Bill Text: CA SB1438 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 1438 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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  MARCH 28, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Alquist

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to add  and repeal  Section 10234.75  to
  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 
conduct a study that assesses the feasibility of establishing a
voluntary insurance program for purchasing long-term care services
and supports. The bill would require the study to adopt a design for
the program, as specified, and would require the commissioner to
provide the study to the Governor and the Legislature by January 1,
2014   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  .
   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)  A recent poll   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  to the poll   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 $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.
 Nearly three-fourths of democrats, 64 percent of
independents, 62 percent of republicans, and 61 percent of voters
with household incomes over $75,000 are worried about paying for
long-term 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
 that would   establishing a task force to 
explore the feasibility of developing  an   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 conduct a study that
assesses the feasibility of establishing a voluntary insurance
program for purchasing long-term care services and supports. The
study shall do all of the following: 
    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 
services and supports  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)  Adopt a   Explore options for the 
design  for   of  the program, including
eligibility, enrollment, benefits, financing, administration, and
interaction with the Medi-Cal program and other publicly funded
resources.  The design should do   In exploring
these options, the   task force shall consider  all of
the following:
   (A)  Allow   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,  require  
requiring  a mandatory enrollment with a voluntary opt-out
option.
   (C)  Give   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)  Help   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)  Help   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 commissioner may consult with the Secretary of California
Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor and Workforce
Development, and other officials, experts, and interested parties
while conducting this study.  
   (c) The commissioner shall provide this study to the Governor and
the Legislature by January 1, 2014. The report submitted to the
Legislature shall be submitted in accordance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.  
   (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. 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.