SB2427 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SDS093 00052 DAH 40003 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
SB2427

Introduced 2/3/2004, by Denny Jacobs

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 1405/1405-35 new

Amends the Department of Insurance Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Requires the Department of Insurance, the Department on Aging, and the Department of Central Management Services to conduct a study concerning the failure of Illinois residents to purchase long-term care insurance. Requires those departments to take steps to encourage the purchase of long-term care insurance through the private sector. Requires CMS to encourage State employees to purchase the optional long-term care insurance coverage offered by the Department. Requires the departments to report annually to the Governor and the General Assembly. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning long-term care.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Department of Insurance Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding Section 1405-35 as follows:

(20 ILCS 1405/1405-35 new)

Sec. 1405-35. Long-term care insurance; study.

(a) The Legislature finds that chronic long-term care illnesses threaten the health and welfare of millions of families. Furthermore, most families have no private or public insurance to help pay the catastrophic expenses of an extended chronic episode requiring home, community, or institutional long-term care. The costs of care during an extended chronic illness are high and force tens of thousands of Illinoisans annually to spend-down their income and savings of a lifetime and become dependent upon public assistance programs.

The Department of Central Management Services offers State employees the opportunity to purchase optional long-term care insurance coverage, and the Legislature declares that it is in the interest of the people of Illinois that all Illinois residents be encouraged to anticipate their potential long-term care needs by purchasing quality private long-term care insurance policies.

(b) The Department of Insurance, in coordination with the Department on Aging and the Department of Central Management Services, shall conduct a study concerning the failure of Illinois residents to purchase long-term care insurance. The departments shall take appropriate steps to encourage Illinois residents to purchase long-term care insurance through the private sector. In particular, the Department of Central Management Services shall take appropriate steps to encourage State employees to purchase the optional long-term care insurance coverage offered by the Department. The departments shall submit a joint report to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before January 1 of each year concerning their findings and recommendations as well as their progress toward the goal of encouraging more Illinois residents to purchase long-term care insurance.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.