(a) The Department of Social Services shall seek appropriate amendments to its Medicaid regulations and state plan to allow protection of resources and income pursuant to section 17b-252. Such protection shall be provided, to the extent approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for any purchaser of a precertified long-term care policy and shall last for the life of the purchaser. Such protection shall be provided under the Medicaid program or its successor program. Any purchaser of a precertified long-term care policy shall be guaranteed coverage under the Medicaid program or its successor program, to the extent the individual meets all applicable eligibility requirements for the Medicaid program or its successor program. Until such time as eligibility requirements are prescribed for Medicaid's successor program, for the purposes of this subsection, the applicable eligibility requirements shall be the Medicaid program's requirements as of the date its successor program was enacted. The Department of Social Services shall count insurance benefit payments toward resource exclusion to the extent such payments (1) are for services paid for by a precertified long-term care policy; (2) are for the lower of the actual charge and the amount paid by the insurance company; (3) are for nursing home care, or formal services delivered to insureds in the community as part of a care plan approved by an access agency approved by the Office of Policy and Management and the Department of Social Services as meeting the requirements for such agency as defined in regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (e) of section 17b-342; and (4) are for services provided after the individual meets the coverage requirements for long-term care benefits established by the Department of Social Services for this program. The Commissioner of Social Services shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to implement the provisions of this subsection and sections 17b-252, 17b-254 and 38a-475 relating to determining eligibility of applicants for Medicaid, or its successor program, and the coverage requirements for long-term care benefits.

(b) The Commissioner of Social Services, after consultation with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, may enter into reciprocal agreements with other states to extend the resource exclusions under section 17b-252 and subsection (a) of this section to purchasers of qualified long-term care insurance policies issued in states entering into such reciprocal agreements if such purchasers apply to the Medicaid program or its successor program. Such reciprocal agreements shall also allow purchasers of precertified policies under section 38a-475 to receive a Medicaid resource exclusion in states entering into such reciprocal agreements. The provisions of such reciprocal agreements shall be effective for the life of a purchaser of a precertified policy. For the purposes of this subsection, “qualified long-term care insurance policy” means a long-term care insurance policy approved through a program in another state that provides a Medicaid resource exclusion or asset disregard substantially similar to the Medicaid resource exclusion included in precertified policies and includes benefits substantially similar to those included in a precertified policy.

(P.A. 89-352, S. 2, 6; P.A. 91-187, S. 2, 4; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; P.A. 94-167, S. 2, 4; P.A. 95-160, S. 6, 69; P.A. 96-131, S. 2, 3; 96-139, S. 12, 13; P.A. 98-239, S. 21, 35; P.A. 03-19, S. 40; P.A. 13-125, S. 25.)

History: P.A. 91-187 changed deadline for purchasing policy providing protection under the program from December 31, 1994, to December 31, 1996; P.A. 93-262 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department of income maintenance, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-167 removed deadline for purchasing policy, effective June 7, 1994; Sec. 17-12r transferred to Sec. 17b-253 in 1995; P.A. 95-160 replaced a reference to a coordination, assessment and monitoring agency with access agency, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-131 inserted references to Medicaid's “successor program”, required such successor program to provide protection of resources and income provided by Medicaid, guaranteed coverage under the Medicaid program or its successor program for any purchaser of a precertified long-term care policy, with certain eligibility requirements, amended Subdiv. (1) to replace “Medicaid approves or covers for its recipients” with “paid for by a precertified long-term care policy”, effective May 29, 1996; P.A. 96-139 changed effective date of P.A. 95-160 but without affecting this section; P.A. 98-239 made technical changes in existing section, designated as Subsec. (a), and added Subsec. (b) allowing commissioner, after consulting with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, to enter into reciprocal agreements with other states to extend the resource exclusions under the program to purchasers of qualified long-term care insurance policies issued in those states if such purchasers apply to the Medicaid program, providing that such reciprocal agreements shall allow purchasers of precertified policies under Sec. 38a-475 to receive a Medicaid resource exclusion in states which enter into such agreements and defining “qualified long-term care insurance policy”, effective June 8, 1998; P.A. 03-19 replaced “Health Care Financing Administration” with “Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services” in Subsec. (a), effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 13-125 amended Subsec. (a) to delete reference to Sec. 17b-251, effective July 1, 2013.

See Sec. 17b-251 re outreach program.

See Sec. 17b-252 re overview of program.

See Sec. 17b-254 re foundation funds and federal approval and report to General Assembly.

See Sec. 38a-475 re precertification of long-term care insurance policies.