MetLife announced Thursday it will no longer sell new long-term care insurance policies for individuals after Dec. 31, and will no longer be accepting new enrollments into existing group and multi-life LTCI plans.
MetLife says it will continue to accept new applications for individual LTCI policies received on or before Dec. 30.
"MetLife remains committed to our current LTCI policyholders and certificateholders and will continue to ensure that they receive quality service, particularly when needed most – at time of claim," said Jodi Anatole, vice president, long-term care products, for MetLife in a released statement. "While this is a difficult decision, the financial challenges facing the LTCI industry in the current environment are well known."
The insurer says existing policy holders will not see a disruption in their coverage as long as premiums continue to be paid on time. All current insureds can continue to make coverage changes per the terms of their policy or certificate, including inflation protection offers and requests to increase or decrease coverage.
In a press release, MetLife said the company is committed to "exploring potential solutions, including combining LTCI with other products, which the company believes can effectively address the long-term care financing needs of the public as well as its business goals."
Pulling data from LIMRA, National Underwriter Life & Health reports that although sales in the LTC insurance business grew 13 percent in the first half of this year, recent years have seen dismal sales performance for the product, data from LIMRA, Windsor, Conn., show. LTC sales were 30 percent lower in the first half of 2009 than in the same period the year before, and, except for an 3 percent increase in 2007, LTC sales fell every year since 2002.
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