I have considered myself an insurance professional for 40 plus years, three-fourths of it in LTCI and I will not give up the notion that the good guys and girls in our chosen corner of the insurance marketing universe are the ones that survive to tell their stories. We are consistent in strapping on our fiduciary armor every morning to restore and confirm each day our belief in the wisdom of understanding and leveraging risk. We understand better than most the value of planning ahead and drastically altering future outcomes by our diligent and caring interference.My insurance career seems to have paralleled the rise of a new vital product and sales genre. I grew up in an insurance family. As a product and distribution consultant, uphill sales battles, innovative product development and national marketing strategies have continued to define my work, good and bad. In the 1980’s supplemental health plans proliferated from cancer indemnity to nursing home supplements. These augmenting policies and concepts helped create a rich sales environment that fed a growing inventory of benefit added on and specific indemnity enhancements. The industry did not ignore the risk. We simply had yet to understand its actual size and benefit trajectory.

Our clients responded better to the idea of care at home. With the advent of HIPAA, a corollary universe of senior home care service companies also began to evolve. The government had taken drastic action to incentivize the private market by defining a tax-

Ronald R. Hagelman, Jr. CLTC, CSA, LTCP

qualified comprehensive policy, fair benefit triggers and aggressive corporate premium deductibility. New sales and the necessity of senior care support at home began to flourish in tandem. In truth many readers of this column just like me would never be the same. Subsequently, adverse pricing adjustments, the Pension Protection Act expanding combo life and annuity product options, partnership plans, NAIC rider restructuring and rate stabilization have expanded our opportunities to sell protection into place.

The new definition of the LTCI conundrum is not focused only on sales and it is about to be overwhelmingly about claims. The billions of claim reserve dollars we stockpiled so diligently into place for the last 25 years should again caution us to follow the money pouring through claim management. We must not forget the delay of payment fines not so long ago levied against disability income carriers. Boomers we worked so hard to prepare will begin to turn 80 next year when the average age at claim is 78 and half will need care. We remain woefully unprepared: reserves under pressure, claim management TPA’s who exclude or diminish the role of professional financial planners in the claim process, serious shortages of available caregivers and the persistent lack of will from public or private sources to prepare for the claim tsunami now rapidly approaching the beach.

I must strongly caution my fellow veterans, those who care ahead and plan ahead to get your fiduciary claim support duck parameters in a row. This is when Noah started looking for timber. I would strongly recommend being prepared by establishing a relationship with a senior care company that understands the complexity of LTCI and can help expedite claims when the impact occurs. It is imperative we acknowledge the volume of claims gathering just offshore. It is mandatory that we applaud and gratefully recognize those agents who are now ready to hand out safety vests to their past clients and righteously help their children purchase their own future safety devices.

Ronald R. Hagelman has 44 years in the business, currently consults for Amada Senior Care, received the ILTCI Recognition Award (2024), and published over 250 LTCI articles. He created and distributed over 50 Life, Health, and Annuity products for 16 companies.