Prudential Beats Challenge to Long-Term Care Plan Premium Hikes

Prudential Insurance Co. of America defeated a federal lawsuit by a Tufts University employee who accused the insurer of improperly raising premiums on long-term care insurance policies without approval from Massachusetts’ Commissioner of Insurance.

Barbara Parmenter’s proposed class action is based on a “nonsensical” interpretation of a provision in Prudential’s long-term care plans providing that premium increases will be “subject to the approval” of the commissioner, Judge Richard G. Stearns said in an electronic order issued Tuesday. Parmenter’s interpretation overlooks that the commissioner has so far “declined to exert its regulatory authority over premiums for group employer coverage,” Stearns said. ...