The 10 biggest announcements from life and health insurers this week

The Hamilton Project at Brookings released a new paper by Professor Wesley Yin, an economist with UCLA's School of Luskin Public Policy, entitled "Strengthening Risk Protection through Private Long-Term Care Insurance," which seeks to address challenges in the private long-term care insurance market. Yin discussed his new paper at a Hamilton Project forum on "Promoting Financial Well-Being in Retirement," where U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez delivered remarks on June 23 at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. In this new paper, commissioned by The Hamilton Project, Yin proposes the following reforms to long-term care (LTC) insurance financing in the private market that will offer individuals more-affordable and more-complete insurance against long-term services and support (LTSS) expenses, while allowing insurance firms to manage risk more efficiently.

Insurance nonprofit organization Life Happens announced the winners of its annual Real Life Stories Client Recognition Program, which celebrates insurance agents and advisors for their outstanding professional and personal commitments to supporting clients and their families in times of need. Currently in its 20^th year, the program reinforces Life Happens' core mission of raising public awareness of the importance of insurance coverage as part of a sound financial plan. This year, the program showcases the stories of agents who have gone above and beyond to ensure their clients and their loved ones were financially prepared for the future in the wake of a disabling accident or unexpected family death.

The 2015 Life Happens Real Life Stories award recipients are:

• Lars Hansen, LUTCF, American National, Mesa, Ariz.:  For Jason and Nicole Sherman, providing for their two daughters was at the heart of everything they did. Working with agent Lars Hansen, they both agreed that purchasing adequate life insurance was important to them and a crucial part of protecting their daughters' financial future. Lars continued meeting with the couple each year to review their needs and make adjustments to their coverage, helping to foster a friendship that went beyond that of a client-advisor relationship. Tragically, in 2005, after witnessing an accident on the freeway and checking to see if anyone was hurt, Nicole was struck by a car, leaving Jason as a single dad, concerned about caring for his young daughters while still working to provide them financial stability. With the proceeds from an individual life insurance policy Lars had helped put in place for Nicole, Jason was given time to grieve and spend time with his daughters, without having to worry about his family's financial stability. To see more, watch the video here.
• James Jacobs, CLU, ChFC, AXA, Chesterfield, Va.:  At the age of 27, Michael Sizemore was living his dream – training for his first marathon and starting a job as a lobbyist where he could do what he loved: give back to others. As a new employee, Michael was eligible for his employer's benefit program, which agent James Jacobs had established for the organization. Although Michael was young and healthy, Michael took full advantage of all the benefits offered through his employer and a number of individual insurance policies, including a disability insurance policy with Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. Just a year later, while on a trip to Washington D.C., Michael was hit by a drunk driver, leaving him in a medically induced coma with more than $2 million in medical expenses. The group health insurance paid his hospital medical expenses and through the individual disability insurance coverage James helped Michael put in place, he has enough income to continue living his life and pay for his physical therapy, despite being unable to work. To see more, watch the video here.
• Juli McNeely, LUTCF, CFP, CLU, McNeely Financial Services, Inc., Spencer, Wis.: As their family began to grow, Sam and Amy McNeely knew they needed more life insurance coverage than what was provided through Sam's employer. To ensure their infant daughter, Charli, would be protected if anything happened to them, they turned to agent Juli McNeely for help taking out a policy that would provide adequate coverage in the event of their deaths. When Sam fell ill and suddenly died at the age of 38 from a dissected aorta, Juli reminded Amy of the life insurance policies with Mutual Trust Financial Group, Auto-Owners Life Insurance Company and EMC National Life she and Sam had purchased prior to Charli's birth. Juli couldn't take away the emotional pain of losing Sam, but she knew his insurance policy would help them financially. Sam's life insurance policy through his work and the policies Juli helped the family set up, have allowed Amy and Charli to live their lives without financial hardship. To see more, watch the video here.
• Craig Wiklund, CLU, ChFC, Wiklund & Bond Financial Services, Auburn Hills, Mich.: Craig helped advise his close friend and small business owner client, John Gongos, to purchase insurance to ensure both his family and his research company were taken care of if anything were to happen to him. Craig helped John develop a succession plan for his company and purchase life insurance policies with Voya Financial and AXA that would fund that agreement and protect the employees he considered family. Tragically, at the age of 51, John was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma. Just two weeks after his diagnosis, John passed away, leaving his wife, kids, and devoted employees in shock. Thanks to John's insurance policies, he was able to not only take care of his family, allowing his wife Anne and their three children to stay in their house, he was also able to take care of his employees and keep his business running. To see more, watch the video here.

This year's four Real Life Stories honorees, along with their clients, will be formally recognized at the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) annual conference in New Orleans later this fall. A presentation ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 4, 2015. Starting June 23, the 2015 Real Life Stories will be available to insurance agents and advisors, along with new Life Insurance Awareness Month marketing resources, via the new Life Happens Pro website.

LIMRA and LOMA are pleased to announce that noted economist José Antonio Ocampo will deliver the keynote address at the LIMRA LOMA 2015 Latin American Conference, Aug. 9–11, 2015, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Ocampo served as the United Nations undersecretary for Economic and Social Affairs from 2003–2007 and has held a variety of other leadership positions in the Colombian government, including minister of Finance and Public Credit, minister of Agriculture, and director of the National Planning Department. He is currently a professor at Columbia University in the City of New York, and continues to write and publish a variety of articles and books on global economic policies.

With a meeting theme of "Differentiating in a Competitive Market," the conference sessions will address what needs to be done to stay ahead of the competition in areas such as future product strategies, agency productivity, automated underwriting and digital marketing.Robert A. Kerzner, president and CEO, LIMRA, LOMA and LL Global Inc. will also address the conference, offering insights into using technology, big data, predictive analytics and social media for optimal results.