Long-term care insurance is a private policy purchased by consumers to cover expenses not included in traditional private or public health insurance.
Ken Croken is a Democrat serving in the Iowa capital as a representative for District 97, which includes parts of the Quad Cities.
"...[T]he long-term economic security of older Iowans as we live longer and incur costs that may not have been planned earlier on, such as personal care aids in the home or perhaps facility-based assisted living," Croken said in a phone interview with WVIK.
He states the Iowa Insurance Division has received complaints of decreased coverage and increased premiums. Croken is sharing the stage with Sonya Sellmeyer, a consumer advocate at the Iowa Insurance Division, to help answer constituent questions.
Croken hopes Iowans will attend the forum to share their experiences and determine whether the Iowa General Assembly should get involved.
The long-term care insurance issue is personal for Croken.
"I personally had an unfortunate experience with long-term care insurance when my wife succumbed to breast cancer in [20]21. And despite the pre-approval of the care plans that we used when I sent my claim into my long-term care insurance provider, I was literally buried in a request for further documentation and then ultimately denial after denial after denial," Croken said. "So having invested decades in long-term care insurance, there was literally no benefit whatsoever resulting to my family. Now, my claim was relatively small. There are other individuals and their families who are gravely concerned about how to manage those generally end-of-life kinds of care needs that more and more people are incurring."
The forum will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Eastern Avenue Branch of the Davenport Public Library, 6000 Eastern Avenue, starting at 10 a.m. It can also be attended on Zoom, and a link to join is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82534747894
Representative Croken is up for reelection this November, and he is running against Republican Josue Rodriguez.
