§ 217-A — Long term care insurance education and outreach program

* § 217-a. Long term care insurance education and outreach program. 1.\nFor the purposes of this section, the term "long term care insurance\nresource center" shall mean a project within an area agency on aging\nfunded pursuant to this section that provides direct assistance to the\ngeneral public in choosing and obtaining long term care insurance.\n 2. The commissioner of health, in consultation with the director of\nthe office for the aging and the superintendent of financial services,\nis hereby authorized and directed, within amounts allocated therefor\npursuant to paragraph (qq) of subdivision one of section twenty-eight\nhundred seven-v of the public health law, to establish a long term care\ninsurance education and outreach program within the department of health\nfor the purpose of informing and educating the general public about long\nterm care insurance, including those policies that are available through\nthe partnership for long term care program.\n 3. The commissioner of health, the superintendent of financial\nservices and the director of the office for the aging shall appoint a\nstate program coordinator to implement, administer and supervise the\nlong term care insurance education and outreach program, and coordinate\nthe development of the educational and informational materials. The\nstate program coordinator shall be an employee of the office for the\naging who shall be selected from among individuals with expertise and\nexperience in the fields of long term care insurance, and with other\nqualifications determined by the commissioner of health, the\nsuperintendent of financial services and the director of the office for\nthe aging to be appropriate for the position. The state program\ncoordinator shall, within amounts available, personally or through\nauthorized representatives, be responsible for training staff persons of\nthe program, including staff persons of the long term care insurance\nresource centers, and shall provide for the collection and dissemination\nof timely and accurate long term care insurance information to said\nstaff persons.\n 4. The long term care insurance education and outreach program shall,\nwithin amounts available, consist of the following elements which shall\nbe provided by the office for the aging:\n (a) educational and informational materials in print, audio, visual,\nelectronic or other media;\n (b) public service announcements, advertisements, media campaigns,\nworkshops, mass mailings, conferences or presentations;\n (c) establishment of a toll-free telephone hotline and electronic\nservices to provide information; and\n (d) establishment of long term care insurance resource centers within\neach area agency on aging.\n 5. Long term care insurance resource centers shall, within amounts\navailable, provide the general public with the following items or\nservices:\n (a) educational and informational materials in print, audio, visual,\nelectronic or other media;\n (b) public service announcements, advertisements, media campaigns,\nworkshops, mass mailings, conferences or presentations; and\n (c) counseling, information, referral services, and direct assistance\nin choosing and obtaining long term care insurance. Direct assistance\nshall, within amounts available, include but not be limited to\nassistance with the following:\n (i) planning for the financing of long term care;\n (ii) understanding policy options, benefits and appeal rights;\n (iii) obtaining the coverage needed and the appropriate benefits; and\n (iv) avoiding or reporting illegal billing, fraudulent practices or\nscams.\n Each long term care insurance resource center shall be responsible,\nwithin amounts available, for providing a sufficient number of staff\npositions (including volunteers) necessary to provide and carry out the\nservices of the long term care insurance education and outreach program,\nprovided that at least one position shall be filled by an individual who\nis employed full time and paid by the area agency on aging. The long\nterm care insurance resource center shall be responsible for ensuring\nthat its staff persons have no conflict of interest in providing the\nservices described in subdivision four of this section.\n 6. Annually, in order to receive funding, each area agency on aging\nshall submit a service plan and proposed budget for the operation of a\nlong term care insurance resource center to the state program\ncoordinator for approval. An area agency on aging shall be eligible to\nreceive funds in an amount of up to fifty thousand dollars, except that\nan area agency on aging located within a city of one million or more\nshall be eligible to receive funds in an amount of up to one hundred\nthousand dollars.\n 7. The department of health shall produce, post on its website, make\navailable to others for reproduction, or contract with others to develop\nsuch materials required by this section. The material produced pursuant\nto this section shall be culturally and linguistically appropriate for\nthe communities served by the long term care insurance resource centers.\nThese materials shall be made available to the public free of charge.\n 8. In exercising any of their powers under this section, the\ncommissioner of health and/or the director of the office for the aging\nmay consult with appropriate agencies, organizations, and consumers and\nproviders of long term care insurance or organizations representing\nthem.\n 9. In addition to state funds allocated for programs under this\nsection, the commissioner of health and/or the director of the office\nfor the aging may accept funding from public sources for these programs,\nand may undertake joint or cooperative programs with other public\nentities or a private not-for-profit corporation which is neither a\nprovider or regulator of long term care insurance, or an affiliate or\nunit of such agency or corporation.\n 10. The commissioner of health, the director of the office for the\naging and the superintendent of financial services shall issue an annual\nreport to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, and the temporary\npresident of the senate. Such report shall contain, at a minimum, the\nfollowing information: the number of individuals who have received\ncounseling and assistance by the long term care insurance education and\noutreach program, their ages and their occupations; whether these\nindividuals have purchased a long term care insurance policy, and if so,\nthe policy that was purchased; a description of all of the services,\nincluding counseling, education and outreach services, being provided by\nthe long term care education and outreach program, broken down by\ncounty; the activities used to promote the partnership for long term\ncare program; and a description of the long term care education and\noutreach program's funding sources and whether they are adequate. The\nreport shall also contain recommendations for targeting specific age\ngroups to buy long term care insurance, creating new methods of\npromoting the purchase of long term care insurance, and improving long\nterm care insurance products.\n 11. An area agency on aging may use up to five percent of the total of\nany funds provided to an area agency on aging pursuant to this section\nfor administration.\n * NB Added Ch. 58/2004 Part B §23, language juxtaposed per Ch.\n642/2004 §12\n * NB Section number supplied by the Legislative Bill Drafting\nCommission\n