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Softening market at least a year off: Long-term care expert

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long term care

Long-term care operators can expect continued high rates and limited capacity for the next 12 months, although the market will eventually soften, says an insurer.

“The one thing we know in insurance is there have always been cycles,” and the hard market will eventually change and become competitive, said Patrick Moylan, New York-based managing director-health care risk solutions for Markel Specialty, a unit of Markel Corp.

But for now, markets are still looking for rate increases, and in some cases significant hikes. “That competitive landscape will return, but I don’t see if for the next 12 months at least,” he said.

He was among speakers at a seminar sponsored by Business Insurance, Crisis in Senior Care: Risk Management Concerns in Long-Term Care Facilities. It was a preview of BI’s long-term care risk management conference July 15-16.

Scott Wallace, Chicago-based client advocate at Willis Towers Watson PLC, said the insurance situation for facilities will be helped by having a lower population of residents, which speakers noted earlier reflects lower admission rates during the pandemic.

Mr. Wallace said, “It’s a major initiative of ours.” Along with providing data “to inform and educate the underwriters about what the census is, you have to be really specific and technical” about this information because a census decrease “changes the risk profile significantly.” Even though you may have this same number of units, if the census is down the risk profile is decreased as well, he said.

Mr. Wallace also stressed the importance of providing insurers with data throughout the year, not just during renewals, so they understand what the trends look like.

COVID-19’s significant impact on long-term care was discussed as well during the webinar. “The easier question is how it was not impacted,” said Melissa Solomon, vice president of risk and legal affairs at Silverado Senior Living LLC in Irvine, California, which operates memory and care and assisted living facilities.

“It really touches everything,” especially residents in its memory care sector, who “don’t understand why things have changed,” including social distance protocols, why there are masks and why they are not seeing their families.

“Unfortunately, every aspect of who we were and what we do was impacted,” including staff, care, infection control, volunteer support, residents and families, said Gabrielle Genauer, vice president and general counsel at The New Jewish Home in New York.

Ms. Genauer said the home did not face a shortage of personal protective equipment. “We did a tremendous job” in obtaining PPE, she said. “We were able to obtain at tremendous cost the PPE that our team needed.”

Ms. Solomon said at Silverado, which has more than 2,000 employees, “we made a very concerted effort to show appreciation” for the work that staff did, which included monthly webinars with the CEO, sending out food trucks and paying for shift differentials.

“Memory care residents with COVID don’t have less needs, they have more, so just being able to staff was a tremendous effort,” she said.  Employees “all stepped up,” she said.

Discussing the future, Ms. Genauer said, “I think in terms of going forward, we’ve learned through this process that we can shift and pivot.”

“We’re going to take with us whatever the next challenge is.” She said, for instance, the home had a COVID-19 recovery unit up and running within two weeks. “We made this happen…we can tackle whatever comes our way,” she said.

Asked about the degree to which things will return to normal in terms of common areas, Ms. Solomon said, “I think we will see it maybe modified slightly.” 

“Our residents need” that interaction, she said. “Meaningful engagement is so important to those residents,” she said.

Ms. Solomon said she has not seen an increase in the number of non-COVID-related workers compensation claims. While employees are occasionally bitten or hit, “we spend a lot for our resources” on training programs. We are really keen on our safety meetings,” which are held monthly, she said.

The session was moderated by Lori Semlies, a partner with Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP in White Plains, New York.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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