Description: The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 established the nationwide expansion of a Long–Term-Care Partnership program into which any state can choose to participate. This article describes that program and what it means for a person insured under a qualifying long-term-care insurance policy.

Description: Description * Coinsurance has not been widely offered as a benefit reduction option to offset long-term care premium rate increases. This article uses an illustrative example to evaluate the potential impact coinsurance could have on an insurance carrier's future claim liabilities and a policyholder's premium rates. It also explores various considerations insurance carriers, regulators, and policyholders should think about when evaluating whether coinsurance is the right option.

Description: Family caregivers are a critical link in providing long-term services and supports (LTSS), but they have significant unmet needs. To better support family caregivers, Congress authorized the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, & Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act in 2018 and created the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council. The Council identified recommendations to serve as the backbone of a national strategy to improve the physical, emotional and financial well-being of family caregivers. A new report, "Asking Directions: Mapping a Course to Support Family Caregivers," identifies specific actions across a variety of players for meeting the Council’s recommendations. It summarizes insights from a year’s worth of strategy sessions and interviews with representatives of over 100 organizations. The report brings together thoughts on best practices and the most critical action steps from national and state organizations, county health providers, the direct care workforce, large and small employers, aging and disability organizations, faith-based groups, respite care providers and more. This article summarizes the research methods and key findings of the report and the work conducted by the Leading Age LTSS Center @UMass Boston and Community Catalyst’s Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation.

Description: This is a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] from the SOA and AAA. The letter asks that the law prohibiting use of genetic information in underwriting not be extended to Long-Term Care Insurance as has been proposed by HHS.

Description: This report explores two LTC insurance product concepts. The concepts were developed as part of an effort to create innovative new LTC insurance products.

Description: Panelists discuss emerging valuation-actuary-related issues, including: [1] for long-term-care insurance [LTCI], reserves, risk-based capital [RBC], and new experience forms, [2] for Medicare Part D, several potential future changes, and [3] for health insurance in general, the new Statement of Standard Accounting Practice 85 [SSAP 85] and existing SSAP 84, and current activities of the International Accounting Standards Board [IASB] regarding a definition of 'insurance.' Session 27PD of the 2005 Valuation Actuary Symposium.

Description: Long-term-care LTC insurance presents a huge opportunity for insurers. If fully exploited, the field lends itself to policies with relatively large premiums that need to be accumulated over a lifetime in statutory reserves, requiring fiduciary investment management as well as insurance services. The need to accumulate large reserves to prefund a risk largely concentrated at the end of the life span gives this product most of the desirable characteristics of the level premium life insurance policies that were the staple of the insurance business for many decades.

Description: Read the December 2018 issue of Long-Term Care News published by the Long Term Care Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Read the April 2018 issue of Long-Term Care News published by the Long Term Care Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: Update on LTC Section activities and other issues from the perspective of a Society of Actuaries' staff actuary.