What Legislators Need to Know about Long-Term Insurance

📖 The Scoop

This booklet discusses the potential importance to states of long-term care insurance, describes general policy characteristics, and summarizes state actions to both regulate and promote long-term care insurance. It is intended as a resource for legislators and others involved in long-term care financing and public policy formulation. Long-term care insurance is defined as an emerging private financing mechanism for long-term care services--services that are required due to a chronic illness or a condition lasting over a prolonged period of time. It is noted that currently government payment is available through Medicaid only for the poor or for those who have depleted all their own resources, and that states have begun searching for ways to limit the amount of assets that must be spent before becoming eligible for Medicaid. The answers to the following seven questions are discussed in detail: (1) What are long-term care and long-term care insurance?; (2) Why is long-term care insurance an important issue for state legislatures?; (3) What types of long-term care insurance policies are available?; (4) What are the barriers to the expansion of long-term care insurance?; (5) What have states done to regulate the sale and content of long-term care insurance policies?; (6) What have states done to encourage the sale of long-term care insurance?; and (7) What is the future of long-term care insurance? References are included in 72 end notes. (Author/ABL)

Genre: Political Science / Public Policy / Social Security (fancy, right?)