Major insurer casts off long-term-care policies

Insurer Conseco Inc. has dumped a chunk of its long-term-care policies into an independent trust, putting tens of thousands of policyholders at risk of reduced benefits or big premium increases. Officials have said the transfer of many of the insurers' long-term care policies to a new state-supervised nonprofit trust, Senior Health Insurance Co. of Pennsylvania, allows it to concentrate on its core businesses. The policies were a drag on the company's earnings because they were underpriced and required continuing capital infusions to meet the long-term needs of policyholders.