LIMRA Hosts Long Term Care Day

Windsor, CT, July 31, 2008 — LIMRA today hosted a forum on long term care bringing together experts in policy, providers of care and insurance to raise awareness of the issues surrounding financing and planning for long term care.

“As our population ages, it is imperative that we, as an industry, work together with private institutions, as well as local, state and federal government agencies to find reasonable and affordable solutions that will provide for growing numbers of people who will need long term care,” said Bob Kerzner, president and CEO of LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global. “LIMRA is proud to support such an important and timely event. LIMRA is committed to providing forums that will encourage innovative thinking and discussion.”

The forum featured Steve Moses, president of the Center for LTC Reform and long term care (LTC) advocate.

“Medicaid will not be able to continue to cover the costs of long term care that Americans have come to rely on--that safety net will disintegrate within the next 5 to 15 years,” said Moses. “It’s an act of good citizenship for people who have the means to take personal responsibility for their care and leave the public funding for the neediest among us.”

Moses is traveling the country on his LTC Consciousness Tour to spread the message of personal responsibility and rational long-term care policy across America. Touring in his "Silver Bullet" trailer, Moses is raising awareness for the need to fix long-term care financing policy.

In addition to Steve Moses, today’s event brought together David Guttchen, director of the CT Partnership for Long Term Care; Brian Ellsworth, president and CEO of Connecticut Association for Home Care and Hospice (CAHCH); Anita Stepanowski, vice president of Risk Management (Underwriting and Claims) for MetLife; and John Connelly, long term care specialist and national spokesman for MoneyGuard® Reserve at Lincoln Financial Distributors Inc. (LFD) to voice the different perspectives of the long term care financing issues facing the United States.

“This is an exciting time for LTC partnerships,” Guttchen said. “With 20 new states adding partnership programs, more than half the country is offering an affordable way for people to take personal responsibility without losing all of their assets.”

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at least 70 percent of people over age 65 will require some long-term care services at some point in their lives. In 2005, more than $206 billion was spent on long-term care services in the United States—49 percent covered by Medicaid, consuming more than a third of its budget.