The report and accompanying legislation includes the “Private Option” to convert a policy into a Long Term Care Benefit Plan modeled after Life Care Funding (see page 6 of the Medicaid Department Report). A powerful coalition of interests have come together to support the use of life insurance as a tool to pay for the costs of long term care. The Florida Health Care Association, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, AARP, the Florida Assisted Living Federation, the life insurance industry (carriers and agents), and the life settlement industry have all worked together to create this legislative proposal.
Life Care Funding is grateful to have played a role in the development of this report and bill now before the Florida legislature. We testified before the workgroup and contributed comments to the drafting of the final work product attached. In addition, Life Care Funding’s model was analyzed and we are cited as a key contributor of research data to Florida State University’s Center for Forecasting and Analysis economic impact study: Conversion of Life Insurance Policies into Long Term Care Benefit Plans in Florida. The study “scored” the annual savings for the Florida Medicaid budget and tax payers at $150 million annually if policy conversions are used to extend the period a Medicaid applicant would remain private pay before qualifying for government assistance.
Starting with our efforts working with the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) to develop and pass the Life Insurance Consumer Disclosure Model Law in 2010; through the passage of study bills about policy conversions into Long Term Care Benefit Plans by the state legislatures of CT, HI, LA and FL; and now the introduction of Policy Conversion law in the FL legislature (soon to be followed by the same in LA); Life Care Funding looks forward to continuing to educate the public, the long term care industry and political leaders across the United States about this important financial option to help seniors, their families and tax payers defray the escalating costs of long term care.