H1704 Summary

• Establishes the North Carolina Long-Term Care Partnership Program to allow individuals to qualify for Medicaid coverage of long-term care costs without first exhausting their personal resources.

• Creates a "resource disregard" mechanism where amounts equal to long-term care insurance benefits paid under qualified partnership policies are excluded from Medicaid eligibility determinations and estate recovery calculations.

• Requires qualified long-term care partnership policies to include specific consumer protections: compound inflation coverage for those under 61 years old, a 90-day notice before benefit exhaustion, and a "Partnership Status Disclosure Notice" in at least 12-point font explaining program benefits.

• Authorizes the Department of Insurance and Department of Health and Human Services to share confidential information with other state and federal agencies, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and federal contractors to administer the program.

• Becomes effective January 1, 2011, or 60 days after Medicaid State Plan amendment approval, whichever is later.