Senator Anwar Sends Letter to Insurance Commissioner Mais Seeking Moratorium on Long-Term Care Insurance Rate Hikes
Today, State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) sent a letter to Department of Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais, seeking a moratorium on rate hikes for long-term care insurance policyholders. Since his election to the Senate in 2019, the issue of long-term care insurance cost has been a focal point of Sen. Anwar’s advocacy for older residents of the state, who continue to suffer and struggle under intense financial burdens caused by issues not of their own.
A pervasive pattern, laid out in two Hartford Business Journal articles from 2020, illustrates the issue at hand. In July 2020, the news source reported long-term care insurers requested big rate hikes due to a history of mismanagement, including mispricing of policies sold in the past; at the same time, long-term care costs are rising faster in Connecticut than even the national average, according to a second article from the news source in late 2020.
The financial strain caused by these factors is leaving ratepayers, who have relied on this insurance, in some cases, for years, facing intense financial strain. Speaking of constituents he has heard from, Sen. Anwar said some “have had to sacrifice basic needs like food to afford their insurance payments; in others, they’ve been forced to stop making payments, meaning they lose coverage they’ve invested in for years, sometimes decades.”
Aware of the further challenges posed by the lingering financial damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Anwar concludes the letter asking for a moratorium on long-term care insurance rate hikes.
The full letter is available below.
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Dear Commissioner Mais,
Unfortunately, I write to you again, seeking fixes to a significant problem that continues to trouble and impact a number of my constituents. I have contacted you in recent years regarding the increasing issues harming those paying for long-term care insurance. Over past decades, these customers have recognized they may need to live in long-term care facilities due to health or aging concerns and have been paying into insurance plans yearly for that reason. However, for reasons not of their fault, they run the risk of financial ruin.
Media reports continue to detail that significant rate hikes requested by long-term care insurance providers in recent years result from incorrect estimations made in the past by those providers. A 2020 Hartford Business Journal article cites Paul Lombardo, the life and health division director of the Connecticut Insurance Department, who says the long-term care insurance rate increases are “largely spurred by mispricing of legacy policies sold years or even decades ago, when insurers made incorrect future assumptions about mortality rates, care costs, insurance rates…”
While these rate hikes are primarily due to providers’ incorrect estimates, the consequences are falling hard on insurance ratepayers. I have heard from many constituents and state residents that these continued rate hikes force them to choose between their financial obligations and retaining their coverage, a no-win scenario. In some cases, customers on fixed incomes have had to sacrifice basic needs like food to afford their insurance payments; in others, they’ve been forced to stop making payments, meaning they lose coverage they’ve invested in for years, sometimes decades.
This issue existed before the COVID-19 pandemic began impacting our state in early 2020, but it has not diminished. If anything, it only further harms these individuals, with financial difficulties and pressure compounding on itself. Moreover, Connecticut is still working to recover from the worst of the pandemic’s effects, and as such, these rate hikes are even more damaging in my view.
The need for a moratorium on long-term care insurance rate hikes is no longer ignorable. Thousands of Connecticut residents risk further financial harm the longer it is not put in place. I hope to speak with you and discuss this issue, with the well-being of our state’s residents at the forefront of our conversation.
Sincerely
State Senator Saud Anwar
3rd District
