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Long Term Care In The News......
June 10,
2005
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Volume 38
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Welcome to the thirty-eighth 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 to our brokers, agents and their staffs.
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NEW YORK LIFE LONG-TERM CARE
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We had announced in one of our recent LTC In
The News that Custom Care Solution had been chosen as a Brokerage General
Agency in their new distribution channel called the Select Partners
Network. You may have also heard
that New York Life made a recent decision to dismantle this network and
remain only in the career agent system.
All of this is true. However,
the ultimate decision that New York Life has made is to dramatically reduce
the number of Brokerage General Agencies and NOT remove themselves
entirely from brokerage. Custom Care
Solution, LLC has remained as one of only 6 Brokerage General Agencies for
the entire country. We have
highlighted some key features of the New York Life Premier LTC product and
we encourage you to contact us for more information.
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THE LONG-TERM CARE & RETIREMENT
SECURITY ACT OF 2005
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Late
last week, Representatives Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Earl Pomeroy (D-ND),
along with eight other House members, introduced H.R. 2682, the Long Term
Care & Retirement Security Act of 2005.
H.R. 2682 would provide federal tax incentives for Americans who
purchase long-term care insurance.
This bill includes three core elements: (1) a 100% above-the-line tax deduction
for long-term care premiums; (2) a tax credit for caregivers, and (3) a
provision that would allow long-term care insurance to be offered under
employer-sponsored cafeteria plans and flexible spending arrangements. This legislation is designed to address a
major flaw in the nation’s healthcare financing system and is important
because it would make long-term care insurance more affordable to more
Americans. With the introduction of H..R. 2682, the long-term care debate is gaining
momentum in Congress. We encourage
your to contact your US
Representative immediately, urging his or her active support for the
Long-Term Care & Retirement Act of 2005. Simply visit www.ltcchampions.org and complete
the registration page. Just follow
the simple instructions and this website will identify your member of
Congress and enable you to immediately email a pre-drafted letter asking
your US Representative to sign onto the legislation as a cosponsor.
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URGENT MESSAGE FOR ALL BROKERS
DOING BUSINESS IN NJ
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The New Jersey Legislature and Department of
Insurance have recently decided to redefine acceptable surrender charge
rules on a wide range of annuity products.
This has been done with the stated goal of protecting seniors. The effect is that the Department has
taken the position that the new law prohibits the sale of all two-tier
annuity products and, in general, annuities with surrender charges in
excess of 10%. In order to be
compliant with this new legislation, Allianz is
withdrawing several of their fixed annuities from the State of New Jersey. All of the withdrawn annuities are either
two-tier products or have surrender periods of 10 years or longer and/or a
surrender charge of 10% or more. After the close of business on
6/17/2005, no policies will be issued in the State of New Jersey for the
following Allianz Life* annuity products: PowerDex Elite,
5% Bonus PowerDex Elite, 10% Bonus PowerDex Elite, Accumulator Bonus Maxx
Elite, BonusDex Elite, Cash Bonus Elite, FlexDex Multi-Choice Elite, InCommandDex,
MasterDex 5, MasterDex
10 and Power Rate 5 Elite Annuity.
Applications for any of the above annuity products must be received
by Allianz prior to June 17, 2005. Allianz
will continue to offer this strong, successful trio of fixed annuities that
are in compliance with the state’s new surrender charge parameters: Power
7 Elite Annuity, Immediate Elite Annuity and MasterDex
Annuity – their most popular EIA.
If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please
contact us.
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PRUDENTIAL LTC3 ON IT’S WAY
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Prudential has launched its third generation
long-term care insurance product, LTC3 in many states including Connecticut which
was just approved on June 6. LTC3
offers a number of new benefits and riders that provide consumers with a
wide range of choices to design a policy to meet their long-term care
needs. All LTC3 policies include
international coverage, a simple calendar day elimination period,
restoration of benefits and an alternate plan of care. Every LTC3 policy also has a new Cash
Alternative feature that allows policyholders to elect a monthly cash
payment in lieu of reimbursement for services and does not require proof of
actual services for benefits to be paid.
Prudential has also created a new payment option (Flexible Cash)
that allows a policyholder to be both reimbursed for claims submitted as
well as receive a monthly cash benefit in the same month. To learn more about this exciting new
long-term care insurance product or for a complete list of state approvals,
please contact
us. One of the
biggest changes to this new product is that the LTC3 policy will not offer
a Cash Benefit with an unlimited benefit period. Currently, the LTC by Design product will
allow your clients to buy the Cash Benefit Option for an unlimited benefit
period. This is extremely important
especially for your clients who are under age 50 because the LTC by Design
product is the only LTC product that has unlimited cash.
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MASS MUTUAL SIGNATURECARE 400
APPROVED IN NY
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The new Mass Mutual SignatureCare
400 series is approved in New
York. The
last date for SignatureCare 300 applications to
be received in the Home Office is July 20, 2005. We encourage you to contact your NY
clients NOW!!! The rates on the 400
series are dramatically higher in most situations.
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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
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