Some state insurance regulators and consumer group representatives are skeptical of arrangements that combine long-term care insurance with life insurance coverage.
Members of the Health Actuarial Task Force, an arm of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, talked about their concerns in December, according to draft meeting notes included in a newly posted task force meeting packet.
Insurers and long-term care planners might think of combination products as a helpful way to ease consumer concerns about the idea of paying for coverage that they will never use.
But Paul Lombardo, an insurance department staffer from Connecticut, and Russell Toal, a department staffer from New Mexico, said officials in their states worry about consumer confusion.
One problem is that consumers might not understand that using a combination policy to pay for long-term care will reduce their death benefits, Lombardo said.