(1) The general assembly hereby declares that:
A large number of Coloradans are in need of long-term health care;
The cost of long-term care, especially nursing home care, is significant;
Many persons in need of long-term care are ineligible for state medical assistancedue to countable resources. When faced with the need for long-term care, such persons expend such resources to pay for nursing home care.
A person's resources may cover only a relatively short period of care, often resultingin rendering such person impoverished, and after which time the person must rely on state medical assistance;
Expenditures for long-term care represent a significant portion of the state's medicalassistance budget;
Unless Colorado implements new methods for financing long-term care, which methods include participation by the private sector, the cost to the state for long-term care will increase astronomically; and
It is therefore appropriate to enact legislation that allows the state department, upon adetermination by the executive director of the state department that it is feasible, to design and implement a private-public partnership for financing long-term care in this state.
The state department shall cooperate with the division of insurance in the departmentof regulatory agencies in a private-public partnership for financing long-term care in this state through the availability of long-term care insurance policies that result in a reduction of total dependency on the medical assistance program to finance such care. It is the general assembly's intent that such partnership shall be designed to encourage individuals to purchase long-term care insurance, which, with respect to middle to higher income individuals, will have the result of eliminating or delaying the individual's need for medical assistance.
Under the partnership described in subsection (2) of this section, the division of insurance shall implement statutory changes to article 19 of title 10, C.R.S., concerning longterm care policies that the general assembly hereby declares are necessary to accomplish the purpose of the partnership described in this section. In addition, the state department is encouraged to implement a public education-awareness program based on recommendations from an advisory committee that the executive director of the state department is hereby authorized to establish.
The state department is authorized to seek and accept funds, grants, or donationsfrom any private entity for implementing the public education-awareness program. In addition, if necessary, the state department may assess a fee in connection with conducting any public education-awareness training program or seminar. Any such fee collected shall be transmitted to the state treasurer, who shall credit the same to the long-term care insurance fund, which fund is hereby created. The moneys in the fund shall be subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly for the sole purpose of public education-awareness training programs and seminars.
In addition to administering the public education-awareness program under the partnership, the state department shall seek a federal waiver from the requirement of section 13612 of the federal "Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993" (OBRA), Public Law 10366, that prevents the state department from granting medical assistance applicants a full or partial resource exemption in determining eligibility for medical assistance and an exemption from estate recovery requirements.
The state department, if funds are available, shall contract with a public or privateentity to conduct an evaluation of the public education-awareness program on or before December 1, 2000.
With respect to a policyholder who has allowed his or her private long-term careinsurance policy to lapse, if the person is found to be eligible for the medical assistance program, the state department is authorized to pay the premium for a reinstated policy pursuant to section 10-19-107 (2), C.R.S., if the state department finds that to do so is feasible and cost-efficient.
Source: L. 2006: Entire article added with relocations, p. 1922, § 7, effective July 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 26-4-506.7 as it existed prior to 2006.