The Long-Term Care Planners' Club Meeting

Working in the long-term care insurance industry is like being part of an exclusive club.

Why? Because once you get immersed in this field, you rarely leave it.

You may change roles, companies or agencies, but you remain dedicated to this product and the need for long-term care protection.

That’s why attending the annual ILTCI Conference, an event for the long-term care planning community, is so special.

More than 950 attendees traveled to San Diego earlier this month to learn and network.

For many of us veterans, this conference means reconnecting with countless colleagues we’ve known for decades. And let’s not forget the company-hosted evening events, where networking and socializing continued.

The 58 break-out workshops were divided into seven tracks: Actuarial and Finance; Advisors, Agents and Agencies; Claims and Underwriting; Legal, Compliance and Regulatory; Management and Operations; Marketing, Engagement and Research; and Wellness and Aging in Place Solutions.

After the official welcome, Karen Smyth, the conference chair, announced the winners of the ILTCI Recognition Award: Ron Hagelman, president of Ice Floe Consulting, who is well- known as the Broker World long-term care columnist; Peter Goldstein, president and CEO of Illumifin, the company many carriers use to handle underwriting, claim payments and other product administration tasks; and LTCI Partners, a national LTCI brokerage firm. Tom Rieske, managing director of LTCI Partners, accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

The Research

The keynote speaker was Maria Carrillo, chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, who discussed the latest in Alzheimer’s and dementia science and research.

Her presentation highlighted these facts:

• Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia.
• Nearly two-thirds of Americans with Alzheimer’s are women.
• Two-thirds of caregivers for Alzheimer’s patients are women.
• Between 2000 and 2019, Alzheimer’s deaths increased by 145%, while deaths from other major diseases remained flat or decreased.
• One in three seniors die with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.
• The disease begins 20 years or more before symptom onset.
• People age 65 and older survive an average of four to eight years after a diagnosis, although some live 20 years.
• At age 80, around 75% of people with Alzheimer’s dementia live in a nursing home compared with only 4% of the general 80-plus population.
• The highest Alzheimer’s prevalence is in the east and southeastern United States.
• In 2023, Alzheimer’s cost society and the U.S. economy $345 billion, making it one of the costliest conditions.
• Early detection is now possible through commercially available blood tests that can measure levels of a tau protein in the brain and Amyloid detecting PET scans. These tests are now being used to make a definite diagnosis.
• This is not just an older person’s disease: Onset ages can range from 50 to 90.

Carrillo also discussed the future:

• Treatment will likely combine effective medicines and risk-reduction strategies.
• Up to 40% of global dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by targeting modifiable risk factors.
• Cognitive engagement and aggressive cardiovascular control, by keeping systolic blood pressure at 125 or below, are very important.
• Research suggests mixing multiple health-promoting factors may have the greatest impact.

Lessons for Your Clients, and for Us All

To conclude her presentation, she provided these 10 health habits that you and your clients can use to keep your brains healthy:

1. Protect your head.
2. Be smoke-free.
3. Get moving.
4. Challenge your mind.
5. Control your blood pressure.
6. Manage diabetes.
7. Sleep well.
8. Stay in school.
9. Eat right.
10. Maintain a healthy weight.

Margie Barrie, an agent with ACSIA Partners, has been writing the LTCI Insider column since 2000. She is the author of two books and a frequent conference speaker.

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Credit: Paul Hodkinson/Adobe