Bill Text: NY S06672 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Directs the department of financial assistance to establish a public awareness program on the availability of long term health care insurance, the financing thereof and the provision of tax credits for premiums paid therefor; accelerates payment of death benefits and special surrender values upon receipt of the insured of end of life or palliative care.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-11-21 - SIGNED CHAP.465 [S06672 Detail]

Download: New_York-2013-S06672-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         6672
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                   February 26, 2014
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sen.  KLEIN  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
         printed to be committed to the Committee on Insurance
       AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to establishing a  public
         awareness  program on the availability of long term health care insur-
         ance and the tax credits therefor, and accelerating payment  of  death
         benefits  or  a  special  surrender value pursuant to a life insurance
         policy upon receipt of end of life or palliative care
         THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section  1.   The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 342
    2  to read as follows:
    3    S 342. PUBLIC AWARENESS TO FINANCE LONG  TERM  CARE.  THE  DEPARTMENT,
    4  DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH,  OFFICE FOR THE AGING AND DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION
    5  AND FINANCE MAY JOINTLY ESTABLISH AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM
    6  ON THE AVAILABILITY AND COVERAGE PROVIDED BY LIFE INSURANCE  AND  HEALTH
    7  INSURANCE  PLANS  FOR  LONG TERM CARE, AND THE PROVISIONS OF VARIOUS TAX
    8  CREDITS THEREFOR.
    9    S 2. Paragraph 1 of subsection (a) of section 1113  of  the  insurance
   10  law,  as  amended by chapter 563 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read
   11  as follows:
   12    (1) "Life Insurance," means every insurance upon the  lives  of  human
   13  beings, and every insurance appertaining thereto, including the granting
   14  of  endowment  benefits,  additional  benefits  in the event of death by
   15  accident, additional benefits to  safeguard  the  contract  from  lapse,
   16  accelerated  payments  of  part or all of the death benefit or a special
   17  surrender value upon (A) diagnosis of terminal illness defined as a life
   18  expectancy of twelve months or less, (B) diagnosis of a  medical  condi-
   19  tion  requiring  extraordinary  medical  care or treatment regardless of
   20  life expectancy, (C) certification by a licensed health care practition-
   21  er of any condition which requires continuous care for the remainder  of
   22  the  insured's  life in an eligible facility or at home when the insured
   23  is chronically ill as defined by Section 7702(B) of the Internal Revenue
   24  Code and regulations thereunder, provided the accelerated payments qual-
   25  ify under Section 101(g)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and  all  other
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD14174-01-4
       S. 6672                             2
    1  applicable  sections  of  federal law in order to maintain favorable tax
    2  treatment, (D) certification by a licensed health care practitioner that
    3  the insured is chronically ill as defined by Section  7702  (B)  of  the
    4  Internal  Revenue Code and regulations thereunder, provided the acceler-
    5  ated payments qualify under Section 101(g)(3) of  the  Internal  Revenue
    6  Code  and all other applicable sections of federal law in order to main-
    7  tain favorable tax treatment and the insurer that issues such policy  is
    8  a  qualified long term care insurance carrier under Section 4980c of the
    9  Internal Revenue Code or provide a special surrender value,  upon  total
   10  and  permanent  disability of the insured, and optional modes of settle-
   11  ment of proceeds, [or] (E) the insured's having been  a  resident  of  a
   12  nursing  home,  as  defined  in  section twenty-eight hundred one of the
   13  public health law, for a period of three months or more, with an  expec-
   14  tation  that such insured will remain a resident of a nursing home until
   15  death, OR (F) THE INSURED'S HAVING BEEN THE RECIPIENT, FOR A  PERIOD  OF
   16  THREE  MONTHS  OR  MORE, OF LONG TERM HOME HEALTH CARE, HOSPICE OR ADULT
   17  DAY CARE SERVICES, OR OTHER SERVICES,  WHICH  PROVIDE  END  OF  LIFE  OR
   18  PALLIATIVE  CARE  TO THE INSURED, WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT SUCH INSURED
   19  WILL CONTINUE TO REQUIRE SUCH SERVICES UNTIL DEATH.    "Life  insurance"
   20  also  includes  additional  benefits  to  safeguard the contract against
   21  lapse in the event of unemployment of the insured or in  the  event  the
   22  insured  is  a  resident of a nursing home. Amounts paid the insurer for
   23  life insurance and proceeds applied under optional modes  of  settlement
   24  or under dividend options may be allocated by the insurer to one or more
   25  separate accounts pursuant to section four thousand two hundred forty of
   26  this chapter.
   27    S  3.  Subparagraph  (A)  of paragraph 11 of subsection (c) of section
   28  3201 of the insurance law, as amended by chapter  563  of  the  laws  of
   29  2010, is amended to read as follows:
   30    (A) The superintendent shall not approve a life insurance policy which
   31  provides  for accelerated payment of death benefits or special surrender
   32  values pursuant to subparagraph (B), (C), (D) [or], (E) OR (F) of  para-
   33  graph one of subsection (a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen
   34  of this chapter unless it also provides for such accelerated payments or
   35  special  surrender  values pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph one
   36  of subsection (a) of such section.
   37    S 4. Subsection (f) of section 3230 of the insurance law,  as  amended
   38  by chapter 563 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
   39    (f)  This section shall apply to all life insurance policies or policy
   40  riders or provisions thereof that provide  for  accelerated  payment  of
   41  death  benefits  or  a  special surrender value pursuant to subparagraph
   42  (A), (B), (C) [or], (E) OR (F) of paragraph one  of  subsection  (a)  of
   43  section one thousand one hundred thirteen of this chapter.
   44    S  5. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
   45  ing the date on which it shall have become a  law  and  shall  apply  to
   46  policies  or contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered, or amended on
   47  or after such date.