Bill Text: NY A08957 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Directs the department of financial assistance to establish a public awareness program on the availability of long term health care insurance, the financing thereof and the provision of tax credits for premiums paid therefor; accelerates payment of death benefits and special surrender values upon receipt of the insured of end of life or palliative care.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-3)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-06-17 - substituted by s6672a [A08957 Detail]

Download: New_York-2013-A08957-Amended.html
                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                        8957--A
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                     March 4, 2014
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  M.  of  A. GJONAJ, SIMANOWITZ, BROOK-KRASNY, RAIA, McDO-
         NOUGH, WRIGHT, HOOPER -- Multi-Sponsored  by  --  M.  of  A.  BRENNAN,
         CAMARA, MAGEE, PERRY, RIVERA, SALADINO, SCHIMEL, SKARTADOS, SWEENEY --
         read  once  and referred to the Committee on Insurance -- reported and
         referred to the Committee on Ways and Means --  committee  discharged,
         bill  amended,  ordered  reprinted  as amended and recommitted to said
         committee
       AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to establishing a  public
         awareness  program on the availability of long term health care insur-
         ance and the tax credits therefor, and accelerating payment  of  death
         benefits  or  a  special  surrender value pursuant to a life insurance
         policy upon receipt of end of life or palliative care
         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section  1.   The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 342
    2  to read as follows:
    3    S 342. PUBLIC AWARENESS TO FINANCE LONG  TERM  CARE.  THE  DEPARTMENT,
    4  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH,  OFFICE FOR THE AGING AND DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION
    5  AND FINANCE MAY JOINTLY ESTABLISH AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM
    6  ON THE AVAILABILITY AND COVERAGE PROVIDED BY LIFE INSURANCE  AND  HEALTH
    7  INSURANCE  PLANS  FOR  LONG TERM CARE, AND THE PROVISIONS OF VARIOUS TAX
    8  CREDITS THEREFOR.
    9    S 2. Paragraph 1 of subsection (a) of section 1113  of  the  insurance
   10  law,  as  amended by chapter 563 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read
   11  as follows:
   12    (1) "Life Insurance," means every insurance upon the  lives  of  human
   13  beings, and every insurance appertaining thereto, including the granting
   14  of  endowment  benefits,  additional  benefits  in the event of death by
   15  accident, additional benefits to  safeguard  the  contract  from  lapse,
   16  accelerated  payments  of  part or all of the death benefit or a special
   17  surrender value upon (A) diagnosis of terminal illness defined as a life
   18  expectancy of twelve months or less, (B) diagnosis of a  medical  condi-
   19  tion  requiring  extraordinary  medical  care or treatment regardless of
   20  life expectancy, (C) certification by a licensed health care practition-
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD14174-03-4
       A. 8957--A                          2
    1  er of any condition which requires continuous care for the remainder  of
    2  the  insured's  life in an eligible facility or at home when the insured
    3  is chronically ill as defined by Section 7702(B) of the Internal Revenue
    4  Code and regulations thereunder, provided the accelerated payments qual-
    5  ify  under  Section 101(g)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and all other
    6  applicable sections of federal law in order to  maintain  favorable  tax
    7  treatment, (D) certification by a licensed health care practitioner that
    8  the  insured  is  chronically  ill as defined by Section 7702 (B) of the
    9  Internal Revenue Code and regulations thereunder, provided the  acceler-
   10  ated  payments  qualify  under Section 101(g)(3) of the Internal Revenue
   11  Code and all other applicable sections of federal law in order to  main-
   12  tain  favorable tax treatment and the insurer that issues such policy is
   13  a qualified long term care insurance carrier under Section 4980c of  the
   14  Internal  Revenue  Code or provide a special surrender value, upon total
   15  and permanent disability of the insured, and optional modes  of  settle-
   16  ment  of  proceeds,  [or]  (E) the insured's having been a resident of a
   17  nursing home, as defined in section  twenty-eight  hundred  one  of  the
   18  public  health law, for a period of three months or more, with an expec-
   19  tation that such insured will remain a resident of a nursing home  until
   20  death,  OR (F) THE INSURED'S HAVING BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF END OF LIFE OR
   21  PALLIATIVE CARE, FOR A PERIOD OF THREE MONTHS OR MORE, AT A  RESIDENTIAL
   22  HEALTH  CARE FACILITY AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION THREE OF SECTION TWENTY-
   23  EIGHT HUNDRED ONE OF THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH  LAW,  HOME  CARE  SERVICES  AS
   24  DEFINED  IN  SUBDIVISION  ONE  OF  SECTION THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED TWO OF THE
   25  PUBLIC HEALTH LAW OR HOSPICE AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVISION  ONE  OF  SECTION
   26  FOUR  THOUSAND  TWO  OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT
   27  SUCH INSURED WILL CONTINUE TO REQUIRE SUCH SERVICES UNTIL DEATH.   "Life
   28  insurance"  also  includes additional benefits to safeguard the contract
   29  against lapse in the event of unemployment of  the  insured  or  in  the
   30  event  the  insured  is  a  resident of a nursing home. Amounts paid the
   31  insurer for life insurance and proceeds applied under optional modes  of
   32  settlement  or under dividend options may be allocated by the insurer to
   33  one or more separate accounts pursuant  to  section  four  thousand  two
   34  hundred forty of this chapter.
   35    S  3.  Subparagraph  (A)  of paragraph 11 of subsection (c) of section
   36  3201 of the insurance law, as amended by chapter  563  of  the  laws  of
   37  2010, is amended to read as follows:
   38    (A) The superintendent shall not approve a life insurance policy which
   39  provides  for accelerated payment of death benefits or special surrender
   40  values pursuant to subparagraph (B), (C), (D) [or], (E) OR (F) of  para-
   41  graph one of subsection (a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen
   42  of this chapter unless it also provides for such accelerated payments or
   43  special  surrender  values pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph one
   44  of subsection (a) of such section.
   45    S 4. Subsection (f) of section 3230 of the insurance law,  as  amended
   46  by chapter 563 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   47    (f)  This section shall apply to all life insurance policies or policy
   48  riders or provisions thereof that provide  for  accelerated  payment  of
   49  death  benefits  or  a  special surrender value pursuant to subparagraph
   50  (A), (B), (C) [or], (E) OR (F) of paragraph one  of  subsection  (a)  of
   51  section one thousand one hundred thirteen of this chapter.
   52    S  5. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
   53  ing the date on which it shall have become a  law  and  shall  apply  to
   54  policies  or contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered, or amended on
   55  or after such date.
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