Senior Living owners and operators have seen—and will likely continue to see—growing liability costs as the COVID-19 pandemic persists, a new survey from Willis Towers Watson shows. The study aimed to estimate loss costs, defined as loss cost per unit of exposure, over a 10-year period to measure how the frequency and severity of claims brought against long-term care (LTC) facilities’ owners and operators has changed over time.
The survey included 38 senior living owners and operators. Those owners and operators reported more than 14,000 claims and almost $2 billion in incurred losses from 2009 to 2019. The survey also found that the number of claims against LTC operators for more than $1 million rose over the course of the 10-year period. Similarly, the average cost of claims is higher since 2016 than from 2009 to 2016. Prior to 2016, the value of an average claim rose by 4% annually. Between 2016 and 2019, claim value grew at a rate of 11.56% per year. States with tort reform generally saw less severe claims, and thus lower loss costs, whereas states without senior living tort reform generally saw higher, increasing costs.
Continue reading “Senior Living 2021 Claims Benchmarking Study”