As we noted last Fall, Long Term Care insurance rates for the fairer sex have been artificially flat for quite a while, and were due for some "adjustment" (read: increase). Recently, my good friend (and home town LTCi guru) Chris van B emailed that "actuarial data shows that 67% of LTC insurance claims go to females. As a result, two of the largest carriers, Genworth Financial and John Hancock, have introduced gender based rates."
In English, this means that unisex rates (where males subsidize females) are on the way out, at least for these two carriers (although thus far Hancock is the only carrier to have these new rates approved in Ohio). It seems no stretch that they are but early adopters, and that other carriers will soon follow suit.
And speaking of John Hancock and LTCi, they're about to bail on the Golden State's long term care Partnership Program. And of course, they explained this in the simplest of terms:
"Sales of the California partnership program policy have been modest, and "we have found that the strategic direction of our LTC products and markets no longer synchronizes with California partnership regulatory requirements," the company said in a memo to producers."
Uh-hunh. That's insure-speak for: "we haven't been selling enough of these policies to make it worth our while to continue even trying." One hopes that this is an outlier, because the Partnership Program is a great deal for seniors and wannabe-seniors.
In English, this means that unisex rates (where males subsidize females) are on the way out, at least for these two carriers (although thus far Hancock is the only carrier to have these new rates approved in Ohio). It seems no stretch that they are but early adopters, and that other carriers will soon follow suit.
And speaking of John Hancock and LTCi, they're about to bail on the Golden State's long term care Partnership Program. And of course, they explained this in the simplest of terms:
"Sales of the California partnership program policy have been modest, and "we have found that the strategic direction of our LTC products and markets no longer synchronizes with California partnership regulatory requirements," the company said in a memo to producers."
Uh-hunh. That's insure-speak for: "we haven't been selling enough of these policies to make it worth our while to continue even trying." One hopes that this is an outlier, because the Partnership Program is a great deal for seniors and wannabe-seniors.
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