The Long-Term Care Insurance Task Force is asking for public comments on a proposal that could help states join together to provide faster, more consistent reviews of insurers requests for increases in long-term care insurance (LTCI) premiums.
The task force — an arm of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners — has posted a draft of a Long-Term Care Insurance Multi-State Rate Review Framework.
The framework could eventually form the basis for a system states could use to join together to review insurers' LTCI premium change applications.
The History
The issue is of keen interest to insurers because low interest rates and inaccurate insurer assumptions about policyholder behavior have led to many LTCI issuers reporting that actual claims have been much higher than what the issuers had originally included in the calculations used to set premiums.
Some states, such as California, have been more resistant to insurers' LTCI rate increase requests others.
Regulators in some states have argued that states that are too tough on LTCI rate increase requests may cause the issuers to impose even bigger increases on the residents of the states with regulators that do approve adequate rate increases.
The Text
Proposal drafters say in the introduction at the start of the document that the NAIC told the Long-Term Care Insurance Task Force, in a charge, to create a consistent national approach to LTCI rate change reviews that "results in actuarially appropriate increases being granted by states in a timely manner."
