Conning: Profits Scarce In Individual LTC Business

NU Online News Service, July 14, 2003, 4:48 p.m. EDT – Long term care insurance sales will probably continue to grow, but many companies in the individual LTC market are having a hard time with pricing their products, controlling their operating costs and managing their investments, according to a new report by analysts at Conning Research and Consulting Inc., New York.

Frequent moves by LTC insurers to shore up benefit reserves are a symptom of chronic underpricing, the Conning analysts warn.

"Net present value analysis of projected company cash flow supports our view that the long-term care market's in-force book, in aggregate, is not profitable," the Conning analysts conclude in a release announcing the new report.