There was a previous thread with this title, but the last post was in Oct 2015 ... having been "trained" to start new threads, here goes. In the old thread, Howard expressed his thoughts as to what options might be available should the price go up substantially. He pointed out several bad things that could happen to all the money you had paid in.
What just happened to me is that there was a substantial increase in our LTC premium. From $5K per year to $7.5K ... a 50% increase! However, I am with Genworth and these are the three options I was given. (1) pay the increase and retain the same coverage. (2) pay the same premium but reduce the coverage. (3) cancel the policy but all premiums paid in would be held in a "paid up" policy having the face value of the premiums. These were all very fair, and there was never any exposure to "lose what I had already paid in". We have a fairly "rich" policy, which accounts for how expensive it is. We elected to pay the increased premium and retain the current coverage. If at some future date, they increase the rates again, I can look at how much paid up insurance we would have at that point, and elect the paid up option. I don't know if all LTC insurers treat their customers this way, but Genworth does.
-- Edited by RonC on Sunday 25th of December 2016 04:02:54 PM
Second Chance said
08:15 AM Dec 25, 2016
I guess it was not across the board with Genworth. I just logged on to our account and our next payment (automatic draft) is set to be the same amount it has been since an increase in March of 2015. When did your premium(s) go up?
Rob
bjoyce said
09:31 AM Dec 25, 2016
My mother paid much more to her LTC company than they paid out, over 20 years of payments and around 10 months of payments before she died at $70/day. $70/day was about 1/3rd of her need. She might have broken even at the full 24 months of maximum benefit. Even then, they were a pain to deal with on payments. They wanted specific documentation each month and somehow they often lost the first fax, so a resend was needed. They automatically took her premium from her checking account, but sent a check when they paid. Talking to the assisted living place, they did not recommend any LTC policy, since none had behaved well for their residents. My mother's policy was from PenTreaty.
RonC said
04:13 PM Dec 25, 2016
Second Chance wrote:
I guess it was not across the board with Genworth. I just logged on to our account and our next payment (automatic draft) is set to be the same amount it has been since an increase in March of 2015. When did your premium(s) go up?
Rob
I did not get an increase in 2015. This is the only increase I have had since I started the policy eight years ago. My premium increase is effective the 9th of January 2017. May have to do with the policy type or my age group, or a combination of those things. I just turned 70 so they may view me as a higher risk than I was before. They did send me a very detailed letter explaining the increase and stating that it was due to the overall costs of administration of these policies not due to anything related to my individual circumstances. The implication was that everyone in the "group" that I was in experienced the same increase.
-- Edited by RonC on Sunday 25th of December 2016 04:16:08 PM
There was a previous thread with this title, but the last post was in Oct 2015 ... having been "trained" to start new threads, here goes. In the old thread, Howard expressed his thoughts as to what options might be available should the price go up substantially. He pointed out several bad things that could happen to all the money you had paid in.
What just happened to me is that there was a substantial increase in our LTC premium. From $5K per year to $7.5K ... a 50% increase! However, I am with Genworth and these are the three options I was given. (1) pay the increase and retain the same coverage. (2) pay the same premium but reduce the coverage. (3) cancel the policy but all premiums paid in would be held in a "paid up" policy having the face value of the premiums. These were all very fair, and there was never any exposure to "lose what I had already paid in". We have a fairly "rich" policy, which accounts for how expensive it is. We elected to pay the increased premium and retain the current coverage. If at some future date, they increase the rates again, I can look at how much paid up insurance we would have at that point, and elect the paid up option. I don't know if all LTC insurers treat their customers this way, but Genworth does.
-- Edited by RonC on Sunday 25th of December 2016 04:02:54 PM
I guess it was not across the board with Genworth. I just logged on to our account and our next payment (automatic draft) is set to be the same amount it has been since an increase in March of 2015. When did your premium(s) go up?
Rob
I did not get an increase in 2015. This is the only increase I have had since I started the policy eight years ago. My premium increase is effective the 9th of January 2017. May have to do with the policy type or my age group, or a combination of those things. I just turned 70 so they may view me as a higher risk than I was before. They did send me a very detailed letter explaining the increase and stating that it was due to the overall costs of administration of these policies not due to anything related to my individual circumstances. The implication was that everyone in the "group" that I was in experienced the same increase.
-- Edited by RonC on Sunday 25th of December 2016 04:16:08 PM