Carrier Updates

Introducing an Enhanced EssentialLTC

A product that can now do more.

NGL has been listening to your feedback and are excited to announce your suggestions were used to enhance EssentialLTC! The changes are geared toward making it easier to sell, and the new features will allow you to offer your clients a product that can do more.

NGL enhanced its features, options, underwriting classes and the rider selection has been streamlined! These changes will be effective for all new business applications received on or after April 1, 2021, in the following 38 states: AK, AL, AR, CO, GA, IA, ID, IL, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NM, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY.

This information will be distributed in a field communication on March 19, 2021. Please see below for the details on these enhancements.

New Features

• For joint policies, when one insured passes away the premium will now decrease to an amount specified on the illustration and Policy Schedule for each person.
• The Waiver of Premium Rider for Home and Community Care Services is now built into the policy and premium when Comprehensive Coverage is selected.
• The 10-Year Premium Payment Option is now fully guaranteed and will never be subject to a rate increase.
• The underwriting rate classes will be consolidated into single gender-distinct rate class called “Premier”. It is a simplified competitive offering with clearer underwriting expectations.
  • The Employer Group rate class will still be available to approved employer groups in the states where it is available.

Streamlined Rider Selection

• Removed: The Step-Rated Compound Inflation Protection Rider
  • Still Available: The Compound Inflation Protection Rider with 3% and 5% options

• Removed: The Full Return of Premium Rider
  • Still Available: The Limited Return of Premium Rider

• Removed: The Full Return of Premium with Optional Policy Surrender Rider
  • Still Available: The Limited Return of Premium with Optional Policy Surrender Rider

• Removed: The 0-Day Elimination Period
  • Still Available: The 30, 90 and 180-Day Elimination Periods and the First Day HCCS Benefit Rider

All available riders can be found in NGL’s EssentialLTC Product Summary.

Adjustments

Due to pricing for the new features and historically low interest rates, the premium for the product has changed. EssentialLTC’s rates will remain very competitive compared to the other Long-Term Care insurance products on the market. See the chart below or Click here to see how National Guardian Life Insurance Company’s (NGL) EssentialLTC stacks up against some of those products.

Updated Materials

Updated materials will available on the Agent Resource Center beginning April 1, 2021.

New Business

Applications written in the 38 states listed above, must be dated and received in good order by the NGL LTC Administrative Office on or before March 31, 2021 to use the current features and premium structure.

This is applicable to the E-APP, mailed paper applications and uploaded PDF applications. Applications dated or received by the NGL LTC Administrative Office on or after April 1, 2021 must use the updated forms applicable to the client’s resident state. No exceptions will be made.

E-APP

E-APP, the illustration program and the quick quote calculator will reflect the enhancements beginning April 1, 2021.

To use the current version of the product, all parties must complete their signatures in DocuSign and the E-APP must be submitted, in good order prior to April 1, 2021. For BGAs using the E-APP stopover feature, E-APPs must be reviewed and submitted prior to April 1, 2021 to be considered received before the deadline.

Please note, any E-APP where signatures are not complete and/or not submitted prior to April 1, 2021 will need to be rewritten using the updated forms, premium structure and rate class. No exceptions will be made.

REMINDER! TRANSAMERICA TO DISCONTINUE SELLING STANDALONE LONG-TERM CARE ON MARCH 31, 2021

As a reminder, Transamerica will discontinue the sale of individual, standalone long term care insurance (LTCI) products on March 31, 2021. Also, acceptance of applications under approved multi-life cases (worksite and association) will end on June 30, 2021. The impacted products are TransCare® II and TransCare® III.

These changes will not affect any LTCI policies previously issued to existing customers. The administration and service of in force policies will stay the same, and customers shouldn’t see a change in their experience. LTCG, a trusted leader in the LTCI business, will remain the administrator of Transamerica LTCI business handling all policyholder services, including claims.

As a part of this change, Transamerica is modifying your Agent’s Agreement (the “Agreement”) to remove your authority to sell LTCI policies and solicit applications after the dates below, at which point you will be a servicing-only agent. This will not affect any other rights and obligations under the Agreement, including your right to receive commissions in accordance with the terms of your Agreement.

IMPORTANT DATES

• The last day to submit an individual, standalone application (paper or eApp) is on 3/31/21.
• The last day to submit an application under an approved multi-life case is on 6/30/21.
• Illustrations, forms, and sales collateral removed from ARC on 7/1/21.
• Transamerica previously stated that commission statements would be removed from ARC on 12/31. However, at this time, they have no plans to remove commission statements from ARC.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Take a look at Transamerica’s FAQs for other details about the transition, mailing addresses, and fax number.

