Special
Features / March 2007
Beyond the Company Policy
 Lynn Cunningham
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By Pat Lawrence
Most women try to separate personal issues from professional ones, but for Lynn Cunningham, the two are inextricably entwined. Lynn is a long term care specialist. She sells Long Term Care insurance to companies as an employee benefit. She’s successful because it isn’t a product for her, it’s a mission. She believes it is one of the most important benefits a company can offer. “A long term care situation will completely drain an employees resources, their time, their savings, their energy. It can literally wipe them out. Both men and women often have to leave work, actually quit their jobs, to take care of their parents.”
According to Lynn, the impact of care-giving on the workplace has become a major issue because companies realize how important it is to the bottom line.
She knows first hand both the price and the cost involved. “Long term care can cost from $75,000-$100,000 a year. When people have to pay that much, they rob their family for generations.”
At age 79, Lynn’s mother came to live with her and her three children. “She lived with us for six years. I’d never heard of Long Term Care insurance. I had to leave her alone often. When she would get up, sometimes she would fall. I would come home, but I’d have to leave again. The doctor finally told me ‘You think you’re doing the right thing for your mother, taking care of her yourself. But, you’re not. She needs real care.’ At the nursing home, my mother offered to work towards her bill. She couldn’t get out of bed, but she tried to work in exchange for her care. Of course, she couldn’t. She lost all her assets. So my commitment to this has been personal from the very beginning.”
Born and raised in Charleston, Lynn says, “I grew up in Coonskin Park. At one time, our family owned half of it.”
She went to Morris Harvey College, “I changed majors three times!” She married and started raising her family. After sixteen years, the marriage ended. Lynn says, “I began climbing back into the world. I started by frying dough nuts at 5 am. That didn’t work. I realized I could eat or pay rent in Summersville but not both.”
In 1991, she moved back to Charleston, working initially in the WV legislature, then for a hospital. When she was offered a position as assistant to the president of a private Cincinnati girls school, she moved to Ohio. Her mother went, too. Lynn liked the work, which was often involved with development and financial giving.
When her daughter graduated, Lynn went to work for the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, in the Department of Surgery, and became a patient services coordinator. “It was nice being appreciated. They kept promoting me.”
Then her mother died. Lynn’s brother, an insurance agent, had been introduced to long term care insurance. “He was convinced I would like it. Finally, he convinced me. I interviewed, went to class and started with a company that specialized in the senior market in Cincinnati.”
She came back home and spent the next seven years selling Long Term Care insurance. In 2003, she went independent. Last fall, she began working strictly with companies. One option companies may choose is an ‘executive carve out’ for key employees. “The company gets a 100% tax write off. The employee has one of their biggest concerns taken care of.”
When Long Term Care insurance is offered under the auspices of the group, Lynn says there are definite advantages. “The underwriting is modified, less stringent. There are only 8-10 questions, not 25. The employees and their extended family members can be included. Parents, in-laws and grandparents can all purchase the policy under the group but own it individually. Or, employees can have LTCi as a payroll deduction.” Lynn handles both and makes recommendations based on each companies personnel or situation. She does very little marketing, most of her clients are referrals. “Marketing isn’t my interest. I prefer meeting people and talking with them face to face. I’ve never had one person say they weren’t interested in talking to me.”
She intends to keep talking. “Long term care is one of the most devastating situations a family can face. Care giving costs American businesses $34 billion annually. I’m going to keep working and working until everyone knows about Long Term Care Insurance.”
For more information, contact Lynn Cunningham, CLTC with Advantage LTCi and Advantage Group LTCi, 304-437-0776 or visit www.advantageLTCi.com.
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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