Poll Shows Voters Want Long Term Care Included in Presidential Candidates' Healthcare Proposals, Released at 2007 National Long Term Care Symposium

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Genworth Financial, Inc. today convened a national symposium of noted experts from the healthcare industry, seniors organizations, government and academia on Capitol Hill to discuss the future of long term care in America. It also released the results of a new poll on the importance of long term care in the 2008 elections and a new book on the future of long term care in America.

Representatives from organizations such as AARP, the American Association for Homes Services for the Aging (AAHSA), the American Health Care Association (AHCA), the Alzheimer's Association and the National Alliance of Caregivers (NAC) participated in an exchange of ideas and solutions aimed at addressing the looming crisis America faces amid rising long term care costs and a lack of sufficient planning at the national, state and individual levels.

The 2007 National Long Term Care Symposium, moderated by veteran television journalist John Palmer, began with leaders from the Congressional Long Term Care Caucus: Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R- WV) and Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine). Two panels, both composed of contributing authors of the new book, The Future of Long Term Care in America: Views and Recommendations by Prominent Experts, focused on current and future challenges to the nation's long term care system. In addition, the panel shared ideas about how the nation can become better prepared to effectively handle long term care demands in the decades to come.

"It is estimated that 60 percent of those over the age 65 will require a form of long term care at some point," said Buck Stinson, president of Genworth Financial's long term care insurance division. "With the first of the 78 million baby boomers turning 62 next year, we need to be both realistic and prepared for the healthcare demands many of these Americans will have, which is precisely why the discussion we're having today is so important."

According to the new bi-partisan national survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (POS) and The Mellman Group -- and presented by Glen Bolger of POS and Mark Mellman of the Mellman Group -- nearly seven in ten Americans have not made any plans for their own, a spouse's or another relative's long term care needs. Yet, over half those surveyed have had a loved one who needed some form of long term care. The poll also found that close to 80 percent of the respondents want to see long term care included in the healthcare proposals offered by the presidential candidates. More than 80 percent of those surveyed also said that positions on long term care funding will be an important factor in deciding who to vote for in the 2008 election.

The polling also showed that Americans are willing to bear part of the responsibility to develop a national long term care program, whether through tax incentives for the purchase of private long term care insurance or through a universal healthcare initiative that include long term care coverage. Sixty percent of voters surveyed supported new taxes or payroll deductions to subsidize a long term care program. Sixty-eight percent of those who supported new taxes or payroll deductions also indicated a willingness to pay between $25 monthly and upwards of $50 per month.

The release of the new publication -- The Future of Long Term Care in America: Views and Recommendations by Prominent Experts -- was a focal point of today's symposium. Genworth Financial published the book to inform policymakers, academics, financial advisors and consumers about the challenges of long term care. As of Monday, it will be available at-cost for less than $10 per copy on Amazon.com and other popular websites that sell books.

The book is comprised of ten chapters, each written by a different author such as AARP CEO Bill Novelli, former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American Health Care Association President and CEO Bruce Yarwood and National Alliance for Caregivers President and CEO Gail Hunt. It covers a wide range of long term care issues including the role of technology in future care, Alzheimer's disease, independent living, public funding for long term care programs, the growing demand and delivery (home-based and facility-based) of long term care services and other relevant topics. More information about the book, including a full list of chapters and their authors, can be found at Genworth.com.

"We commissioned this non-profit book with the goal of providing the authors an open forum to lay out their views and recommendations on how we should provide, fund and improve our long term care system," said Stinson. "It was important to us to give these distinguished authors a platform to freely express their opinions, independent of our positions, so we could provide the public with this valuable information and help policy makers and consumers make informed decisions."

About Genworth Financial

Genworth is a leading financial security company meeting the retirement, longevity and lifestyle protection, investment and mortgage insurance needs of more than 15 million customers, with a presence in more than 25 countries. For more information, visit Genworth.com.