Genworth 1.68X Increase Oh Boy

[TheWizard]

You have got to be kidding me.
$953 to $1556 a quarter and that's just for me.
Phased in over 2 years,if I don't reduce coverage.

Talk about inflation. Due to increased healthare cost. Bull.

Really have to think their alternative plans over,wife will probably
need TAVR this year procedure can give you a stroke or other problems.

They have been increasing cost every year,but this one is insane.

Highly aggravated, having a VO.
Oldmike

VO on the rocks, checko...

 

[mf15]

I see some here have small increases. I speculate in certain states the massive
increases are rejected by the state. So perhaps Genworth is hammering the people who live in states where increases are rubber stamped.
If I do nothing our combined premium will go to over 12K. Gee what happens next year.
One other problem is that I attended my wifes grandmothers 100th birthday party some years ago.
So she could live a long time.
On a positive note,have a rider if one kicks the bucket,no more premiums,for the other.
Oldmike

 

[mf15]

From state ins commission. What a pile of crap.
Oldmike

Genworth Life Insurance Company
Nov 18, 2022
SERFF #: GEFA-133338038
Filing Summary:
Genworth requested approval to increase the premium 98.2% increase on 4,288 PA policyholders of form 7035 (also
called Choice I). Applies to Policies Issued After 9/15/2002.
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department approved the requested premium increase staged over a 3-year period.
Effective date of rate change: Renewals on and after 11/18/2022.
The current policies in place are not generating sufficient premium to pay future claims to policyholders. This is a
common problem for a number of insurers nationwide because policyholders are keeping their policies longer than
expected and are living longer than projected. As a result, policyholders are using more benefits on average than the
company anticipated when the policies were originally sold. This means the company has to pay out more for benefits
than it originally projected.
In making this decision, the Department considered the projected loss ratio for each block of policy forms, that is,
the projected total amount of benefits paid out versus the total amount of premium collected, the reasonableness of
the assumptions the company used in its projections, and the company’s financial situation. The Department also
considered the financial impact this rate increase would pose to consumers, the past rate increases policyholders
have faced, and the availability of options to limit the rate increase by reducing benefits.
The company is offering ways for policyholders to limit the rate increase by reducing benefits. The company will let you
know your options when they contact you directly about this premium increase.
This Rate Filing Decision Summary is a tool to help explain the rate filing and doe

 

[athena53]

From state ins commission. What a pile of crap.
Oldmike

Genworth Life Insurance Company
<snip>

Not really- Genworth got their assumptions wrong. It's more useful than the "LTC costs are going up" explanation some have gotten- as they pointed out, many LTC policies pay up to a fixed limit so the policyholder is on the hook for the rest of the increases. This addresses the other assumptions- lapse rates, what % will need LTC and at what age, how long someone will remain in LTC, etc.- that are also important factors.

State insurance commissions walk a fine line. I can tell you from being in the insurance business that their analysts are paid to find every assumption that might mean your need for a rate increase is overstated and to beat it down. OTOH, they don't want to tamp rates down to a point that the company becomes insolvent.

 

[Scuba]

Not really- Genworth got their assumptions wrong. It's more useful than the "LTC costs are going up" explanation some have gotten- as they pointed out, many LTC policies pay up to a fixed limit so the policyholder is on the hook for the rest of the increases. This addresses the other assumptions- lapse rates, what % will need LTC and at what age, how long someone will remain in LTC, etc.- that are also important factors.



State insurance commissions walk a fine line. I can tell you from being in the insurance business that their analysts are paid to find every assumption that might mean your need for a rate increase is overstated and to beat it down. OTOH, they don't want to tamp rates down to a point that the company becomes insolvent.

I used to work in the senior living industry, and it is a fact that on average, people in assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing facilities do live longer than those who live at home. It’s not surprising the insurers got this wrong in the beginning as they didn’t have much data.

One of the reasons we have not purchased LTC coverage is that there is a limit to how long either of us want to continue to live in a Memory Care or SNF facility. After a certain point, most residents are just existing, not living, and since we don’t have children or grandchildren, we are unlikely to have visitors when we can no longer carry on conversations.

 

[easysurfer]

When I had a traditional LTC policy, every time a rate increase happened, would feel like I got sucker punched. Then the offer of keeping the same premium but less coverage only added insult to the injury.

 

[SDHiker]

We bought our Genworth policy nine years ago in California. We just received our first rate increase, which is 37%. It is shocking. We're going to stay the course for now, because we don't have the assets to "self-insure" for any length of time. We can afford the premiums for now, but we do worry about the future increases. We have very good coverage, which is adjusted yearly for inflation. We are still fairly young, and worry about things like dementia or stroke in the future, which could wipe us out fairly quickly.

 

[zippy2020]

...I used to work in the senior living industry, and it is a fact that on average, people in assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing facilities do live longer than those who live at home. It’s not surprising the insurers got this wrong in the beginning as they didn’t have much data.
.

+1. When we moved my MIL (mild-moderate dementia, but still active and happy) to a full-service seniorcare facility, she was in Asst. Lvg. Facility assigns residents to a table of 4 for meals, and if she didn't get along with them, told us they would be happy to try seating her elsewhere, no problem.

She was 84 at the time. Imagine her shock when she discovered she was the "young one" at the table! Her tablemates were 87, 91, and 99 yrs of age. All had been at the facility in Asst. Lvg. since their mid-60's and -70's!

Turned out it wasn't at all unusual for the facility to celebrate residents reaching their 25th yr anniversary of moving in. She loved it there, but it was NOT cheap. Even being a non-profit, their Asst. Lvg. is currently close to $5K/mo and SCN/convalescent is $14K/mo.

 

[flatrock]

They should have done a better job of getting more reserves from parent company at the spin off to cover poor underwriting. Instead of massively raising rates on people who bought lower priced products in good faith in their working years. Just my opinion.

 

[athena53]

They should have done a better job of getting more reserves from parent company at the spin off to cover poor underwriting. Instead of massively raising rates on people who bought lower priced products in good faith in their working years. Just my opinion.

I can tell you from personal experience (although not as a Genworth employee) that the parent company wanted to book the lowest reserves they could get the actuary to certify.

 

[isisdave]

We're a couple, bought Genworth LTC (California Partnership plan) in 2003 at age 53, premiums were $890 quarterly. In 2016-2018 there was a 26% increase, and 2021-2023 another 26%. So now $1419, or 59% more than 20 years ago.

The CPI has gone up 65% in that time, and the policies have a 5% annual inflation increase, so now they would pay $2.65 for every $1 originally scheduled. Plus, we bought the plan that pays forever (assuming they stay in business).

I'm still happy.

 

[kongmen]

Following

 

[Koolau]

Genworth is long term care insurance?

If so, that’s a pretty brutal increase.

DW has a life policy with them that she got as a "parting gift" (instead of a gold watch) when she retired.