Anyone Selling Penn Treaty - LTCi quickpass?

[Newby]

I recently did a seminar at an assisted living facility that was VERY nice. It was like living in a luxury hotel. The day I was there they has steak and lobster for lunch (it was a special day.)

One very elderly lady was asking a lot of questions about LTC policies and Penn Treaty specifically. I told her I had never sold one but I knew they would accept some health conditions that other companies would decline.

Turned out she was living there under the benefit of her Penn Treaty policy. She had paid $575 per month for years on that policy and from what I could gather she had never been very wealthy at all. She scraped to make the premium each month and couldn't afford to do lots of things her friends were doing. But now she lives good.

Who ever sold her that policy did a good job. I don't know how long the benefit period is but while it lasts she is living well. If she would have died without ever needing assisted living, it would have been money down a hole but that's the choice she made and it turned out good for her.

Our job is to make sure they understand their choices. Let them decide if it's important to them or not. Make sure they understand the premium can increase in the future. Make sure they understand the problem if they don't take 5% compounding inflation protection.

But we can never be 100% sure what we recommend will be correct for them. We don't know how long they will live or live healthy.

All we can do is give them the options.

 

[Newby]

Come on, really, do you think PT will keep the rates at what they go in at? Do you want a policy your clients can"t afford anywhere else, to end up having to drop it in the future due to rate increases? i would never put a client here, IMO.

Do they allow them to keep the rate the same but lower the coverage in the event of a rate increase?

Most companies do that I've worked with. I'm not sure about Penn Treaty.

 

[xrac]

Pa. Regulator Takes Control Of Penn Treaty Units
A state court has given Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario permission to put Penn Treaty Network America Insurance Company in rehabilitation, Ario says.

National Underwriter Life & Health

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

I guess my post of 8/27 has panned out.

 

[Mr_Ed]

Check this out:

DeclinesIntoCash.com

 

[xrac]

Are there more problems on the horizon for other LTC companies? REGULATORS TO TAKE HARD LOOK AT LTC INSURANCE:

REGULATORS TO TAKE HARD LOOK AT LTC INSURANCE - InvestmentNews

 

[Mr_Ed]

How can anyone, in good conscience, suggest that the managerial and actuarial incompetence of Penn Treaty and Conseco Senior Health (fka American Travelers) means that all long term care insurers are headed down the same road?

Just because Global Crossing went bankrupt does that mean that all telecommunications companies will go bankrupt?

Just because Enron cooked their books, does that mean that all energy companies are guilty of fraud?

Every industry has a company or two that are mismanaged. Does that mean that the entire industry is bad?

Gimmeabreak!!!

The main players in the LTCi industry have a sterling track record and it should be heralded.

How can any thinking person be surprised by the fate of Penn Treaty and Conseco Senior Health? High commissions, low premiums, loose underwriting, with a dash of mismanagement, leads to only one conclusion.

I remember speaking with a couple in Sarasota, back in the late 90's. They really wanted the Penn Treaty Personal Freedom policy. It had the most liberal benefit triggers in the industry, the loosest underwriting, and shockingly low premiums. I was recommending some other company, I forget which one. And, they called me back and said that they liked me more than the other agents they had spoken with and they wanted me to be their agent, but they wanted to buy the Penn Treaty Personal Freedom policy. They wanted me to sell them that policy. I told them that I wouldn't.

I said, "I don't understand how they can offer such rich benefits, the most liberal benefit triggers in the industry, and such low premiums. It just doesn't add up."

We hung up the phone and they ended up buying the Penn Treaty policy from some other agent.

It's too bad, because they were pretty young and healthy. I think they were in the mid to late 50's at the time.

 

[retread]

I guess my post of 8/27 has panned out.

And mine from May.... PTNA

 

[bluemarlin08]

Didn't really take a rocket scientist to see this coming.

 

[retread]

Didn't really take a rocket scientist to see this coming.

Yep... what gets me is that people that should know better kept pushing it... my FMO, for example. I wrote him a letter about this back in May, and got a call from the VP telling me that they stood behind their choice to provide this product.

I have since stopped doing much business for them.... I prefer going direct with my carriers anyway. Until this response, I had some respect for this FMO....