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: In this video Dale Hall, Managing Director of Research at the Society of Actuaries Research Institute, introduces a report titled “Guide to Domestic & International Paid Family and Medical Leave Programs.” Motivated by the increasing interest in these programs, especially post-COVID 19, the report compares U.S. and international paid family and medical leave initiatives. Key findings include differences in benefit generosity and periods for maternity and paternity leave, as well as domestic violence leave. Contributors: Dale Hall FSA, MAAA, CFA, CERA , Rose Northon, STeven Siegel ASA MAAA, Jon Forster ASA MAAA

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: Congress authorized the creation of the RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council in 2018. The Council, comprised of family caregivers and experts from a wide variety of stakeholder organizations in both the private and public sector, have been engaged in an in-depth research effort over the last two years to develop recommendations and an implementation plan to address our national caregiving crisis. This article describes their work and the newly released Report to Congress.

Description: A summary of the recent SOA Product Development Section webinar, Challenging the Status Quo: Emerging LTC Product Designs. Summarizes discussions on how the LTC industry can overcome existing hurdles and evolve to meet consumer needs.

Description: The article summarizes some of the key changes in modeling, assumptions, underwriting, and design for long term care combo products over the past 30+ years. The objective is to inspire an innovative spirit that adapts to changing market needs, for example, dealing with long COVID

Description: Stakeholders in a specific state (Minnesota) were interviewed about the potential value -- and obstacles -- of a catastrophic backstop program to handle long term care (LTC) financing needs. The design would entail a payroll deduction which would produce a fund to pay LTC expenses once a deductible period (of 1 to 4 years, depending on income) was reached. This design was believed to encourage enrollees to cover the front end better than done today, whether by private insurance or other means.

Description: In a recent study, nearly all family caregivers (80%) said they “always” or “often” provide emotional support. What if robots could cut that statistic in half? What would that mean to caregivers who have families of their own? This article is my first-hand experience with a companion robot that provides a tremendous amount of emotional support and meaningful activities. Together, they are designed to engage an older adult significantly which can lighten the caregiving burden on other family members.

Description: The barrier between humans and machines continues to blur, but curiously, this may have been prediction thousands of years ago in ancient myths. This article looks to how some of the early legends are becoming manifest in modern technology, particularly in the area of elder care. From automation, to humanoid assistants, to mind clones will the age of technology bring a new utopia?

Description: LTCi rate increases are large and becoming larger. As more and more policyholders cannot afford the cumulative impact, they need some relief - like access to the large contract reserve they have funded for the benefits they can no longer afford.