Hartford, Connecticut — For decades, hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents have watched their long-term care insurance premiums spiral upward with almost no recourse. A bill that passed out of committee Thursday could change that — and it passed without a single dissenting vote.
The state legislature’s Human Services Committee advanced Senate Bill 478, a sweeping measure that would impose new consumer protections for long-term care insurance policyholders, require financial transparency from carriers, and hand the attorney general the power to investigate insurers for practices that violate state law.
Premiums That Won’t Stop Climbing
The catalyst isn’t hard to understand. Jan Kritzman, who bought a policy with her husband back in 2004, is now paying $7,000 a year — up from the $2,000 they originally signed up for. Another policyholder, Stephen Owen of Cheshire, warned lawmakers that if unchecked rate hikes continue, his annual premiums could reach $32,000 by 2031.
“Long-term care insurance plans have been designed to be unaffordable year after year,” said Sen. Matthew Lesser, a Middletown Democrat who co-chairs the committee. “People are locked in. It’s really a market failure, and we haven’t adequately policed the market.”
Nearly 100,000 Connecticut residents hold long-term care insurance policies. More than 60,000 are covered through the Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care, a state-private joint program that has operated since 1992.
What the Bill Would Actually Do
SB 478 targets several practices that critics say have allowed insurers to squeeze policyholders while facing minimal accountability. Under the bill, insurers would be required to file annual reports detailing incurred and actual paid losses under Partnership policies — information that would then be shared with legislators.
Perhaps the most striking provision: the Insurance Department would only be able to pre-certify policies that don’t tie executive compensation to the approval of rate increases. That clause takes direct aim at companies like Genworth Financial, one of the largest long-term care insurers in the country. According to industry reports, Genworth’s CEO received more than $9.8 million in total compensation in 2023 — including $3.2 million in incentive pay directly tied to the company’s success in obtaining premium increases from policyholders.
The bill also requires insurers to disclose all reinsurance contracts tied to their long-term care plans. As Connecticut lawmakers have previously pushed back on runaway rate hikes, this round represents the most detailed accountability framework the state has considered yet.
Industry Pushes Back
Insurance sector lobbyists showed up in force to oppose the bill — but the committee wasn’t moved.
“Several of its provisions could significantly disrupt the long-term care insurance market in Connecticut and could ultimately reduce the availability of coverage for consumers,” wrote Eric George, president of the Insurance Association of Connecticut. He argued that when private coverage shrinks, more residents fall back on Medicaid — shifting costs to the state.
Rep. Kurt Vail, a Republican from Stafford, voted yes anyway. “If we really want to fix this problem, we need to get everybody to the table, hold people accountable,” he said. “Kicking the can down the road and jacking up the rates of the insured is definitely the wrong approach.”
The bill now heads to the full legislature. If it becomes law, Connecticut would join a short list of states that have moved aggressively to protect residents who made the responsible financial decision to buy long-term care coverage — only to watch the premiums eat them alive.
