LECP IMPACT DAY

Steve Cain is a Director at LTCI Partners and leads the firm’s sales & business development efforts nationally. His focus is revenue growth – whether it’s coming from existing client relationships to the acquisition of new institutional and group accounts. Steve has 20+ years in the Insurance & Financial Services industry, working closely with independent broker-dealers, wirehouses and employee benefits consultants. Steve is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara. After graduation, he had a brief career in professional baseball, pitching in the farm systems of three professional teams. Steve resides in Los Angeles, CA.

 

Amy Chinn, CLTC  is Vice President of Long-Term Care Claims and Risk Management at OneAmerica Financial,® where she leads a strategy focused on customer care, proactive risk management, and operational excellence. With over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry—including disability, life, dental, and long-term care—Amy is passionate about transforming claims into a true differentiator. She has a strong track record of partnering with healthcare providers and leveraging technology to drive early intervention and impactful outcomes. Amy holds multiple industry designations and serves on the board of Dollars for Scholars, supporting access to education.

 

Bridget Collins works with Independent Marketing Organizations (IMOs), Brokerage General Agencies (BGAs), Independent Insurance Professionals and Advisors, and Long-Term Care Specialists to grow the OneAmerica^® Financial Care Solutions Asset Based Long Term Care product line. She provides strategic planning, implementation, and training to IMO/BGA leadership, back offices, producers, and advisors to support and drive the growth of Asset Based Long Term Care solutions in the brokerage channel. For over 25 years, Bridget has worked in the long-term care industry specializing in the distribution, sale, and marketing of long-term care planning solutions. Bridget has served as a product, marketing, operations, and technical subject matter expert in varying roles, most currently as a National Relationship Manager. Bridget is proud to be a member of the OneAmerica Financial team. Bridget earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies, minoring in Political Science, from Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California.

Leon Fitch joined EquiTrust in July 2023 as a Regional Vice President. In his role, he works closely with the company’s distribution partners, including agents and Marketing Organizations. Leon brings more than 20 years of experience to his role. Over his career, he has developed and implemented sales processes, built marketing strategies, and held responsibility for leading state, regional and national sales teams. Leon lives in Iowa with his wife and two sons. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with family, golfing and watching football.

Ron Hagelman, CLTC, CSA, LTCP has been involved in helping to protect retirement assets ad income by leveraging insurance protection for the LTC risk for over 35 years. He is the author of over 250 articles on LTC. A marketing and distribution consultant, he has built over 50 new insurance products for 16 companies. He has been involved in LTCI Research with LIMRA and the SOA. He has served as executive officer of several national NMO’s and was a former chief marketing officer for State Life. He currently very proudly serves as a consultant to Amada Senior Care.

Tom Riekse, Jr. has been working in the LTCI business since 1991, with an emphasis on communicating the value of LTC planning to advisors, employers and consumers. He is the Managing Principal of LTCI Partners, a national brokerage. He has worked closely with carriers and vendors to make LTC Insurance easier to sell and enroll. Tom received his undergraduate degree from Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

Karen Smyth is the Vice President of Long-Term Care Operations at Wilton Re. As an Insurance Administration Executive, she has developed a depth of knowledge in the long-term care insurance field garnering the respect of industry colleagues because of her ability to achieve results in a collaborative environment and her embrace of continuous improvement. She strives to create a respectful climate where everyone's contributions are valued, people are motivated to perform at their peak and success is celebrated together. Karen is privileged to be working at Wilton Re as the first Vice President of Long-Term Care Operations, since they reinsured their first block of LTC insurance from CNO Financial (Bankers Life). Working with partners at CNO and illumifin, they strengthened business practice standards to minimize risk while completing the necessary work to lift the business out in July 2020 and place it with illumifin (formerly LTCG). She has oversight of all customer facing aspects of operations performed by illumifin and serves at the liaison with illumifin’s Actuarial practice to understand the impacts of assumptions related to the business vs. actual results. Karen also supports the Business Development unit at Wilton Re with respect to future reinsurance transactions involving long term care blocks of business.

Prior to this position, she ran her own consulting practice specializing in LTC insurance after helping her prior employer of 28 years, Prudential, become operationally ready to transition the administration of its LTC block to a third-party administrator. She was Vice President, LTC Administration with Product Management responsibilities including Claims, Medical Underwriting and Policy Administration including New Business, Customer Contact Center, Billing, Business Capability Development and Account Management. She has diversified experience with product development, strategic and operating plan development. During her last two years there, she was part of a team tasked with developing the long-term strategy to manage Prudential's closed block of LTC insurance, resulting in an RFP and selection of a third-party administrator to assume operational responsibility. The portfolio included individual, multi-life and group clients. She had accountability for 110 staff and 245,000 policyholders representing $393 million in annual premiums.
Karen received a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Villanova University and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Rider University. She has achieved numerous industry designations, including the CLTC, LTCP, FLMI, AIRC, ACS and AIAA from the Life Office Management Association. For many years, she has served on the Board, Executive and Organizing Committees of the annual Intercompany Long Term Care Insurance Conference, including stints as the Chair for the 14th and 24th Annual ILTCI. After recently completing her service on the ILTCI Conference Board of Directors, she is currently the Chair of the ILTCI Emeritus Committee. She has also served on the Board of the LTC Claims Anti-Fraud Forum Governance Committee and is pleased to now add “author” to her accomplishments. She contributed a chapter on fraud, waste and abuse in the long-term care insurance industry in the first edition of Insuring Long-Term Care published in 2022. This textbook explores the risks of long-term care and how insurers have managed this risk, with a goal of educating actuaries and risk managers.

Kevin Sypniewski, President and CEO, founded AGIS Network Inc. in 1998 to facilitate the exchange of caregiving information, insurance benefits and services to help individuals, employers, government agencies, and service providers meet caregiving challenges.

Jon Thomas, ChFC, CLTC joined Amada Senior Care in 2023 after spending the last 15 years working as a financial & insurance professional with companies - Nationwide Insurance and most recently Securian Financial, dedicated to helping grow market awareness of the importance of long-term care (LTC) planning. Jon has firsthand experience caring for aging loved ones and is passionate about the dignity and freedom quality LTC solutions can provide.

Holly Westervelt, CLF, LUTCF, CLTC, serves as Vice President of Sales at Krause, where she leads strategic initiatives to drive growth, expand distribution, and support agents nationwide. With over three decades of experience in the insurance industry, she is passionate about empowering people, fostering collaboration, and helping families navigate extended care planning, insights shaped by her own personal experience. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Holly enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her husband, two adult children, and their black lab, Lucy.