Bill Text: CA SB1438 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Long-term care insurance.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-24 - Held in committee and under submission. [SB1438 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1438-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1438 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Alquist
( Coauthor: Senator Correa
)
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add and repeal Section 10234.75 of the Insurance Code,
relating to insurance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1438, as amended, Alquist. Long-term care insurance.
Existing law provides for the regulation of long-term care
insurance by the Insurance Commissioner and prescribes various
requirements and conditions governing the delivery of individual or
group long-term care insurance in the state. Existing law establishes
the California Partnership for Long-Term Care Program to link
private long-term care insurance and health care service plan
contracts that cover long-term care with the In-Home Supportive
Services program and Medi-Cal and to provide Medi-Cal benefits to
certain individuals who have income and resources above the
eligibility levels for receipt of medical assistance, but who have
purchased certified private long-term care insurance policies and
subsequently exhausted the benefits of these private policies.
This bill would require the Insurance Commissioner to convene a
task force composed of specified stakeholders and representatives of
government agencies to examine the components necessary to design a
statewide long-term care insurance program, as specified. The bill
would require the task force to recommend options for establishing
this program and to comment on their respective degrees of
feasibility in a report submitted to the commissioner, the Governor,
and the Legislature by July 1, 2013 January
1, 2014 .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Recent public opinion research indicates that Californians,
regardless of political party or income level, are worried about the
costs of growing older. Two-thirds of respondents in the research
said that they are apprehensive about being able to afford long-term
care. Sixty-three percent of respondents worry as much about paying
for long-term care as they do for their future health care.
(b) A majority of respondents could not afford more than three
months of nursing home care at an average cost of six thousand
dollars ($6,000) per month in California. About 4 in 10 respondents
could not afford a single month of care at that rate. Among Latino
voters, 88 percent said they do not have long-term care insurance or
are not sure whether they are covered for supportive services like
in-home care. Concerns about paying for long-term care cut across all
income levels and all partisan affiliations.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
establishing a task force to explore the feasibility of developing a
statewide insurance program for long-term care services and supports.
SEC. 2. Section 10234.75 is added to the Insurance Code, to read:
10234.75. (a) The commissioner shall convene a task force to
examine the components necessary to design a statewide long-term care
insurance program. The task force shall do all of the following:
(1) Explore how a statewide long-term care insurance program could
be designed to expand the options for people who become functionally
or cognitively disabled and require long-term care services and
supports.
(2) Explore options for the design of the program, including
eligibility, enrollment, benefits, financing, administration, and
interaction with the Medi-Cal program and other publicly funded
resources. In exploring these options, the task force shall consider
all of the following:
(A) Allowing for enrollment in the program of working adults who
would make voluntary premium contributions either directly or through
payroll deductions through their employer.
(B) To the extent feasible, requiring a mandatory enrollment with
a voluntary opt-out option.
(C) Giving working adults the opportunity to plan for future
long-term care needs by providing a basic insurance benefit to those
who meet work requirements and have developed functional or
equivalent cognitive limitations.
(D) Helping individuals with functional or cognitive limitations
remain in their communities by purchasing nonmedical services and
supports such as home health care and adult day care.
(E) Helping offset the costs incurred by adults with chronic and
disabling conditions. The program need not be designed to cover the
entire costs associated with an individual's long-term care needs.
(3) Evaluate how benefits under the program would be coordinated
with existing private health care coverage benefits.
(4) Take into account the premiums necessary to provide an
adequate benefit within a solvent program.
(b) The task force shall be composed of key senior health policy
and long-term care insurance stakeholders, at least one
representative from the State Department of Health Care Services, and
at least one representative from the Employment Development
Department. The task force may include representatives from other
relevant federal, state, and local government agencies.
(c) The department shall operate within its existing budgetary
resources for purposes of implementing this section. Any governmental
agency that participates in the task force shall operate within its
existing budgetary resources for purposes of that participation.
(d) The task force shall recommend options for establishing a
statewide long-term care insurance program and comment on the
respective degrees of flexibility of those options in a report
submitted to the commissioner, the Governor, and the Legislature on
or before July 1, 2013 January 1, 2014
. The report submitted to the Legislature shall be submitted in
accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(e) The commissioner may seek private funds for purposes of
implementing this section.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
that date.
