Regulatory/Compliance Archives - Page 2 of 5

Senate Finance Committee Advances EARN Act in Effort to Expand Retirement

On Wednesday, June 22, the Senate Finance Committee advanced the Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act, including an amendment containing retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s Long-Term Care Affordability Act. The Amendment would allow people to use up to $2,000 per year in 401(k) assets to pay for their LTCi premiums. The Amendment aims to promote a more viable LTCi marketplace by increasing participation, as the use of 401(k) funds would expand the asset pool available to pay premiums. The bill would apply to “eligible retirement plans,” defined as a qualified retirement plan that is a defined contribution plan, a section 403(a) annuity plan, a section 403(b) plan, a governmental section 457(b) plan, or an IRA. The qualifying coverage may be for the individual or the individual’s spouse or dependent. Distributions for the purpose of LTCi premiums would be exempt from the additional 10% tax on the amount of the distribution.

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2022 ILTCI Conference

Faegre Drinker is proud to sponsor The Intercompany Long-Term Care Insurance Conference to be held March 20-23 at the Raleigh Convention Center. The conference is the largest multidisciplinary long-term care conference in the U.S. and will include dozens of educational sessions featuring industry thought leaders and LTCI community insiders.

Here is a brief look at the panels that will include members of our Team, with topics ranging from litigation, to aging in place, to rate increase innovations:

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Louisiana Secures Temporary Injunction in Connection with the SHIP Rehabilitation Plan

Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (“SHIP”) was placed in rehabilitation in Pennsylvania in January 2020. On August 24, 2021, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania approved the Rehabilitation Plan (the “Plan”), which includes a nationwide premium increase and several benefit modification options that will be presented to policyholders to avoid or mitigate the rate increase. The Plan includes an opt-out for state regulators who elect to review the proposed rate increase, but if an opt-out state does not approve the full rate increase the options available to policyholders of policies issued in that state would not include an option for the policyholder to retain the full benefit amounts set forth in their policy. Because of the novel strategy to pursue a rate increase/benefit modification through the rehabilitation court, the Plan has proven to be controversial. For example, the chief insurance regulators in Massachusetts, Maine and Washington have filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to challenge and block the Plan (and a group of 27 other state insurance regulators filed an amicus brief in support of this challenge). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently denied an application for a stay of the approval of the Plan while the appeal is pending.

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NAIC LTCi Task Force Adopts MSA Framework, Wellness Document and Policyholder Communication Checklist

At its recent Fall 2021 National Meeting, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Long-Term Care Insurance Task Force adopted the following items:

the revised LTCI Multistate Rate Review Framework (MSA Framework);
the LTC Wellness Benefits Document (See Attachment Six of the Meeting Materials, page 65); and
the Checklist for Premium Increase Communications (See Attachment Seven of the Meeting Materials, page 82). The MSA Framework will be considered by Exec/Plenary at the 2022 Spring National Meeting.

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NAIC’s Long-Term Care Insurance Multistate Rate Review (EX) Subgroup Releases New MSA Framework Draft

NAIC’s Long-Term Care Insurance Multistate Rate Review (EX) Subgroup recently released a new draft of its MSA Framework document. Comments are due by December 6.

The NAIC has charged the Long‐Term Care Insurance (EX) Task Force with developing a consistent national approach for reviewing current LTCi rates that results in actuarially appropriate increases being granted by the states in a timely manner and that eliminates cross‐state rate subsidization.

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Updates to the Long-Term Care Insurance NAIC Model Act and Model Regulation

As part of its effort to revamp and modernize the Model Laws, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is updating the Long-Term Care Insurance Model Act, Model 640-1, and the Long-Term Care Insurance Model Regulation, Model 641-1 (combined, the Models). The current versions of the Models were finalized in 2017, and all states have adopted the current Models or similar legislation.

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Is the WISH Act the Answer to Concerns About the Cost of an Aging Population?

A new bill proposed in Congress seeks to address financial concerns due to an aging population through the Well-Being Insurance for Seniors to be at Home Act (“WISH Act”). The current population of the United States is aging rapidly, leading to an increasing percentage of the population aged 65 and over. In fact, it is estimated that by 2050 the number of people living over the age of 65 will almost double and the number of people living over the age of 85 will triple.

The WISH Act, introduced on July 1, 2021 by U.S. Representative Tom Suozzi (NY), cautions that “the typical U.S. senior could afford only about 12 months of nursing home care, assisted living care, or extensive home care using their financial wealth.” This is consistent with the idea that over “half of Americans entering old age today will have a long-term need for constant attendance by another person, averaging $298,000 costs per person for about 2 years of serious self care disability (as defined in HIPAA), and more than half will be out-of-pocket, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).”

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Examining the State of the Long-Term Care Insurance Hybrid Market

Join us June 30 for a discussion about the current state of the LTCi hybrid market and its future. Cheri McCourt, assistant general counsel at Northwestern Mutual, will join partners Sandy Jones and Nolan Tully to share their insights on LTCi hybrid issues including:

A market shift towards brisk sales of hybrid products and away from stand-alone LTCi
Key features of LTCi hybrid products and related legal/regulatory considerations
The future of the LTCi hybrid market, including:

Can products be designed to reach the middle market?
Can this product fill the LTC funding gap or even reduce population-wide reliance on Medicaid for LTC?
Are there products or features that could enhance the usefulness of hybrid products by, for instance, introducing wellness incentives for policyholders?

Litigation risks to riders/hybrids connected with sales and product confusion

To learn more and to register click here.