Long Term Care Insurance premium increase — Help!
My husband and I took out long term health care insurance with Genworth in 2006. My husband is 75 and I am 73. We are in good health. We have no children, and I have family who do not live near us. My husband is an only child with no extended family nearby. We have paid our annual premiums on time and have not used either insurance policy even when I ruptured by right quads in 2016. Our friends and neighbors stepped forward with support--meals, shopping and assistance getting to doctor appointments. I am recovered and now returning the favor to others in our community. Recently Genworth contacted me to say that they were raising my annual premium 51%. And when I called and talked with them they told me that my husband's annual premium will also go up the same amount. To keep the policy at a lower cost but offering significantly lower services they suggested two other options. We understand that GE no longer owns Genworth and now a Chinese company is in the process of buying the company and they could raise it even more or drop us. You have been a advocate of long term care insurance; therefore we are asking you for your insight into this industry. Thank you for your time.
Terry Says
I just wrote a column explaining my latest thoughts on Long Term Care Insurance. Here's a link to it. It will explain my thoughts about the way insurance companies mis-managed their estimates of potential usage of the policies, and why state regulators are forced to grant them the requested increases. First, let me correct you on one point. As long as you pay premiums, they cannot drop you. That is one of the keys to approval of the takeover by a Chinese company (which, by the way, has not received approval yet). In that column, I make the point that I hope you won't entirely drop your policy -- giving the insurance company all the money you paid into it over the years. It is better to make some adjustments. That way, if either of you needs care -- and it is likely to be needed in the next ten years -- then you at least have some coverage and won't wipe out all your savings. If you want personalized advice contact either of my trusted resources: Brian Gordon at MAGALTC -- 800-533-6242 or Honey Leveeen at 713-988-4671.
