Long Term Care Liability Costs on the Rise Nationwide, According to Aon Study

CHICAGO, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A 4 percent annual increase in the average claim size is responsible for the growth of long term care liability costs, according to Aon Risk Solutions' 2011 Long Term Care General Liability and Professional Liability Actuarial Analysis. The study was released today by Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) in partnership with the American Health Care Association.

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The yearly analysis measures the severity and frequency of liability claims, tracks the loss rate (liability cost) as a percentage of the Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate and calculates the overall loss rate per occupied long term care bed in the U.S. to help gauge the level of risk facing long term care providers.

Nationwide, the severity of liability claims increased steadily from $125,000 in 2005 to $153,000 in 2010. In 2011, claims severity is projected to reach $159,000. In addition, the average annual loss rate per bed, which has hovered around $1,400 for the past five years, is projected to be $1,430 in 2011. Likewise, since 2005, the loss cost as a percentage of the Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate has been near its 2010 level of 2.22 percent.

While claim severity has grown, liability claims frequency has decreased from 1.07 percent in 2003 to 0.91 percent in 2010. Claims frequency is projected to drop slightly to 0.90 percent in 2011, which means less than one liability claim will arise for every 110 residents in a long term care facility.

The increase in the size of claims outweighs the decrease in claim incidence. The resulting growth in liability costs is important for long term care providers, who also must contend with uncertain Medicaid funding and cuts in Medicare reimbursement, which took effect in October 2010. Providers need to explore ways to control the growth of liability costs to preserve an already threatened funding base.

"For the long term care profession, controlling liability costs is necessary if we are to make do with dwindling resources for patient care and adequate staffing," said former Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA.

Tort reform has been used to help control liability costs. The way tort reform legislation is drafted is critical to its effectiveness. Aon Global Risk Consulting's associate director and actuary Christian Coleianne, who coauthored the study, explained:

"Limiting non-economic damage awards alone may not be enough to control liability costs. California caps non-economic damage awards at $250,000, yet liability costs in the state remain among the highest in our study – largely due to provisions in California's Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act that run counter to the long-standing MICRA caps on non-economic damages. Tort reform laws have been circumvented in West Virginia as well, where liability costs are the highest in our study. Texas-style tort reform, where constitutional amendments have protected a hard cap on damages since 2003, stands in sharp contrast to both California and West Virginia. Since Texas implemented tort reform, loss rates have been among the lowest in our database, which underscores the point that tort reform is supported by constitutional protections is highly effective in controlling liability costs."

West Virginia has the highest frequency of claims and loss rate per occupied long term care bed in the study. The state also has the second highest projected severity and loss rate as a percent of the Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate.

Claims frequency is expected to be 1.29 percent in 2011 and the loss rate per occupied long term care bed in West Virginia is $3,900 – more than three times what it was in 2003 ($1,100). West Virginia has the second highest projected severity at $302,000. The loss rate as a percent of the Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate is at 5.34 percent, second highest in the study.

Kentucky's loss rate has increased over the past 10 years and has been more than $3,000 per occupied bed in four of the past five years. The projected loss rate in 2011 is $3,230, the second highest of the profiled states. The projected 2011 frequency of 1.15 percent is second highest of the profiled states. The projected severity rate is $281,000. The loss rate as a percentage of the Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate is currently 5.82 percent, placing Kentucky highest among the profiled states.

Tennessee's claim severity is projected to be $312,000 in 2011 – the highest in the study – while claims frequency is expected to be at 0.84 percent, the fifth highest among profiled states in the study. The loss rate dropped from a high of $3,370 in 2003 and is projected to be $2,620 for 2011, the third highest loss rate of the states profiled in the study. Tennessee's loss rate as a percent of the Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate also has dropped from a high of 8.46 percent in 2003 to 4.83 percent in 2010. Despite dropping by nearly half, this rate stands out as the third highest of the profiled states.

California has a projected loss rate per occupied long term care bed of $2,020 in 2011, which is the fourth highest loss rate in the study. Claim frequency has been stable since 2008, and the projected 2011 severity is $192,000. The loss rate as a percentage of the Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate has been less than 4 percent since 2005.

Texas had the second highest loss rate in the study in 2003, the year its tort reforms were enacted. Texas now maintains the lowest projected loss rate in the nation at $330. In addition, Texas has the lowest 2011 forecasted severity at $73,000 and the second lowest frequency of claims at 0.45 percent. The Medicaid per diem for Texas is 0.70 percent.

Methodology

Approximately 17,000 individual non-zero claims from long term care facilities were aggregated by Aon Risk Solutions Actuarial and Analytics practice to perform this analysis. The claims experience spans the period 2003 through 2010. The facilities operate approximately 260,000 long term care beds, consisting primarily of skilled nursing facility beds, but also including a number of independent living and assisted living beds. Participants represent approximately 14 percent of the beds in the U.S.

Note to editors: Graphics illustrating results from the 2011 Long Term Care General Liability and Professional Liability Actuarial Analysis are available upon request.

To access Aon Risk Solutions' 2011 Long Term Care General Liability and Professional Liability Actuarial Analysis, visit http://www.aon.com/ltcbenchmark.

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About Aon

Aon Corporation (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing. Through its more than 59,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to deliver distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Aon's industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally in over 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008, 2009 and 2010 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance's listing of the world's insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008 and 2009. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on revenues in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary 2007-2010, best reinsurance intermediary 2006-2010, best captives manager 2009-2010, and best employee benefits consulting firm 2007-2009 by the readers of Business Insurance. Visit http://www.aon.com for more information on Aon and http://www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

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