Life Insurance

The Eight Elements of Extended Care Riders – Element…

Presented by Brian Leising Finding the right formula for each client Not all extended care riders on life insurance policies are created equally. Do you know the differences? Different combinations will appeal to different clients more than others. Here are eight of the major distinguishing features among insurance companies offering extended care riders. All include some combination of the eight elements. This allows you to find the right formula for each client.
Premium Payments Benefit Qualification Benefit Amount
Pf Payment Frequency Pa Payment Amount
Lg Lapse Guarantee Tc Tax Code Pm Payment Method
Wp Waiver of Premium Ep Elimination Period If Inflation
Element 8 – Inflation While inflation protection is common on traditional LTC policies, it is not commonly found on extended care riders. Some insurance companies do give clients the option to increase their monthly coverage at rates including 3% or 5% simple or compound interest, but this is rare. How else can we match the increasing benefit commonly found on LTC policies? One way to approximate the increase is to use an increasing death benefit option on a universal life policy. The death benefit (and corresponding extended care benefit) is the initial death benefit plus the accumulated cash value. The increase depends upon both the amount of money placed into the policy and the performance of the index account or the dividends declared by the company. An increase in death benefit equals an increase in extended care benefits. Another option to increase the benefit amount would be use the Federal per diem amount as the monthly payout. With the per diem option, the client’s monthly benefit is equal to the current Federal per diem benefit amount ($340/day in 2016). The amount has traditionally been increased by the Federal government an average of 4% per year. Although not guaranteed, this could mimic inflation protection. Keep in mind, the per diem monthly benefit does not increase the total amount of money available for extended care, just the monthly amount.
Long Term Care and Disability Insurance

The Aging of the Baby Boomer Generation has an…

Presented by Leonard Berthelsen It was only a matter of time before the effect of the aging of Baby Boomers hit the Federal & State budgets. With less than 10% of this class of folks owning long-term care insurance, it has become necessary for the Federal Medicare and Medicaid system to review their budgets but also review what they are approving for payment. The big challenge that the federal government faced when trying to find ways to rein in some of these costs was that they were being looked at as being a heartless bureaucratic entity. By putting some of the burden back on the consumer for payment of services, they are scrutinizing those services and in many cases simply saying no to services altogether. That hasn’t set well with this generation of folks. The government was accused of developing “death panels”, as they were called, to try to rein in some of these expenses by considering the likelihood of patients’ recovery and ongoing quality of life. Medicare & Medicaid are jointly spending trillions of dollars every year and there is no light at the end of this tunnel. As a class of people, we are living longer, yet dying slower with health issues that are expensive to treat. It would be great if our government would pay whatever was needed to provide medical services for anything and everything that could medically go wrong. However, we know that is not practical or sustainable. Yet we still want the best care, by the best trained medical staff and at the lowest cost. Somewhere, something had to give. The Medicare and Medicaid system are in fact taking a hard look at rehab invoices and home health care bills. If the facility or provider is not following the letter of the rule, then Medicare and Medicaid will choose not to pay for the services. It then becomes the responsibility of the patient to pay out of pocket for this care. This could be several hundred dollars to several thousand. Medicare is allowing hospitals to admit recipients for non-emergency admissions under the term “observation” instead of full admission, thus putting more of a financial burden on the patient. What can you do to help your clients? Certainly, long-term care insurance will help tremendously with the outpatient side of the medical expenses. Also such plans as Recovery Care, Hospital Confinement & Home Care coverage will fill in the voids that we are seeing being created by both Medicare and Medicaid as they struggle to make their budgets work. Having the patient be more in-tune with what is actually being charged for those services certainly makes the government feel like they are being better stewards of our tax dollars than what we have seen from them in the past.
Long Term Care and Disability Insurance

How to Choose a Long Term Care Carrier

Presented by Michelle Daharsh When it comes to selecting an LTCi carrier today, you certainly have lots of choices. Most carriers offer a basic foundation of benefits that look fairly similar from company to company, so how do you make a choice and recommendation to your prospect? Here are three characteristics to consider when making that choice: 1. Contemporary, Innovative Products Look at carriers that offer competitive features that set them apart from the competition. Features like cash benefits, streamlined underwriting, calendar day elimination period, and waiver of elimination period for home care claims are just a few of the many and important options available. 2. Competitive Pricing Do your research and find the products that are competitively priced. Age, health and whether the prospect has a spouse or partner all become critical information in your selection for a recommendation to your prospect. Providing your prospect with the best products for the best value is critically important. Each carrier has their own “sweet spot”. Some examples of “sweet spots” can be competitive pricing at certain ages, partner allowances, multiple inflation options, and underwriting risk. 3. Financial Strength and Stability In the past it wasn’t much of a factor what the ratings of a carrier were. We have fewer carriers now in the market and the rate instability has shown that carrier strength is very important. Working and placing your prospects’ business with a financially strong carrier becomes even more important. Carriers with a history of remaining competitive, stable and secure even in tough economic times will most likely prove that they are able to meet the needs of your prospect in the future. Also, look for carriers that maintain high ratings from industry rating organizations. So whether it is the competitive pricing of a product or the financial strength of a carrier, Financial Brokerage is equipped to provide you with the resources and knowledge you need in making the best decision with your prospect and their long term care insurance coverage.
Life Insurance

The Eight Elements of Extended Care Riders – Element…

Presented by Brian Leising inding the right formula for each client Not all extended care riders on life insurance policies are created equally. Do you know the differences? Different combinations will appeal to different clients more than others. Here are eight of the major distinguishing features among insurance companies offering extended care riders. All include some combination of the eight elements. This allows you to find the right formula for each client.
Premium Payments Benefit Qualification Benefit Amount
Pf Payment Frequency Pa Payment Amount
Lg Lapse Guarantee Tc Tax Code Pm Payment Method
Wp Waiver of Premium Ep Elimination Period If Inflation
Element 7 – Payment method Insurance companies pay extended care benefits via one of two methods: reimbursement or indemnity. With the reimbursement model, the company either pays the insured’s health care providers directly or reimburses the insured upon proof of care expenses. The indemnity model offers the client a lump sum payment without having to provide an exact accounting of expenses. The insured may use the money however they wish. Some extended care expenses may fall outside the realm of traditional services. Maybe they wish to compensate a neighbor or loved one for providing care. The money could also be used to fly a loved one across the country, or for their hotel and meals while visiting. If the clients’ expenses fall below the indemnity benefit, they could request a lesser amount, save or invest the extra dollars. Look for Element 8 – Inflation in August.
Life Insurance

Simple

Presented by Gary Peterson Let’s get back to making life insurance simple.  You can now submit term insurance for $500,000 or less and potentially get Preferred Plus rates for your clients without any medicals.  We have three carriers that will look at your clients’ information and possibly issue policies in 5-7 days at the best rate available for their situation.  Give us a call at 800-397-9999 to learn just how simple this process can be – for both you and your clients!