The Consumers' Guide To Long Term Care Insurance
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
History and Evolution of Elder Care
“Sure I’m for
helping the elderly.
I’m going to be
old myself some day”
Lillian Carter, in her
80’s
The task of caring for those who
cannot care for themselves is a difficult one. Throughout most of history, and
in most societies, the family has taken responsibility for the care of ailing
and disabled family members who were unable to care for themselves. It was not
unusual for a home to house several generations of the same family. Providing
for the needs of a parent was simply considered a way of life.
The English Poor Laws of 1601
represented the first attempt to codify Western ideas of societal
responsibilities for the welfare of all citizens. The 1601 laws brought
together a number of Elizabethan Poor Laws that had been enacted since 1563
into one common law. These laws categorized the poor as deserving for the first
time in history and required local taxation to provide care for those in need.
It was these same concepts that were carried to the
Throughout the 18th and 19th
centuries, extended families continued to provide most of the care for aging
family members. Those without family were provided for by community-based
almshouses and poorhouses.
***
Underwriting
“Take calculated risks. That is quite
different from being rash”
General George S.
Patton
In order to understand the
underwriting process, one must first be familiar with the basic premise of
insurance.
Insurance is a product designed
to protect an individual, group, or business from an unforeseen risk by
spreading the risk of loss over a number of lives. The word unforeseen is the
key to this process, otherwise it would not be insurance.
Insurers know, with some degree
of certainty, the likelihood that a specific incident will occur. As a result, the insurer is able to spread
that risk among a number of individuals to minimize its impact.
For example: Suppose an insurer
assumes that one out of every 10,000 healthy 42-year-old males will die this
year. No one knows which of the 10,000
it will be. The financial loss to the family of that one individual could be
devastating. The insurance concept is applied when the group determines that no
single individual could or should bear that loss. If each of the 10,000 paid
$10 into a pool at the start of the year, the pool would have $100,000 to
provide for the family of the deceased.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
In writing this book, Mr. Rowley
taps into his years of insurance industry experience as no one has done before.
He guides the reader through the most comprehensive and concise analysis of
Long Term Care insurance ever written. He unlocks the complex mysteries of
insurance in a manner that is straightforward and easy to understand. Beginning with histories of aging and elder
care, this book quickly sets the “big picture” explaining the need for Long
Term Care Insurance today. From understanding the need, to choosing a product,
what to expect from the underwriting process, and even how a claim might be
handled. Anyone considering the purchase of a Long Term Care policy will
consider this book a “must read”.
About the Author
The author is uniquely qualified
to address the important issues of Long Term Care insurance. As Vice President
of Risk Management for a major international reinsurer
he works closely with countless insurers and consulting firms. His
responsibilities include oversight of both underwriting and claims management
processes. He has supervised the development of comprehensive risk management
guides that have become standards in the Long Term Care industry. The author’s
responsibilities in the reinsurance market provide him with an extremely broad
perspective of industry practices. In addition to his underwriting and claims
duties, he is involved in the analysis of insurance policies, contract
language, and pricing discussions.
With more than fifteen years of
insurance experience, the author is a well-recognized and respected leader of
the Long Term Care insurance industry. He is active in numerous industry events
and conferences. He is a founding member, and past president, of the Long Term
Care International Forum. He has worked closely with the Society of Actuaries
on Long Term Care education and is a frequent speaker at industry events.
Above all, the author is someone
who believes in the value and importance of Long Term Care insurance and has
advocated responsible stewardship of the public trust. He has had the pleasure
of working with the brightest and most creative people in the industry and has
used that experience in this book to demystify Long Term Care insurance.