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2006 SESSION

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HB 759 Medical assistance services; development of public-private long-term care partnership program.

Introduced by: Phillip A. Hamilton | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

Medicaid; public-private long-term care partnership program.  Requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include, in the state plan for medical assistance services, a provision, when authorized by and in compliance with federal law, to establish a public-private long-term care partnership program between the Commonwealth of Virginia and private insurance companies that must be designed to reduce Medicaid costs for long-term care by delaying or eliminating dependence on Medicaid for such services through encouraging the purchase of private long-term care insurance policies designated by the Department as "qualified state long-term care insurance partnerships" that may be used as the first source of benefits for the participant's long-term care. The components of the program, including the treatment of assets for Medicaid eligibility and estate recovery, must be structured in accordance with federal law and applicable federal guidelines. A second enactment clause requires DMAS to collaborate with the Department of Human Resource Management to encourage state employees to participate in the partnership program.

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

Medicaid; public-private long-term care partnership program.  Requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include, in the state plan for medical assistance services, a provision, when authorized by and in compliance with federal law, to establish a public-private long-term care partnership program between the Commonwealth of Virginia and private insurance companies that must be designed to reduce Medicaid costs for long-term care by delaying or eliminating dependence on Medicaid for such services through encouraging the purchase of private long-term care insurance policies that have been designated by the Department as "partnership policies" that may be used as the first source of benefits for the participant's long-term care. The components of the program must be structured to contain Virginia Medicaid costs and increase personal responsibility for long-term care and must include, but need not be limited to, financial eligibility requirements that use the Medicaid definitions of "income" and "resources" and an exemption from Medicaid's estate recovery requirement for some of the participant's assets, as authorized by federal law. A second enactment clause requires, in anticipation of the passage in the near future of federal law authorizing the development of a long-term care partnership program between the Commonwealth and private insurance companies and in order to accelerate the implementation of the partnership program, the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) to research the components of the existing programs in California, Connecticut, Indiana, and New York to identify the elements of the four programs that would best meet Virginia's needs. A third enactment clause requires DMAS to collaborate with the Department of Human Resource Management to encourage state employees to participate in the partnership program.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Medicaid; public-private long-term care partnership program.  Requires the Board of Medical Assistance Services to include, in the state plan for medical assistance services, a provision, when authorized by and in compliance with federal law, to establish a public-private long-term care partnership program between the Commonwealth of Virginia and private insurance companies that must be designed to reduce Medicaid costs for long-term care by delaying or eliminating dependence on Medicaid for such services through encouraging the purchase of private long-term care insurance policies that have been designated by the Department as "partnership policies" that may be used as the first source of benefits for the participant's long-term care. The components of the program must be structured to contain Virginia Medicaid costs and increase personal responsibility for long-term care and must include, but need not be limited to, a definition of "assets" that includes savings and investments, but excludes income (anything that is received during a month that can be or is used to meet the participant's basic food, clothing, and shelter needs); asset and income eligibility requirements, based on the definition; and an exemption from Medicaid's estate recovery requirement for some of the participant's assets, as authorized by federal law. A second enactment clause requires, in anticipation of the passage in the near future of federal law authorizing the development of a long-term care partnership program between the Commonwealth and private insurance companies and in order to accelerate the implementation of the partnership program, the Department of Medical Assistance Services to research the components of the existing programs in California, Connecticut, Indiana, and New York to identify the elements of the four programs that would best meet Virginia's needs.