LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE - S.B. 236 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS
sans-serif">Senate Bill 236 (Substitute S-1 as reported)
Sponsor: Senator Bev Hammerstrom
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Nonprofit Health Care Corporation Reform Act to permit Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) to use an application form for long-term coverage that was designed to elicit the complete health history of an applicant. The bill also provides that BCBSM could charge a different rate based on age for the same long-term care coverage if the rate differential were based on sound actuarial principles and a reasonable classification system, and were related to actual and credible loss statistics or, for new coverages, related to reasonably anticipated experience. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan could condition the granting of long-term care coverage based on answers given on the long-term care application, pursuant to underwriting standards established by BCBSM. The sale of long-term care insurance would not be tax-exempt.
The bill is tie-barred to Senate Bill 234, which would revise requirements concerning BCBSM’s surplus, rate filings, and financial information reporting.
MCL 550.1420a et al. - Legislative Analyst: Claire Layman
FISCAL IMPACT
As this bill apparently would not make it any more or less likely that a person would decide to obtain a long-term care insurance plan (or affect the availability of long-term care plans), it should have no direct fiscal impact on State or local publicly funded health care programs.
Date Completed: 5-12-03 - Fiscal Analyst: John Walker
floor\sb236 - Analysis
available @ http://www.michiganlegislature.org
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.