As Lincoln Financial continues to reinforce New York (NY) Situs measures, a disclosure will be added to the Delivery Notice on all Term Products and the illustration for Permanent Products. The Out of State Sale Verification Form is also no longer required on Informal Trial submissions for a New York resident with a non-NY product. Lincoln will also no longer accept lab draws in New York as the exam (vitals) must be conducted outside of NY and are generally completed at the time of the lab draw.

Starting Aug. 14, 2023, the latest unified life insurance application package will be available for use in Massachusetts (MA). With this new application comes two firsts for MA: Real-Time Offer opportunities for eligible clients, and the ability to sell Lincoln WealthAccelerate® IUL.

Beginning Aug. 14, 2023, Lincoln will offer individual life insurance policyholders the ability to modify their primary and contingent beneficiaries online. This feature is exclusively designed for consumers who have a registered account on LincolnFinancial.com, and enables hassle-free beneficiary updates.

Beginning Aug. 14, 2023, Lincoln’s Underwriting team is pleased to offer new opportunities within the foreign national market. The updates include allowing a Limited Power of Attorney to sign the Good Health Statement, expanding travel abroad criteria for U.S. Citizens or Green Card holders, and routine inspection reports no longer being required.

Mutual of Omaha has announced a 5% bonus for LTC sales for a limited time. Applications must be submitted between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31, 2023, to be eligible, and policies must be placed by Nov. 15, 2023. To qualify, producers must achieve a minimum ANBP of $25,000 and a 65% placement rate. The cash award will be paid out on your regular commission statement, and all normal exclusions apply.

Starting Aug. 7, 2023, existing Mutual of Omaha policyholders will be able to sign up for Automatic Bill Pay for all modes (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually). For policies issued between 1987 and 2003, policyholders can log in to Customer Access and complete their billing mode change under the “Billing” tab, or they can call customer service at (877) 845-0872. For policies issued in 2004 and later, policyholders can complete and return the Benefit Change Request Form and EFT Authorization along with a voided check, or they can call customer service at (800) 921-9334.

Effective July 26, 2023, the joint option on OneAmerica Asset Care will include the 4% acceleration option. The addition of a 75-month shared benefit pool (not currently available in California) expands OneAmerica’s ability to provide meaningful and flexible benefit options for cost-conscious clients, and the unique lifetime benefit will now be more affordable in many situations.

Effective July 20, 2023, a new improved Electronic Funds Transfer/Pre-Authorized Check (EFT/PAC) form is available from NGL. This form can be utilized at time of application or during the application process to obtain applicant approval if either or both of the following occur:

• Request that a one-time electronic funds transfer occur to pay for premium due as a delivery requirement should a policy be issued.
• Request ongoing PAC premium on active cases for premiums they become due.

With the availability of this new form, the online method by which an applicant could request a one-time ACH transaction to pay premium due as a delivery requirement will be discontinued.

Mutual of Omaha recently updated its underwriting guidelines in regard to family history of dementia and medical marijuana. Applicants with family history of dementia (with one biological parent/sibling with any form of dementia, including Alzheimer’s) will be eligible for Select Class with a maximum pool of $300k and monthly benefit of $10k; the previous monthly benefit limit of $5k is no longer in force. Additionally, medical marijuana users will be eligible for coverage at Select Class if it was prescribed for insomnia or anxiety.

ELCO Mutual Life & Annuity’s financial strength rating (FSR) has been upgraded to B++ by AM Best, the industry’s most prominent insurance rating agency. This FSR is assigned to insurers that have, in AM Best’s opinion, a good ability to meet insurance obligations. The B++ rating represents the higher end of the Good category and is the fifth highest of 13 ratings on AM Best’s FSR scale.