Category: Insured Health and Wellness

A new paper out this week from Milliman takes a closer look at some of the key components of building and evaluating sustainable long-term care (LTC) wellness initiatives. The paper outlines the general steps and considerations for LTC wellness programs, including:

• Design considerations
• Risk framework
• Measuring success
• LTC wellness assumptions in long-term projections

Read the full paper here.

This report was authored by Milliman’s Jeff Anderson, Principal & Consulting Actuary and Juliet Spector, Principal and Consulting Actuary. Founded in 1947, Milliman is an independent risk management, benefits and technology firm with offices in major cities around the globe. It serves business, financial, government, union, education and nonprofit organizations.

Although the masks are for the most part behind us, the residual impacts and effects of COVID-19 will be felt by all for many years to come. In a webinar hosted this week by the Long Term Care Discussion Group, our colleague Sandy Jones (Partner, Philadelphia) discusses some of the considerations for long-term care insurance companies that have been caused by, exacerbated by or are attendant to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Long Term Care Discussion Group is an informal non-partisan networking group of long-term care (LTC) policy, provider, payer, academic and other stakeholders. Visit Faegre Drinker’s event page for more information.

Insurance partner Nolan Tully and associate Jamie Campisi recently coauthored an article for LexisNexis Practical Guidance that discusses how wellness programs can be used to potentially prevent, delay or lower the severity of long-term care claims and improve health outcomes.

They give an overview of the wellness programs, noting that they are largely focused on pre-insurance-claim intervention but that services can be provided to healthy, at-risk and on-claim populations alike. Nolan and Jamie provide examples of wellness initiatives, including engagement initiatives, support wellness interventions and care wellness programs.

Continue reading “Long-Term Care Insurance: Wellness Program Impacts on Claims and Health Outcomes”

As aging in place continues to be a focal point in the long-term care (LTC) industry, providers and insurers are exploring and developing cutting-edge wellness programs aimed at helping improve the health of insureds, keeping insureds home longer, and hopefully reducing the number, severity and duration of LTC insurance (LTCi) claims.

Continue reading “The Amount and Novelty of Wellness Programs in LTC Continues to Proliferate”

In a recent presentation hosted by the Long Term Care Discussion Group, retirement policy consultant Anna Rappaport and Barbara Hogg of Aon’s Retirement Practice discussed two recent surveys focusing on different aspects of retirement planning: the 2021 Retirement Risk Survey (focused on the different perceived retirement planning challenges between retirees and pre-retirees age 45 or older), and the Generations Survey (comparing financial management across generations across a broad range of financial issues, including financial fragility).

A common theme in both surveys was the COVID-19 pandemic’s dramatic effect on circumstances and perceptions about planning for and thriving in retirement. For example, the Retirement Risk Survey showed that 1 in 10 pre-retirees plan to retire later because of the pandemic, and more than 3 in 10 pre-retirees who experienced negative financial impacts from COVID-19 plan to retire either somewhat later or much later than they previously planned. Pre-retirees were also more likely than retirees to consider changing their lifestyle, working longer, and changing care arrangements for family. For those with a higher degree of financial fragility, the survey showed those individuals feel less financially secure as a result of the pandemic, prioritizing short-term goals over retirement planning. Fifty-eight percent of financially fragile individuals responded that the pandemic has created “major financial challenges” for them, compared to only 11% of low fragility individuals.

Continue reading “Long Term Care Discussion Group Meeting Highlights Retirement Risk Surveys”