A message from Mutual of Omaha’s new National Sales Director

As you may have heard, Mutual of Omaha has a new National Sales Director, Corri Campbell. An insurance professional of 24 years, Corri brings enthusiasm, experience across multiple distribution channels and a passion for helping marketers like you build their business. Check out her note to learn more. Let’s work together!

Updated LTCi 2021 tax advantages flyers

As you know, an LTCi policy brings many benefits … from helping people remain in their homes as long as possible to offering protection for a retirement nest egg. But there’s another important advantage — the potential to save on federal and state income taxes.

The LTCi tax advantages flyers are now updated with the 2021 eligible deduction amounts. Download the flyers now:

• Agent Tax Guide
• Tax Advantages for Individuals
• Tax Advantages for Business Owners

COVID tax questions

The Consolidated Appropriations Act (“CAA”) provided coronavirus relief as well as other tax related extensions that will affect your clients. Here are some highlights that relate to individuals.

• Stimulus checks are back. The amount is $600 per taxpayer and $1,200 for married persons filing jointly along with $600 for each qualifying child. Income limits vary upon marital status.
• Teachers and instructors who teach grades K-12 are allowed a $250/$500 (Single/MFJ) above the line deduction to allow for the purchase of personal protection equipment and disinfectant.
• The above the line deduction for $300 of charitable gifts is extended into 2021.
• There are two provisions related to your client’s health care expenses.
  • First, taxpayers that itemize their deduction may continue to expense unreimbursed health care expenses that exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income.
  • Additionally, taxpayers that use a flexible spending account (FSA) as part of a cafeteria plan to reimburse medical care expenses may continue to carry over unused amounts in the FSA.
  • For taxpayers that have deducted tuition and related expenses as an above-the-line deduction should be aware that this is no longer an eligible deduction in 2021.

For more information, review the press release at IRS.gov.

As announced December 10, 2020, on Capital Markets Day by Aegon CEO Lard Friese, Transamerica will discontinue sales of their individual, standalone Long-Term Care (LTC) business on March 31, 2021.

In addition, acceptance of applications under approved multi-life cases (worksite and association) will end on June 30, 2021. LTC riders on life insurance policies are not affected. The only impacted products are TransCare® II and TransCare® III.

It’s important that you know your clients with existing policies are not impacted. Their customer experience will stay the same, and they will not experience any change in their service.

INDIVIDUALLY SOLD, STANDALONE LTC

• Paper, fax, and LTC eApp applications must be signed, dated, and received by Transamerica no later than March 31, 2021.
• Applications for individual coverage received on or after April 1, 2021, will not be processed.

MULTILIFE LTC – WORKSITE AND ASSOCIATION

• The last day to submit paper, fax, and eApp MultiLife applications under approved MultiLife cases is June 30, 2021.
• MultiLife applications received on or after July 1, 2021, will not be processed.

For both Individual and MultiLife LTC, agents contracted to sell TransCare® II and TransCare® III products will have their agent agreements amended to “servicing-only agent.” Upgrades in coverage will not be allowed after March 31, 2021, unless contractually required by the insurance policy.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Take a look at Transamerica’s FAQs for other details about the transition, mailing addresses, and fax number.

From the desk of Allen Gregoire, Director of Underwriting, Individual Health – Mutual of Omaha.

Throughout the pandemic, Mutual of Omaha has been evaluating our underwriting and new business practices in efforts to support business continuity, deliver a high level of service and maintain our financial strength.

As a result, your LTC Underwriting team is temporarily completing virtual assessments for applicants age 65 and over with favorable medical records. Virtual assessment qualification parameters will be based on underwriter discretion.

Minimum requirements for consideration:

• Applicants age 65 and over with favorable medical records.*
• Applicants with any blood pressure, build and mobility concerns will not qualify for a virtual assessment.

What is required to successfully complete a virtual assessment?

• Applicants must provide a valid email address on the application. An invitation for the virtual assessment will be emailed to this address.
• Applicants must be able and willing to access Zoom on mobile and/or desktop devices. Live video sharing will be required.
• Applicants must perform the virtual assessment from their permanent address.

*Reminder: Underwriting will initiate scheduling the virtual or in-person face-to-face assessments for LTC applicants age 65 and over after medical records have been received, reviewed and deemed favorable for insurability. This process continues to ensure we are only requesting assessments on individuals who are indeed insurable, subject to the completed assessment.

If you have any questions regarding assessment qualifications or application processing, please contact me directly.

Allen Gregoire
Director of Underwriting, Individual Health – Mutual of Omaha
(402) 351-2391
allen.gregoire@mutualofomaha.com

A note from the desk of Tess Grace, Senior Vice President – Brokerage Sales, with Mutual of Omaha.

