Mass Mutual to hike some LTC premiums by 77%

Some 54,000 holders of long-term care insurance policies issued by Mass Mutual Life Insurance face premium hikes of about 77%, according to a request the carrier has made to state regulators asking for the increase. The company has about 72,000 LTC policyholders in total, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal, and the policyholders affected will largely be those who bought their policies several years ago. Although the price increase sought is dramatic, Mass Mutual is not the only carrier that has sought relief as fewer policyholders than anticipated have dropped their coverage, longevity has increased and the cost of providing long-term care has mounted. In fact, Mass Mutual had resisted raising rates on existing policyholders, the article said. Only about a dozen carriers still sell long-term-care policies, and just 66,000 traditional policies were bought last year, according to Limra, an industry research firm.