Bill Text: CT SB00322 | 2010 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning Long-term Care Policies Under The Connecticut Partnership For Long-term Care.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-11 - Motion Failed JFCR INS [SB00322 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2010-SB00322-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 322
February Session, 2010		LCO No. 1723
		*01723_______AGE*
Referred to Committee on Select Committee on Aging
Introduced by:
(AGE)

AN ACT CONCERNING LONG-TERM CARE POLICIES UNDER THE CONNECTICUT PARTNERSHIP FOR LONG-TERM CARE.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2010) Any insurer licensed to do business in this state, or authorized to do business on a nonadmitted basis, that intends to discontinue offering a line of insurance in this state, including long-term care insurance policies precertified pursuant to section 38a-475 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, shall use its best efforts to sell said line of business to another insurer licensed to do business in this state or authorized to do business on a nonadmitted basis.

Sec. 2. Section 38a-475 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

The Insurance Department shall only precertify long-term care insurance policies [which] that (1) alert the purchaser to the availability of consumer information and public education provided by the Department of Social Services pursuant to section 17b-251; (2) offer the option of home and community-based services in addition to nursing home care; (3) in all home care plans, include case management services delivered by an access agency approved by the Office of Policy and Management and the Department of Social Services as meeting the requirements for such agency as defined in regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (e) of section 17b-342, which services shall include, but need not be limited to, the development of a comprehensive individualized assessment and care plan and, as needed, the coordination of appropriate services and the monitoring of the delivery of such services; (4) provide inflation protection; (5) provide for the keeping of records and an explanation of benefit reports on insurance payments which count toward Medicaid resource exclusion; [and] (6) provide the management information and reports necessary to document the extent of Medicaid resource protection offered and to evaluate the Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care; and (7) base the premium rates charged on a community rate. No policy shall be precertified if it requires prior hospitalization or a prior stay in a nursing home as a condition of providing benefits. The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to carry out the precertification provisions of this section.

Sec. 3. Section 17b-371 of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2010):

(a) On July 1, 2011, to the extent permitted by federal law, there shall be established within the General Fund, a separate, nonlapsing account which shall be known as the "Long-Term Care Reinvestment account". The account shall contain any moneys required by law and this section to be deposited in the account. Any funds resulting from the enhanced federal medical assistance percentage received by the state under the Money Follows the Person demonstration project pursuant to Section 6071 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 shall be deposited in the account.

(b) Money held in the account shall be expended by the Commissioner of Social Services, in consultation with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, in accordance with this subsection and the plan developed pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, to:

(1) Provide funds for programs and services that provide cost-effective home and community-based alternatives to institutional care in nursing home facilities, including, but not limited to, occupational therapy, homemaker services, companion services, meals on wheels, adult day care, personal care services, transportation, mental health counseling, care management, elderly foster care, minor home modifications and assisted living services;

(2) Provide funds for rate increases (A) for home health agencies and other providers of home care services that are in addition to any rate increases authorized pursuant to sections 17b-242 and 17b-343 to meet the actual costs of care, and (B) for increased wages for transition coordinators under the Money Follows the Person demonstration project;

(3) Provide funds to develop, improve and increase the long-term care services workforce, including, but not limited to, training, education and other incentives;

(4) Provide funds to improve information technology and systems used to track costs and savings associated with the provision of home and community-based services and to improve access to information on long-term care programs and services for the elderly and disabled;

(5) Encourage the purchase and renewal of precertified long-term care insurance through the Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care by covering the costs of the premiums or premium rate increases of individuals for six months;

(6) Pay the cost of relocating nursing home residents to other facilities if necessary to protect the health and safety of such residents, maintaining and operating a facility pending correction of deficiencies or closure, and reimbursing residents for the loss of funds in personal fund accounts pursuant to subsection (b) of section 17b-106;

(7) Provide grants to existing nursing home facilities to make facility changes, improvements and modifications to support home and community-based services and programs; or

(8) Provide grants to promote the adoption of building designs and principles of alternative nursing homes, such as Eden Alternative, Green House or Small House nursing homes, to improve the quality of life for long-term care facility residents.

(c) The Commissioner of Social Services, in consultation with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, shall develop and implement a written plan for purposes of the allocation of funds pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, including, but not limited to, application procedures and establishment of eligibility criteria and requirements for recipients of assistance. The commissioner shall submit a copy of the written plan to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies.

(d) On or before January 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Social Services shall submit a report, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the Governor and to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies concerning the Long-Term Care Reinvestment account established under this section. The report shall include financial information concerning the money in the account, including, but not limited to, information on the number, amount and type of expenditures from the fund during the prior calendar year and estimates of the impact of the fund on present and future Medicaid expenditures.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2010	New section
Sec. 2	October 1, 2010	38a-475
Sec. 3	October 1, 2010	17b-371

Statement of Purpose:

To protect purchasers of precertified long-term care insurance policies through the Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care against substantial increases in premium rates.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]