Welcome to the 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 each week to our brokers, agents and their staffs.

Long-Term Care In The News …….

Many newswires have been running stories with headlines such as, from Dow Jones, “Medicare to Start Tapping Trust Fund in 2004” and “Projected Early Medicare Bankruptcy Underscores the Importance of Immediate Retirement Planning for All Americans” from Washington Newswire. The question is, what does this mean to the LTCI business and how do we capitalize on it? Well, the bad news is that the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, which covers Medicare benefits, will start spending more than it takes in this year and will start tapping its assets in 2010. Now the good news, the already limited Medicare long-term facility and home care benefits are even more tenuous. This type of news reinforces the need for private long-term care insurance. It seems that there is news like this nearly every day which can help your clients understand the need for long-term care insurance. No hype, no scare tactics, just the simple facts.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the April 2004 AARP Bulletin. An article entitled “A Surprise in the Fine Print”, addresses long-term care insurance premium rate increases. The article specifically identifies CNA as a carrier who has asked state insurance commissions for premium increases of up to 50 percent on some older policies. So far, 25 states approved CNA’s requests, with 18 granting the full 50 percent. Though this article does not present long-term care insurance in the most positive of lights, it still presents a sales opportunity. The one that comes to mind immediately, is the 10 Pay product or Paid to age 65 payment options. Once the premiums have been paid for the stipulated period of time, THEY CANNOT BE INCREASED !! Your client receives a paid up policy for the rest of their life. Note however, that during the premium payment period, your client can be affected by any rate increase. Also, these limited payment options present a great opportunity for high end sales to corporate executives who are looking to purchase LTCI in order to receive a hefty business tax deduction. The other opportunity is to sell a company that has a rate guarantee. For example, Mass Mutual actually has a rate guarantee in certain states for a limited number of years. For instance, Mass has a 5 year rate guarantee in FL.

HSA’s continue to be the hot topic. On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a link to their website regarding Health Savings Accounts. We encourage you to check out the website www.treas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa/. HSA is money put in an account owned by an individual to pay for future medical expenses and must be used in conjunction with “High Deductible Health Plan”. They were created in Medicare legislation signed into law by President Bush on December 8, 2003. The biggest advantage to the HSA is that distributions can be taken from the HSA to pay for qualified Long-Term Care insurance premiums. Sometimes, finding the premium dollars is the hardest part of the LTC sale. The implementation of an HSA can help you find the money since distributions can be taken tax-free for long term care insurance premiums.

MedAmerica Update

Gear up for Simplicity’s May 3^rd Rollout in Oregon and Virginia. It is with pleasure that we wish to inform you that MedAmerica’s new flagship product, CareDirections Simplicity, will be available for sale on May 3 in OR and VA. They have a new state-of-the-art proposal software that is a powerful tool that enables you to … Quote Cases (Individual and Multi-Life) … minimize administrative time and error … produce completed forms and required information automatically! Two exciting features include a software user guide which provides clear, concise instructions on how to use the proposal program and a medical underwriting guide included for your convenience. Call us today to get your copy of the software or for your MedAmerica proposals.

MetLife Agent Pre-Screening Webform is now Available

Your fast-route to underwriting pre-screening is here. It’s a quick alternative to the telephone when you want a speedy decision from an underwriter. To access the Agent Pre-Screening Webform go to http://ltcprescreen.metlife.com and fill in the requested information as completely as you can and submit the form. Forms submitted during normal business hours will receive a written response via email within two hours. Of course, you can always call us to pre-screen your applicants with any of our carriers.