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S06672 Summary:

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S06672 Floor Votes:

S06672 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         6672--A
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    February 26, 2014
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen.  KLEIN  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the  Committee  on  Insurance  --  reported
          favorably  from  said  committee  and  committed  to  the Committee on
          Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended,  ordered  reprinted  as
          amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN  ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to establishing a public

          awareness program on the availability of long term health care  insur-
          ance  and  the tax credits therefor, and accelerating payment of death
          benefits or a special surrender value pursuant  to  a  life  insurance
          policy upon receipt of end of life or palliative care
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1.  The insurance law is amended by adding a new  section  342
     2  to read as follows:
     3    §  342.  Public  awareness  to finance long term care. The department,
     4  department of health, office for the aging and  department  of  taxation
     5  and finance may jointly establish and conduct a public awareness program
     6  on  the  availability and coverage provided by life insurance and health

     7  insurance plans for long term care, and the provisions  of  various  tax
     8  credits therefor.
     9    §  2.  Paragraph  1 of subsection (a) of section 1113 of the insurance
    10  law, as amended by chapter 563 of the laws of 2010, is amended  to  read
    11  as follows:
    12    (1)  "Life  Insurance,"  means every insurance upon the lives of human
    13  beings, and every insurance appertaining thereto, including the granting
    14  of endowment benefits, additional benefits in  the  event  of  death  by
    15  accident,  additional  benefits  to  safeguard  the contract from lapse,
    16  accelerated payments of part or all of the death benefit  or  a  special
    17  surrender value upon (A) diagnosis of terminal illness defined as a life
    18  expectancy  of  twelve months or less, (B) diagnosis of a medical condi-
    19  tion requiring extraordinary medical care  or  treatment  regardless  of

    20  life expectancy, (C) certification by a licensed health care practition-
    21  er  of any condition which requires continuous care for the remainder of
    22  the insured's life in an eligible facility or at home when  the  insured
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14174-02-4
        S. 6672--A                          2
 
     1  is chronically ill as defined by Section 7702(B) of the Internal Revenue
     2  Code and regulations thereunder, provided the accelerated payments qual-
     3  ify  under  Section 101(g)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and all other
     4  applicable  sections  of  federal law in order to maintain favorable tax
     5  treatment, (D) certification by a licensed health care practitioner that

     6  the insured is chronically ill as defined by Section  7702  (B)  of  the
     7  Internal  Revenue Code and regulations thereunder, provided the acceler-
     8  ated payments qualify under Section 101(g)(3) of  the  Internal  Revenue
     9  Code  and all other applicable sections of federal law in order to main-
    10  tain favorable tax treatment and the insurer that issues such policy  is
    11  a  qualified long term care insurance carrier under Section 4980c of the
    12  Internal Revenue Code or provide a special surrender value,  upon  total
    13  and  permanent  disability of the insured, and optional modes of settle-
    14  ment of proceeds, [or] (E) the insured's having been  a  resident  of  a
    15  nursing  home,  as  defined  in  section twenty-eight hundred one of the
    16  public health law, for a period of three months or more, with an  expec-
    17  tation  that such insured will remain a resident of a nursing home until

    18  death, or (F) the insured's having been the recipient of end of life  or
    19  palliative  care, for a period of three months or more, at a residential
    20  health care facility as defined in subdivision three of section  twenty-
    21  eight  hundred  one  of  the  public  health  law, home care services as
    22  defined in subdivision one of section  thirty-six  hundred  two  of  the
    23  public  health  law  or hospice as defined in subdivision one of section
    24  four thousand two of the public health law, with  the  expectation  that
    25  such  insured will continue to require such services until death.  "Life
    26  insurance" also includes additional benefits to safeguard  the  contract
    27  against  lapse  in  the  event  of unemployment of the insured or in the

    28  event the insured is a resident of a  nursing  home.  Amounts  paid  the
    29  insurer  for life insurance and proceeds applied under optional modes of
    30  settlement or under dividend options may be allocated by the insurer  to
    31  one  or  more  separate  accounts  pursuant to section four thousand two
    32  hundred forty of this chapter.
    33    § 3. Subparagraph (A) of paragraph 11 of  subsection  (c)  of  section
    34  3201  of  the  insurance  law,  as amended by chapter 563 of the laws of
    35  2010, is amended to read as follows:
    36    (A) The superintendent shall not approve a life insurance policy which
    37  provides for accelerated payment of death benefits or special  surrender
    38  values  pursuant to subparagraph (B), (C), (D) [or], (E) or (F) of para-
    39  graph one of subsection (a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen

    40  of this chapter unless it also provides for such accelerated payments or
    41  special surrender values pursuant to subparagraph (A) of  paragraph  one
    42  of subsection (a) of such section.
    43    §  4.  Subsection (f) of section 3230 of the insurance law, as amended
    44  by chapter 563 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
    45    (f) This section shall apply to all life insurance policies or  policy
    46  riders  or  provisions  thereof  that provide for accelerated payment of
    47  death benefits or a special surrender  value  pursuant  to  subparagraph
    48  (A),  (B),  (C)  [or],  (E) or (F) of paragraph one of subsection (a) of
    49  section one thousand one hundred thirteen of this chapter.
    50    § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
    51  ing  the  date  on  which  it shall have become a law and shall apply to

    52  policies or contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered, or amended  on
    53  or after such date.