[Nfbc-info] Long term care insurance

Sun Jan 25 06:31:57 UTC 2009

Bryan:

Our struggle back in the 1980's did not differentiate between life insurance, health insurance, long-term care insurance (such as it was then) or any other kind of insurance (auto, property and on and on). The point was that there was not and is not actuarial evidence that links blindness in and of itself with increased risk. In fact, there was one instance when the insurance industry was fighting us (NFB) on this when one of their actuaries actually called our national HQ asking if *we* had anything that could help their case against us. I suspect that employee wasn't working there very long!

Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: Bryan Bashin <bashin at calweb.com>
To: NFB of California List <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
Date: Saturday, Jan 24, 2009 17:32:25
Subject: Re: [Nfbc-info] Long term care insurance

>
>
> Mike,
> 
> You're right about this.  But Mary's original question was not about 
> health insurance but rather long term care insurance.  Not only was 
> my quoted rate based on simple actuarial issues (not blindness at 
> all) but should I need to use the long term care benefit I can use 
> them the way I want, at home with providers of my own choosing.  In 
> my experience the real problem in acquiring long term care insurance 
> is that people don't buy it early enough and wait until it is very 
> expensive late in life.
> 
> Consumer Reports did an analysis of long term care insurance sometime 
> within the last year.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> At 12:44 PM 1/24/2009, you wrote:
> >What of the N A I C model law/regulations that stipulated that blindness
> >per se must not be used as a trigger for differential rate structures or
> >determination of eligibility. This was back in 1984 or 1985. Now if the
> >blindness is due to an underlying condition such as diabetes, all bets
> >are off but other laws may cover you under that situation.
> >
> >In Washington (state), it's pretty-much iron-clad that blindness cannot
> >be used.
> >
> >Mike
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: <ckrugman at sbcglobal.net>
> >To: "NFB of California List" <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
> >Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 11:35 AM
> >Subject: Re: [Nfbc-info] Long term care insurance
> >
> >
> >The blindness issue can be a very definite issue when it comes to
> >individual
> >health insurance. Many insurance will exclude blind people as they
> >consider
> >it a pre-existing condition. When it comes to private health insurance
> >there
> >is nothing that requires insurance to consider coverage for pre-existing
> >disabilities even when they may not cause a health risk such as much of
> >the
> >congenital blindness that never changes. This is what happens when
> >results
> >of deregulation exists and industries are allowed to set their own
> >standards. For a short time I went through training to sell insurance
> >and
> >this came up. I only stayed with the job for a few months for various
> >reasons that I won't go in to here although I had a very accommodating
> >employer.
> >Chuck
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Ken Volonte" <kenvolonte at comcast.net>
> >To: "NFB of California List" <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
> >Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 10:58 AM
> >Subject: Re: [Nfbc-info] Long term care insurance
> >
> >
> > > Hi Mary.  The problem is more with normal health care insurance, and
> > > it's
> > > not a blindness issue, but an issue of the insurer having too much of
> > > a
> > > say in treatment options.  Some years ago, I bought a supplemental
> > > plan
> > > that looked good on paper.  I dropped it a month later after receiving
> > > treatment for a migraine which treatment was dictated by the plan's
> > > protocols.
> > >
> > >    Then there's the question of risk.  If you're a part of a high risk
> > > group, the likelihood is that you will pay more in premiums per month
> > > than
> > > you will ever use even if you had no insurance at all.
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Mary Willows" <mwillows at sbcglobal.net>
> > > To: "NFB of California List" <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
> > > Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 9:59 PM
> > > Subject: [Nfbc-info] Long term care insurance
> > >
> > >
> > >ar If you or anyone you know who is blind has had any negative
> > >ar experiences
> > >ar applying for long term care coverage, please contact me on this list
> > >ar or
> > >ar by phone.
> > >ar Our new state office phone number is:  (510) 248-0100.
> > >ar Thanks,
> > >ar
> > >ar Mary Willows, President
> > >ar National Federation of the Blind of California
> > >ar mwillows at sbcglobal.net
> > >ar
> > >ar _______________________________________________
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> > >ar
> > >
> > >
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