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Long Term Care

Symetra: 40% of Baby Boomers Answered This One Question Incorrectly?

Does Medicare cover nursing home care?

There’s a lack of knowledge surrounding Medicare for most of us, such as what age we’re eligible and what care is covered. According to Money Magazine, a survey found that 40% of baby boomers believe Medicare will pay for a stay in a nursing home if they need help with daily living activities such as dressing and eating.1 Unfortunately, that may not be the case.

This is a good reason to talk to your clients about Symetra’s Accelerated Death Benefit for Chronic Care Advantage Rider that’s available on our indexed universal life products.

With this optional rider, policyowners can choose to access a portion of the death benefit (50% or 100%) with monthly payments of either 2% or 4% if the insured is certified by a health practitioner as being chronically ill.2,3

Get answers to frequently asked questions about our rider.

Chronic Care Advantage Rider is not intended to provide and will never provide long-term care insurance.

1 Money Magazine, May 16, 2022. You’ll Need Way More Money Than You Think for Health Care Costs in Retirement.

2The monthly rider benefit amount cannot exceed the IRS per-diem limit (available at the time of claim) multiplied by 30. Subject to the maximum daily limit for benefits set by the Internal Revenue Service for each calendar year.

3Chronic Illness is defined as a person who, during the prior 12-month period, has been certified by a licensed health care professional as being permanently unable to perform at least two of the six activities of daily living, or requiring substantial supervision to protect himself or herself or others from threats to health and safety due to a sever cognitive impairment. “Cognitive impairment” generally means a loss or deterioration in a person’s intellectual capacity and includes diseases like Alzheimer’s and various forms of irreversible dementia. “Activities of daily living” generally means routine daily self-care activities, such as getting dressed, eating, using the bathroom and getting out of bed. Must be annually recertified by a licensed health care practitioner to continue receiving benefits.

New York MoneyGuard Product Suspension

Last day to submit applications is March 25, 2022

Due to the existing regulatory environment in New York, Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York (Lincoln) is unable to maintain a modern portfolio of MoneyGuard® hybrid life insurance products in the state and will be suspending new MoneyGuard® sales in New York until further notice. These changes do not impact existing policyholders.

The following product currently sold in New York will be suspended after March 25, 2022:
▪ Lincoln MoneyGuard® II NY

Submission and placement deadline
▪ All New York applications for the product listed above must be received in-good-order at Lincoln by March 25, 2022, and
▪ All pipeline cases for the New York product listed above must be placed inforce, or 1035 exchange initiated by June 30, 2022
▪ Any case not placed inforce or 1035 exchange initiated by June 30, 2022 will be cancelled

As a reminder, New York Solicitation and Situs guidelines must continue to be followed. For any New York resident (Proposed Insured or Owner) applying for life insurance coverage outside of New York no part of the sale can take place in the state of New York. All sales activities including solicitation, paperwork signing, and policy delivery must be conducted in the state of situs, and all paperwork and forms must align to the state of situs. Additionally, the New York resident (Proposed Insured or Owner) must sign the Out of State Verification Form. An article with important New York Situs reminders is also available as a reference.

At this time, there is no date set for the future availability or reintroduction of MoneyGuard® products in New York. Any updates will be communicated through the Lincoln Life Leader. Please contact your Lincoln representative with any questions.

7702 Changes Effective November 1st for SecureCare UL

Effective November 1, 2021, the guaranteed interest rate on new SecureCare Universal Life (SecureCare UL) applications will be updated to comply with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which lowers the interest rate assumptions used in Section 7702 of the Internal Revenue Code.

More information available HERE.

IMPORTANT: Omaha LTC New Business Rate Refresh and Benefit Changes for NJ, DC and HI

From Mutual of Omaha:

“As a leading long-term care insurance carrier, Mutual of Omaha has a responsibility to our policyholders and distribution partners to ensure our pricing strategy and product offerings are in line with industry trends, internal claims data and the economic environment.

Last year, Mutual of Omaha began implementing new rates and benefit option changes to the MutualCare® Solutions Portfolio in approved states. Effective August 1, 2021, we will be implementing these changes in three additional states. 

Impacted States

District of Columbia, Hawaii and New Jersey

Rate Adjustments

Premium adjustments may vary by age, sex and benefit selection. You may view the new rates by referring to the quoting software beginning August 1, 2021.

Cash Benefit Changes

  • MutualCare® Custom: 25% of home health care benefit up to initial maximum of $2,000 per month
  • MutualCare® Secure: 25% of home health care benefit up to initial maximum of $2,000 per month

Partner Premium Allowance Changes

  • Both Issued: 15%
  • One Issued: 5%

Transition rules and more information can be found HERE.

Lincoln MoneyGuard Pricing Improvements

Effective July 12, 2021, Lincoln Financial will be implementing pricing improvements to Lincoln MoneyGuard® III, Lincoln MoneyGuard® II and Lincoln MoneyGuard® II NY.
The purpose of these pricing updates is to improve competitive pricing in key cells. There will be no pricing increases as a result of this update.

After a transition period, currently sold MoneyGuard® products will be replaced by the following:
▪ Lincoln MoneyGuard® III (2021) – 07/12/21 will replace currently sold Lincoln MoneyGuard® III (2021)
▪ Lincoln MoneyGuard® II (2020) – 07/12/21 will replace currently sold Lincoln MoneyGuard® II (2020) – 06/14/21 in the state of California.
▪ Lincoln MoneyGuard® II NY – 07/12/21 will replace currently sold Lincoln MoneyGuard® II NY – 06/14/21 in the state of New York.

More information available HERE.

Mutual of Omaha – Phase 2 LTC New Business Rate Refresh and Benefit Changes

Phase 2 of Mutual of Omaha’s rate refresh will be taking effect on November 1st in 5 states – Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Please note the following important dates for both paper and eApplications:

• All applications must be signed by October 31st and received at Mutual of Omaha’s Home Office no later than November 13th to receive the old rates and benefits.
• Applications signed November 1st or later will receive the new rates and benefits and will require new applications completed on the new application version
• Older application versions received in Mutual of Omaha’s Home Office after November 13th will be closed and will require new applications completed on the new application version to be processed
• Applications for the new rates will be made available on November 1st on Sales Professional Access (SPA).
• Backdating of applications is not allowed and will not be accepted

There will be no exceptions to the rules as outlined above and in the formal communication.

The original announcement can be found HERE.

Lincoln MoneyGuard Pricing Update

Given the industry’s historically low interest rate environment, Lincoln is making prudent and responsible pricing adjustments.

Effective June 15, 2020, Lincoln Financial will implement pricing increases to all products in the Lincoln MoneyGuard solutions suite. Adjustments on flex-pay designs will see a pricing increase of approximately 15%. Single-pay designs will see a pricing increase of approximately 20%.

Additionally, Return of Premium (ROP) on Lincoln MoneyGuard® II in California is being updated to bring consistency across the MoneyGuard product suite. The Basic ROP option will be 70%. The Vested ROP option will begin at 70% and grade up to 100% over six years.

It is important to note that no changes will be made to the contract language, forms, compensation or benefits provided.

Transition Period

For applications to qualify for the current pricing, a projection of values and the completed application Part 1 must be signed, dates and received in good order by Lincoln’s home office by Friday, June 26, 2020.

All pending business must be issued, or 1035 exchanges initiated (where applicable), on or before August 28, 2020.

Additional information is available HERE.

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