LTC
Bullet: Focus on AALTCI Thursday, March 22, 2007 Seattle-- LTC Comment: The
American Association of Long-Term Care Insurance has been very busy and
highly visible in the media. We
catch up with AALTCI's important contributions after the ***news.*** *** DALLAS LTCI CONFERENCE.
If you're attending the 7th Annual Intercompany LTCI
Conference March 25 to 28, be sure to attend "Session 47 - LTC Dynamics Providers, Payers, Public
Policy" on Tuesday at 2:30 PM.
You'll hear me and a panel of top-flight experts discuss why LTC
is the way it is and what to do about it. If you haven't registered yet, but decide at the
last minute to attend this terrific meeting, go to http://secure.lenos.com/lenos/soa/LTCI2007/
for all the details. Finally, if you just can't make it to Dallas for
this year's conference, here's a huge bonus from its organizers and
sponsors. The
power point presentations and other handouts for virtually all sessions,
including mine, are now available online at www.ILTCIConf.org,
for downloading. You don't even have to be registered!
How generous is that? *** *** WEBINAR
AVAILABLE. We received the
following message from Canadian Center member and LTC author Patty
Randall: "Good
afternoon Steve, I decided to take a moment and view your 'webinar'
session....ha, all this time I have been a member and never really
utilized all the resources to their max!!
...thanks so much for undertaking this novel approach, learning
to move around the Center's website will now save me a significant
degree of time. As I have
commented to you previously, but it is worth repeating, the work you are
doing and the 'how' you are doing it certainly offers some of us in
Canada a great example to follow. Kindest
Regards, Patty Randall, Vancouver Canada." Find
out what Patty's referring to. Check
out our "Webinar" titled "Maximize the Value of www.centerltc.com."
Just scroll down at www.centerltc.com
and click on the "View Webinar" button or go straight to https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/549197239.
Enter your email address (which we'll keep confidential) and
you're in for a very informative hour including an in-depth introduction
to the Center's new "Almanac of Long-Term Care." *** ***
SPEAKING OF CONFERENCES. Don't
miss the first annual conference of "Americans for Generational
Equity" on May 1 and 2 in Washington, DC.
Here's
an overview: "Our
children and their children are major stakeholders in the web of social
commitments that constitute today's 'generational contract.'
Yet their voices are largely silent in the legislative process.
Young adults seldom vote their special interests and half don't
vote at all. Meanwhile, a
majority of workers who will be paying into Social Security and Medicare
in 2030 are either too young to vote or haven't been born yet.
Arrayed against them in the political process are clamorous and
demanding pressure groups - from mass-membership senior citizen lobbies
to the health and social services industries that serve older
populations - whose very purpose is to satisfy the immediate needs of
powerful constituency groups. Until now, favorable demographics have allowed us to sidestep
the social implications of this political imbalance. But soon, an explosion in old-age dependency will push the
dilemma of our powerless young to the forefront of America's political
agenda." This
conference arrays an impressive battle line of pro-government and
pro-market advocates to debate the issue of generational equity. For the agenda: http://www.jbcreativeinc.com/docs/AGE/Agenda.pdf.
To register: http://www.jbcreativeinc.com/docs/AGE/ConferenceRegistrationForm.pdf.
*** LTC BULLET: FOCUS
ON AALTCI LTC Comment: "The
American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance is the national
professional organization exclusively dedicated to promoting the
importance of planning for long-term care needs."
(www.aaltci.org) AALTCI,
headed by industry impresario Jesse Slome, is the trade association for
long-term care insurance agents. Jesse
and AALTCI have been showing up all over the media. Recently,
they reported that LTC insurance benefits paid in 2006 totaled $3.3
billion and that payments broke out roughly one-third each for home
care, assisted living and nursing home care. That
finding popped up all over the national media.
And rightfully so. It
not only shows LTCi contributions to funding care are finally taking
off, but even more importantly, it proves that long-term care insurance
pays for the kind of care people prefer. Compare
Medicaid. It still pays two
to one for nursing home care over home care and assisted living. Compare Medicare. It
still requires a three-day hospitalization before paying for nursing
home care, a requirement LTC insurance dropped a decade and a half ago.
Want a ton more interesting data on long-term care
insurance? The
Center for LTC Reform recently announced our online "Almanac of
Long-Term Care" for Center members who want a one-stop electronic
resource for all things related to long-term care planning.
See above for an archived "Webinar" to tell you all
about the Almanac and everything else at www.centerltc.com.
But
for a printed resource, we recommend ordering the 2007 "LTCI
Sourcebook" produced by the AALTCI.
This guide includes key data such as rankings of the top-50
insurers (based on covered lives and premiums), costs for home care,
assisted living and nursing home care in major markets, data on buying
patterns for LTCi policies comparing 2005, 2000, 1995 and 1990.
Plus the latest statistical data provided by the four Partnership
states which look at not just who buys Partnership policies but the
number of claimants and Medicaid dollars protected.
Single
copies of the "LTCI Sourcebook" cost $39 and are available by
calling the Association's offices at (818) 597-3227.
Bulk copies are also available.
For $10 more, why not become a member of the Association and
receive the Sourcebook as a member benefit.
Click here for details on joining AALTCI http://www.aaltci.org/subpages/membership/index.html.
What
else are Slome and the AALTCI up to? They've
scheduled one-day training conferences focused on the "vast
majority of insurance agents and brokers who sell life, health, Medicare
Supplement, annuity and investment products [but] still do not offer
long-term care insurance to their own clients."
These
sessions will take place in Northern California (South San Francisco) on
April 10 and in Southern California (Anaheim) on April 12. Early registration is $99 and includes lunch, 4 hours of
continuing education and free parking.
Details are available online at www.AALTCI.org/success
or by calling the Association at (818) 597-3227. In
the meantime, AALTCI has announced that "LTC Awareness Week"
this year will take place November 4 to 10.
Its theme will be "educating the millions of baby boomers
who are approaching retirement" about the importance of planning
for long-term care. According
to AALTCI's press release: "Last
year, the Association and its members were successful in arranging for
the Governors of several states to declare it Long-Term Care Awareness
Week in their states. The
organization also partnered with leading industry groups such as the
Assisted Living Federation of America for the purpose of conducting
local-level awareness programs. 'There
have been significant positive industry developments over the past
year,' Slome says. 'We have
a great story to tell.'" Finally, Jesse Slome is both a personal friend and a strong supporter of the Center for LTC Reform. I hope our members and anyone else who values the contribution the Center makes to responsible long-term care public policy will support Slome and the American Association of Long-Term Care Insurance. We're fighting on two fronts of the same battle to ensure quality long-term care for all Americans. |