We Believe in Long-Term Care Insurance

We sold our first long-term care insurance policy in 1987, and since then, Mutual of Omaha has paid over $1.1 billion in benefits to our policyholders. We are committed to providing solutions that will meet the long-term care needs of your clients and prospects, and to offering you the tools and resources that make it easy to do business with us.

Mutual of Omaha continues to invest resources into growing and refining our LTCi business and is proud to offer you the following:

• Product Solutions — When it comes to long-term care insurance, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Every client is different. Every solution is unique. We are continuously evaluating existing products for longevity and looking for ways to expand our offerings.
• Process Improvement — We seek to identify new solutions, new processes and value-added benefits to help you meet your clients’ unique needs.
• Devoted Underwriting and New Business Teams — Our dedicated underwriting and new business teams are ready to help you and your agents through the underwriting process, including training webinars and answering your pre-screen emails within four hours of receipt during business hours.
• Marketing Content — We are laser-focused on creating content that helps you promote our LTCi products to clients, as well as developing new sales ideas and training tools to educate agents.
• Claims Support — Our claims department continues to add seasoned leadership, claim specialists and care coordinators to provide your customers a seamless and satisfactory customer service experience when they need it most.

A History of Strength, Security and Stability

We know you have choices when it comes to placing your trust in an insurance carrier, and in these complicated times, it’s more important than ever to consider the financial strength and stability of the company you choose to do business with. Through two World Wars, the Great Depression and the many economic challenges since, Mutual of Omaha has kept its promise to be here to pay our customers’ claims.

As a leading long-term care insurance carrier, Mutual of Omaha has a responsibility to ensure our pricing strategies and product offerings are effective. We will continue making the responsible business decisions to be here for our policyholders when they need us most.

Thank you for your continued trust in Mutual of Omaha. We believe in long-term care insurance and look forward to providing you LTC solutions for years to come.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.

Transition Guidelines
Nationwide CareMatters® II
Pricing Change for New Business Effective January 11, 2021

Nationwide is committed to carefully managing their life product portfolio to remain a strong, stable carrier you can rely on. To keep this commitment – and in response to the sustained low interest rate environment and regulatory updates – Nationwide will implement pricing updates to Nationwide CareMatters® II. This is a change to premiums and Guaranteed Cash Value tables only.

There are no changes to the product structure, contract language, forms, or types of benefits provided. There is no change to in-force policies because of this update.

Product Changes

Nationwide took a surgical approach in determining premium changes to ensure Nationwide remains competitive in our target market. Within their target market, ages 40 to 65, they chose to remain very competitive on multi-pay premium policies, specifically those with 3% compound inflation protection.

Effective January 11, 2021, for new business within our target market, you can expect the following premium increases, on average:

	3% Compound Inflation	No Inflation
Single Pays	8%	11%
Multi Pays	11%	16%

Premium changes outside of the target market will vary based on the characteristics of your case.

Nationwide also increased the Guaranteed Cash Value tables as a part of this product update. For new business, you can expect the following increases to Guaranteed Cash Value tables, on average:

Policy Year 20	Policy Year 25	Policy Year 30
8%	6%	4%

Increases will also vary by age and underwriting class.

While current interest rates and economic conditions necessitate these changes, Nationwide is committed to offering competitive long-term care solutions for you and your clients.

VIEW FULL TRANSITION GUIDELINES

Important LTC Rate Refresh Transition Rule Best Practices from Mutual of Omaha

Recently, you may have received communication from Mutual of Omaha outlining the transition rules, implementation dates and benefit option changes to the MutualCare® Solutions Portfolio for the states of Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

We want to reinforce how important it is to take note of our transition rules as they were outlined:

• Old applications signed after October 31, 2020, will not be accepted.
• Old applications signed by October 31 but received by Mutual of Omaha after November 13, 2020, will not be accepted.
• In both scenarios, new applications are required, and new rates and benefit options will apply. No exceptions will be made.

Note: Please also make sure you are checking to ensure required agent licensing, CE and LTC certifications are in-place and current.

As a reminder, the following actions during the application process are deemed as unacceptable and will lead to a letter of education or corrective action being sent to the producer:

• Back dated applications
• Applications signed on behalf of another producer
• Resubmitting old applications with dates changed
• Agents taking applications prior to being licensed, completion of required CE or LTC certification
• Applications that have been altered
• Applications not competed and/or poorly completed

We are asking for your assistance with helping your producers and their customers.  Please reinforce with your producers and staff how important it is to be aware of the transition rules/dates and what is acceptable and not acceptable during the application process.