Qualified Long-term Care Insurance Policies

Per section 208.690-208.698 RSMo, the “Missouri Long-term Care Partnership Program Act” was established and is administered by the Missouri Department of Social Services in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance (DCI). The program is designed to:

• Provide incentives for individuals to insure against the cost of providing for their long-term care needs;
• Provide a mechanism for individuals to qualify for coverage of the cost of their long-term care needs under the Missouri HeathNet program without first being required to substantially exhaust their resources; and
• Alleviate the financial burden to the Missouri HeathNet program by encouraging the pursuit of private initiatives.

Section 208.690-208.698 RSMO requires that the DCI director develop requirements to ensure that any individual who sells a qualified long-term care insurance partnership policy receives training and demonstrates evidence of an understanding of such policies and how they relate to other public and private coverage of long-term care. The DCI director has established regulations (20 CSR 400-4.120) including guidelines for training and a standard of continuing education for licensed insurance producers who sell qualified long-term care policies.

Qualified long-term care policies are those that are approved and certified by the DCI director as meeting the requirements of:

• The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Long-term Care Insurance Model Act and Regulation as specified in 42 U.S.C. 1917(b); and
• The provisions of Section 6021 of the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

With the passage of this law, licensed insurance producers selling, soliciting, or negotiating Qualified Long-term Care Partnership Policies must receive training regarding such policies and demonstrate an evidence of an understanding of the policies. Those producers will be required to complete eight (8) hours of initial basic training specific to Partnership policies before selling such policies and receive at least four (4) hours of continuing education regarding such policies during each two-year renewal period thereafter. That training and continuing education must be received via classes pre-approved by the DCI as meeting the requirements for sufficient content.