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LTC Insurance is Not Dead

3/15/2018

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Looking forward, LTC insurance is more secure and reliable than ever.

CLICK HERE to read my new article on why LTC insurance remains a valuable insurance product with a future that should be much more stable than in the past.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ltc-insurance-dead-bill-comfort
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Why the WSJ is wrong about LTC planning

1/22/2018

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Here is a link to an excellent article from Forbes.com that provides valuable, even critical, context to any discussion of long-term care planning and funding your plan with LTC insurance.

In many ways a recent Wall Street Journal article simply re-packages old news in a new emotional wrapper since LTC insurance rate increases have been under way across the industry for more than 10 years.  It also gets a couple of very important things wrong - including the fact that there are many options for dealing with a rate increase other than just walking away from the coverage.
"The WSJ piece essentially falls into the 'bad news sells' category of reporting ... Its “Woe is me!” theme actually pushes people away from doing quality long-term care planning. Instead of lamenting past missteps, the article could have emphasized some of the new techniques for building effective and sustainable solutions to the budding long-term care crisis."
CLICK HERE or on the link below to read the Forbes.com article:
​https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiehopkins/2018/01/22/why-the-wsj-is-wrong-about-long-term-care-planning/#6197a57b6ba3
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UNUM Announces 114% LTCI Rate Increase!

10/26/2015

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Policyholders can eliminate the entire increase by reducing their future inflation increases.

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UNUM announced its latest in-force premium increase on two of its LTC insurance blocks of business impacting policyholders in 21 states.  (MO & IL have not yet approved this increase.)
  • The largest increase of 114% impacts people who have a 5% "Compound" automatic inflation increase benefit.
  • People with 5% "Simple" inflation (or equal increases) face a somewhat smaller increase of 83%.
  • The increase applies to policy series called "Advantage I" or Advantage Plus"
  • This will be the third in-force rate increase for some older UNUM policies.
  • The increase does NOT take effect until the next policy anniversary date which in many cases may be well into 2016.
Policyholders will be notified individually of their specific increase and state-approved options for reducing or eliminating the increase entirely.  Policyholder letters should begin to arrive in early November.

Inflation option to avoid the increase:

Like any LTC insurance policy, the premium can be reduced by reducing benefits, for example, changing from a "Lifetime" benefit period to 6-years, or from 6-years to 3 years; policyholders can also reduce the amount of coverage per month.
​
UNUM is offering a special option with this increase:
  • If you reduce your FUTURE inflation percentage from 5% to 3% (for either Compound or Simple options), then there will be NO CHANGE to your premiums related to this increase.
  • All benefit increases earned to date under past 5% increases will remain in effect; the inflation rate change only impacts the increase of benefits going forward.

ComfortLTC recommends most policyholders should elect the reduced, 3% inflation option.

If your health is in decline and you may file a claim soon, you may want to consider accepting the full increase.
You are not affected if:
  • You are on claim.
  • You have a policy that is past its 10-pay, paid-up period.
  • Your state has not yet approved this increase.
There are state differences (a lower approved increase percentage, or increases spread out over three years).  The states currently impacted are:
​
AK, AZ, CO, IA, KS, MI, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WI, WV, WY
​
Call your agent; or contact us for a personalized policy review and recommendation.
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Comfort Long Term Care is an independent insurance brokerage agency specializing exclusively in LTC insurance.  Agency owner, Bill Comfort, is celebrating 30-years of experience in 2021!  We are based in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Triangle region, but we serve clients throughout NC and across the country.  We also have an office in St. Louis, Missouri.  Click here to learn more about us!
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  • TakeCare!
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  • About
    • Bill Comfort
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