. An abstract of the author's paper was presented in the September 2008 issue of Long-Term Care News.

Description: A discussion of mental health issues facing those in the role of caregiver for a loved one.

Description: A defense of the CLASS Act from the perspective of the private long term care insurance industry.

Description: A discussion of issues and developments that threaten the collective confidence of the LTC insurance industry, including job cutting, changes in reporting requirements, and compliance audits.