HB1652eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB1652 Engrossed LRB097 08375 RPM 48502 b

AN ACT concerning insurance.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Long-Term Care Partnership Program Act is amended by changing Section 15 as follows:

(215 ILCS 132/15)

Sec. 15. Illinois Long-term Care Partnership Program.

(a) In accordance with Title VI, Section 6021 of the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, there shall be established the Illinois Long-Term Care Partnership Program, to be administered by the Agency with the assistance of the Department to do the following:

(1) provide incentives for individuals to insure against the costs of providing for their long-term care needs;

(2) provide a mechanism for individuals to qualify for coverage of the cost of their long-term care needs under Medicaid without first being required to substantially exhaust their resources;

(3) provide counseling services to individuals planning for their long-term care needs; and

(4) alleviate the financial burden on the State's medical assistance program by encouraging the pursuit of private initiatives.

(b) The Agency shall:

(1) Within 180 days of the effective date of this Act, or as soon thereafter as possible, make application to the federal Department of Health and Human Services for a State plan amendment to establish that, if an individual is a beneficiary of a long-term care partnership program certified policy, the total assets an individual owns and may retain under Medicaid and still qualify for benefits under Medicaid at the time the individual applies for long-term care benefits are increased by $1 for each $1 of benefit paid out under the individual's long-term care partnership program certified insurance policy.

(2) Provide information and technical assistance to the Department on the Department's role in assuring that any individual who sells a qualified long-term care insurance partnership policy receives training and demonstrates evidence of an understanding of such policies and how they relate to other public and private coverage of long-term care.

(3) Subject to appropriation, implement measures to raise awareness of the Long-Term Care Partnership Program and the benefits of purchasing long-term care insurance.

(c) The Department may not impose any requirement affecting the terms or benefits of qualified long-term care partnership policies unless the Department imposes the requirement on all long-term care policies sold in Illinois without regard to whether the policy is covered under the partnership or is offered in connection with the partnership.

(d) The issuers of qualified long-term care partnership policies in Illinois shall provide regular reports to the Secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, in accordance with federal regulation. Issuers of qualified long-term care partnership policies in Illinois shall provide appropriate reports to the Agency and to the Department as determined by those entities.

(Source: P.A. 95-200, eff. 8-16-07.)