REPORT TITLE:
LTC Insurance Premiums 


DESCRIPTION:
Requires 20% of moneys in emergency and budget reserve fund to be
transferred upon receipt to long-term care insurance premium
special fund to pay for a portion of LTC insurance premiums for
persons 65 and older on sliding income scale.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2916
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO LONG-TERM CARE. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
 2 a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as
 
 3 follows:
 
 4                             "CHAPTER
 
 5           LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PREMIUM SPECIAL FUND
 
 6      § -1 Long-term care insurance premium special fund
 
 7 created.  There is created the long-term care insurance premium
 
 8 special fund to be administered by the department of health.
 
 9 Immediately upon receipt of tobacco settlement moneys by the
 
10 emergency and budget reserve fund under section 328L-3, the
 
11 director of finance shall transfer twenty per cent of moneys
 
12 received to the long-term care insurance premium payment special
 
13 fund.
 
14      § -2 Use of funds.  Moneys in the long-term care
 
15 insurance premium special fund shall be used solely by the
 
16 department of health to pay a portion of the premium for a policy
 
17 under section    -3 that is purchased after September 30, 2000,
 
18 by a person age sixty-five and older.  The portion of the premium
 
19 to be paid by the department shall be on a declining scale of
 

 
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 1 financial need based on the gross income of the person purchasing
 
 2 the long-term care insurance policy as follows:
 
 3      (1)  For ages    to   , $          ;
 
 4      (2)  For ages    to   , $          ;
 
 5      (3)  For ages    to   , $          ;
 
 6      (4)  For age     and older, $          ;
 
 7 provided that the amount shall not exceed $1,000 per person
 
 8 annually; and provided further that no person whose adjusted
 
 9 gross income exceeds $          , as determined by the most
 
10 recent federal income tax return of the person, shall receive
 
11 moneys under this section.  The insured must qualify anew
 
12 financially for each annual payment by the department.
 
13      § -3 Method of payment.(a)  The department shall pay
 
14 directly to the insurer the portion of premium determined under
 
15 section    -2 for the issuance of the initial policy and each
 
16 policy payment thereafter, upon receipt of a bill and a written
 
17 statement from the insurer (not the agent) that the bill is for
 
18 basic coverage only and that the policy qualifies for tax
 
19 benefits under part III of article 10H, chapter 431.  No payment
 
20 of premium shall be made directly to the insured or any person
 
21 paying the premium on behalf of the insured under section
 
22 431:10H-402, or for reimbursement.
 
23      (b)  The department shall develop any forms and procedures
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 it deems necessary, for the purpose of this chapter, no later
 
 2 than September 30, 2000.
 
 3      (c)  Moneys in the long-term care insurance premium payment
 
 4 special fund shall be paid out on a first-come, first-served
 
 5 basis until exhausted.  Moneys from the general fund shall not be
 
 6 used for this purpose.
 
 7      § -4 Repeal.  This chapter shall be repealed on December
 
 8 30, 2010; provided that the last payment under section    -2
 
 9 shall be made no later than the 4:30 p.m. on the last full
 
10 business day of the department before December 30, 2010."
 
11      SECTION 2.  Section 328L-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
12 amended to read as follows:
 
13      "§328L-3  Emergency and budget reserve fund.(a)  There is
 
14 established in the state treasury the emergency budget and
 
15 reserve fund which shall be a special fund administered by the
 
16 director of finance, into which shall be deposited:
 
17      (1)  Forty per cent of the moneys received from the tobacco
 
18           settlement moneys under section   -2(b)(1);
 
19      (2)  Appropriations made by the legislature to the fund.
 
20      (b)  All interest earned from moneys in the emergency and
 
21 budget reserve fund shall be credited to the general fund.
 
22      (c)  [Expenditures] Except as provided in subsection (f),
 
23 expenditures from the emergency and budget reserve fund shall be
 

 
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 1 a temporary supplemental source of funding for the State during
 
 2 times of emergency, economic downturn, or unforeseen reduction in
 
 3 revenues.  [No] Except as provided in subsection (f), no
 
 4 expenditures shall be made from the emergency and budget reserve
 
 5 fund except pursuant to appropriations.  The general
 
 6 appropriations bill or the supplemental appropriations bill, as
 
 7 defined in section 9 of article VII of the Constitution of the
 
 8 State of Hawaii, shall not be used to appropriate moneys from the
 
 9 emergency and budget reserve fund.  The governor, through an
 
10 appropriations bill, may recommend expenditures from the
 
11 emergency and budget reserve fund by setting forth the purposes
 
12 of the expenditures consistent with subsection (d), the amounts,
 
13 and the reasons justifying the necessity for the appropriations.
 
14      (d)  The legislature may make appropriations from the fund
 
15 for the following purposes:
 
16      (1)  To maintain levels of programs determined to be
 
17           essential to the public health, safety, and welfare;
 
18      (2)  To provide for counter cyclical economic and employment
 
19           programs in periods of economic downturn;
 
20      (3)  To restore facilities destroyed or damaged or services
 
21           disrupted by disaster in any county; and
 
22      (4)  To meet other emergencies when declared by the governor
 
23           or determined to be urgent by the legislature.
 

 
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 1      Any act making appropriations from the emergency and budget
 
 2 reserve fund shall include a declaration of findings and purposes
 
 3 setting forth the purposes, the amounts, and the reasons why the
 
 4 appropriations are necessary and shall require a two-thirds
 
 5 majority vote of each house of the legislature.
 
 6      (e)  Appropriations for the following purposes from the
 
 7 emergency and budget reserve fund are specifically prohibited:
 
 8      (1)  To meet expenses of the legislature; 
 
 9      (2)  To provide for salary adjustments for officials
 
10           appointed pursuant to article V, section 6 or article
 
11           VI, section 3 of the Constitution of the State of
 
12           Hawaii and for others whose salaries are directly
 
13           related to salaries of these officials; and
 
14      (3)  To fund cost items in any collective bargaining
 
15           contract.
 
16      (f)  Twenty per cent of the moneys in the emergency budget
 
17 and reserve fund shall be transferred upon receipt to the long-
 
18 term care insurance premium special fund in accordance with
 
19 section    -1."
 
20      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
21 New statutory material is underscored.
 

 
 
 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 2 
 
 3                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________