Earlier this week, the American Association for Long-term care Insurance hosted the 2015 LTC Sales Summit in Washington D.C.  In addition to live attendees, the conference streamed live and hundreds of advisors joined in watching.

If you missed the conference, the great news is you can view the complete replay for only $19 by ordering it here.  You'll be able to view any part of the meeting on demand for up to 90 days - I would highly recommend it.

To get a taste of what you'll be able to watch, here are some of the really great ideas and thoughts I heard during the conference.

• John Cutler, architect of the federal LTC program, noted that the government programs at the state and federal level has shifted in recent years.  Now, more than 18% of Medicare spending goes to long-term care type services and more states provide Medicaid at home.  A plan for LTC needs to recognize the contribution of some government programs.
• Rod Perkins of the ACLI discussed some of the changes the insurance industry is trying to get to long-term care legislation.  For example, many states require a single large inforce rate increase on underpriced LTC plans.  It would be better to allow a series of smaller scheduled rate increases instead.
• Roger Loomis - Principal Actuary at ARC, talked about a statistical model that shows just why current LTC plans are more stable and much less likely to have rate increases than older products. Although common sense says the higher premiums of current plans would indicate that, the actual model is compelling and Roger's explanation is worth watching.
• Stephen Surfass, attorney at Drinker Biddle & Reath discussed the importance of documenting sales conversations for long-term care and the increase in law suits against insurers.  It might be time do conduct a policy review on older policies.
• Nancy Dykeman of LTCI Partners gave a moving presentation about how to talk to possible buyers about their hopes and dreams - start a sales conversation about their children before moving to how they may receive care.
• Beth Ludden of Genworth discussed selling long-term care insurance to women. Women benefit from LTC insurance more than men and single women really need coverage - they represent 36% of all claims. Women need it, women use it, and women get the most benefit.
• Steve Cain of LTCI Partners discussed working with affluent clients. Want to gain credibility with them?  Be objective and solution agnostic. If self insuring is the answer, then work on a plan of which assets would go first.
• Larry Moore of John Hancock focused on the AMAZING tax benefits of long-term care insurance.  Focus on the growth of a tax-free benefit inflating over time.
• Shawn Britt of Nationwide discussed linked products and how the asking of one simple question to a prospect - "Do you own CD's?" - can help make a single premium combination sale.  She reminds us that women want the LTC benefits while men want to see the financial return.
• Jesse Slome of the AALTCI discussed why the "Good-Better-Best"  method for presenting LTC Insurance is so effective.