Lawmaker Proposes Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program: IRI Conference

Suozzi's Ideas

Suozzi, who appeared alongside Paul Richman, IRI's chief government and political affairs officer, talked about a variety of ideas for encouraging Americans to save and employers to offer more retirement plans.

The lawmaker suggested, during comments on the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Relief Act of 2021, part of the American Rescue Plan Act package, that the act will provide enough cash for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to keep multiemployer pension plans solvent for another 40 or 50 years.

Suozzi then talked about long-term care planning. He said he learned about the topic when his own parents used LTCI coverage to pay for care in their old age.  "Too many people don't do that," he said.

Suozzi said that use of private LTCI coverage is too low because the policies are too expensive, and that policies are too expensive because the cost of providing coverage for people who will need care for 18 months or more drives up the premiums.

Suozzi said the country needs a federal catastrophic LTCI program that wraps around private LTCI coverage:

• The program could kick in after lower-income people have needed long-term care services for at least year, and it could start paying for care for the highest-income people after those people have needed care for at least five years.
• Benefits payments would start at $3,600 per month.
• Financing could come from an 0.25% payroll tax on employers and a 0.25% payroll tax on workers.

Suozzi added he would like to see the program help private insurers introduce new types of LTCI products, rather than crowding private insurers out of the LTCI market.

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