Long Term Care In The News......

Volume 26

Welcome to the twenty sixth edition of Long-Term Care in the News. We, at Custom Care Solution, LLC, want you to be on the cutting edge of changes and updates within the Long-Term Care industry. We will accomplish this through these email bulletins distributed each week to our brokers, agents and their staffs.

2005 MINIMUM DAILY BENEFIT INCREASE

The 2005 Minimum Allowable Daily Benefit for the New York Partnership will increase to $180 for nursing home care and $90 for home and community-based services. Please be informed that the 2005 Minimum Allowable Daily Benefit under the Connecticut Partnership will increase to $151 for nursing home care and $75.50 for home and community-based services. The Connecticut Insurance Department has directed that allowable daily benefits are to be based on policy effective date, not application date. Therefore, all solicitations for new business in the state of Connecticut should be for the 2005 minimum beginning with applications signed 12/1/04 and thereafter. For more information about the various partnership programs, please contact us.

CONSUMERS LACK KNOWLEDGE ABOUT LTC

The results of a MetLife-Sponsored Long-Term Care IQ Test findings show that consumers lack knowledge about LTC. Only one in three Americans have the information they need to help them make decisions about their long-term care needs. Overall knowledge about long-term care increases slightly with age. Education appears to be a key influence in overall levels of knowledge about long-term care. Many older Americans are unfamiliar with their likely need for long-term care. Americans incorrectly associate long-term care exclusively with nursing homes and Americans have misconceptions about the cost of long-term care. The survey results and on-line quiz can be used when you are talking to prospects, existing clients and employers about long-term care. The test is interactive, and those who take the test will find out their scores and correct answers immediately after taking it. Go to the tools section of www.metlife.com or click on this link to test yourself: http://www.metlifeltciq.com/quiz/.

GE NEW PRODUCT REMINDER

Genworth Financial’s Long Term Care Division, a leader in long term care insurance, is proud to announce the addition of New York, New York Partnership, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, Indiana Partnership and Massachusetts to the list of states able to sell its newest products, Privileged Choice and Classic Select. These products will be available for sale Monday, November 1, 2004. With this launch, these products will be available for sale everywhere except California and California Partnership. Privileged Choice is their premier product combining innovation with rich, built-in benefits, making it one of the most comprehensive products in the industry today. It is competitively priced for couples and includes many new features and benefits. Classic Select features a modular design so that you can customize a long term care insurance plan to meet your customers’ specific needs. It is a great low-cost alternative for singles and gives you a competitive edge in today’s market. Note that GE’s Home Office will not accept applications for the current product in NY, PA, MD, IN, and MA after Friday, December 3. Please contact us today for more information.

TOLL FREE LINE HAS ANSWERS TO LTC QUESTIONS

For any federal employee trying to decide if the Federal Long Term Care Insurance program is right for them, FLTCIP Consultative Services Unit offers a toll-free hotline. On the other end of the line are consultants, not commissioned sales people. Because they have a broad base of knowledge on the FLTCIP product, as well as of the industry and competitive products, they can answer most questions objectively. Currently there are approximately 205,000 people enrolled in the program. The Federal program is medically underwritten and it does not offer any discounts for spouses or domestic partners. The toll-free number 1-800-582-3337 is available Monday through Friday from 8am until 7pm Eastern Time. Consultants have been taking more than 5,000 inbound calls a month. If you have clients who are eligible for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, we encourage you to contact them. Although it is a group insurance product, it does have fairly extensive benefits – however, the fact that there is no marital or residential discounts, it is not very competitive for couples. For more information about the FLTCIP, please contact us.

INFORMATION REGARDING TRANSAMERICA

As previously announced, Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Company (TOLIC) will discontinue new LTC insurance sales as of January 1, 2005. Existing business will not be affected by this change. TOLIC will continue to administer this business and provide the same level of service currently provided to their customers. Applications must be signed and dated no later than December 31, 2004. All applications must be received by TOLIC by January 14, 2005. Existing policyholders will not be able to upgrade their coverage or reclassify their premium after December 31, 2004 so if you have any clients that this affects, you need to contact them now! Transamerica was a huge player in the Worksite marketplace. We have other companies that will fill that void. For any information about LTC at the Workplace, please contact us.

We at CCS are continually looking for ways to keep our brokers up to date. If you’d like to send comments or suggestions to make this newsletter better, please feel free to contact us.

Debra A. Walker, LTCP, CLTC Karin L. Wertheim, LTCP, CLTC

C U S T O M   C A R E   S O L U T I O N ,   L L C

One Penn Plaza, Suite 2035
New York, New York 10119
info@customcaresolution.com

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