Long term care insurance has received more than a mere casual mention in 2009 at the federal level. Two bills, introduced into Congress earlier this year, deserve review. The “Long-Term Care Affordability and Security Act” (S.702) included provisions which would allow long-term care insurance to be included in employer-sponsored cafeteria plans and flexible spending accounts, thus enabling people to pay long-term care insurance premiums using pre-tax dollars. The proposed favorable tax treatment under this proposal is anticipated to encourage the purchase of long-term care insurance. Yet another bill also introduced several months, “The Confidence in Long-Term Care Insurance” Act of 2009 (S. 1177) sought, among other provisions, to address model disclosures and reciprocity across states’ long-term care partnership plans. This latter bill has undergone revision and been submitted as an amendment to another proposal in Congress. Combined with Senator Baucus’ health care reform bill, “America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009”, it was recently the recipient of support from the NAIC. In a letter dated September 29th to Senator Herb Kohl, Chair of the Special Committee on Aging, the NAIC indicated continuing support for his goal of protecting all long-term care insurance policyholders. The letter also acknowledged that the revised version “seeks to build on state laws and regulations developed by the NAIC.”
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