Kohl to Seek Regulation of Long-Term Care Insurance at Hearing

Long-term care insurance may not be a “cure-all” for the estimated 12 million Americans who will require such care by 2020, according to Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Providers such as Genworth Financial Inc. are reporting losses and others such as Conseco Inc. are increasing premiums, which raises questions about the viability of the industry, Kohl said in remarks prepared for a Washington hearing today...

...Medicaid... paid for 40 percent of long-term care spending in 2006... To lower costs, states are encouraging residents to purchase policies through partnership programs with private insurers... A senior who buys a policy from a company participating in a state’s partnership program will pay premiums and receive benefits for a specified period of time. After that, the state takes over and covers the required care... Indiana, one of the 36 states that has a partnership program, has saved as much as $12 million for its Medicaid program since offering private policies in 1993...

Bloomberg: Kohl to Seek Regulation of Long-Term Care Insurance at Hearing