The State of LTCi Claims and the Power of Claims Advocacy B U D DY I N S U R A N C E A DVE R TO R I A L
By Gretchen Barry of Buddy Insurance interviews Jon Thomas of Amada Senior Care With November being National Long-Term Care Awareness Month, this is a great time to consider the conversations you might be having with clients about their plans for funding a long-term care event. Part of that conversation often involves misperceptions about long-term care insurance, specifically the claims process. The long-term care insurance (LTCi) claims process and care coordination can be a mystery to policyholders and their financial advisors. There might also be an objection to purchasing LTCi if a client has a negative impression or believes the carrier won’t meet its claims obligation. Even some of the best long-term care insurance specialists have questions about the claims and care coordination process. Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jon Thomas, director of national accounts and strategic partnerships at Amada Senior Care, to answer some of the tough questions around the current claims process and what the future holds as this wave of seniors seeks extended care. Gretchen Barry: Let’s start by unpacking the current situation that retirees and seniors are finding themselves in as they enter retirement and begin to age in place. We’ve all heard about the wave of baby boomers entering retirement, and the potential 26 | CALIFORNIA BROKER
challenges this large aging demographic may impose on our society. As a top national senior care agency, what do you recognize about the situation seniors are facing today? Jon Thomas: The senior care continuum is incredibly complex. Every administration has been working to address the issue since Roosevelt signed the Social Security act into law and President Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act. Our aging population presents a public health crisis that affects families, wealth dynamics, economic productivity, hospitals, healthcare systems, and ultimately social and government efficacy. This large generation of baby boomers aging in place presents several challenges, the largest of which might be the cost to social programs. The government, through Medicare and Medicaid, is the largest payer of healthcare costs, specifically for seniors as they need increased health resources. Senior care and long-term care (LTC) additionally represent exorbitant costs that our government programs aren’t ready to handle. There is increased attention and concern on this issue demonstrated by moves such as Washington’s creation of a public LTC program to shift costs away from their state Medicaid budget, and the dozen other states soon to follow suit. Or the federal
CalBrokerMag.com
NOVEMBER 2023
