If a life or health insurer goes bust, other insurance companies will step in to help cover policyholders. In California, insurers can pass along these costs to customers.
Miriam Mandell, 96, has been paying for long-term care insurance for almost a quarter-century — and has watched as her premiums have steadily risen over the years.
Mandell’s situation offers a teachable moment about how insurance companies look out for one another, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Many long-term care insurers have dealt with poor forecasting by imposing hefty rate hikes on customers. IIf higher premiums are insufficient to keep an insurer out of financial peril, the company often will be acquired by a rival firm. Only rarely will an insurance company go out of business.That ended up being Penn Treaty’s fate, though, after Pennsylvania authorities rejected the company’s application for significantly higher premiums.
Thakar, who previously did consulting work on the Penn Treaty liquidation, told me that 288 health insurance providers licensed by the Department of Insurance to do business in California have shelled out $325 million in fees to cover Penn Treaty claims. It’s therefore up to individual policyholders to keep an eye on their bills to see if they’re among those paying the Penn Treaty tab.
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