(1) (a) An individual may not sell, solicit, or negotiate long-term care insurance unless the individual is licensed as an insurance producer for accident and health or sickness or life insurance and has completed a one-time training course and ongoing training every twenty-four months. The training must meet the requirements set forth in subsection (2) of this section.

(b) The training requirements of subsection (2) of this section may be approved as continuing education courses under section 10-2-301.

(2) (a) The one-time training required by this section shall be no less than sixteen hours, eight hours of which shall consist of long-term care, generally, and eight hours of which shall be specific to long-term care partnerships in a classroom setting. The ongoing training required by this section shall be no less than five hours in a classroom setting.

(b) The training required under paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) shall consist of topics related to long-term care insurance, long-term care services and, if applicable, qualified state long-term care insurance partnership programs, including, but not limited to:

(I) State and federal regulations and requirements and the relationship between qualified state long-term care insurance partnership programs and other public and private coverage of long-term care services, including medicaid;

(II) Available long-term care services and providers;

(III) Changes or improvements in long-term care services or providers;

(IV) Alternatives to the purchase of private long-term care insurance;

(V) The effect of inflation on benefits and the importance of inflation protection; and

(VI) Consumer suitability standards and guidelines.

(c) The training required by this section shall not include training that is insurer- or company product-specific or that includes any sales or marketing information, materials, or training other than those required by state or federal law.

(3) (a) Each insurer subject to this article shall obtain verification that a producer receives training required by paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section before the producer is permitted to sell, solicit, or negotiate the insurer's long-term care insurance products. The insurer shall maintain records in accordance with all applicable record retention requirements and shall make the verification available to the commissioner upon request.

(b) Each insurer subject to this article shall maintain records with respect to the training of its producers concerning the distribution of its partnership policies that will allow the division of insurance to provide assurance to the state medicaid agency that producers have received the training contained in subparagraph (I) of paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section, as required by paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section, and that producers have demonstrated an understanding of the partnership policies and their relationship to public and private coverage of long-term care, including medicaid, in this state. These records shall be maintained in accordance with all applicable record retention requirements and shall be made available to the commissioner upon request.

(4) The satisfaction of these training requirements in any state shall be deemed to satisfy the training requirements in this state.