III

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 22

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to promoting coverage of

individuals under long-term care insurance.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 23, 1999

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) submitted the following

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to promoting

coverage of individuals under long-term care insurance.

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. PROMOTION OF COVERAGE OF INDIVIDUALS

4 UNDER LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

6 (1) As the baby boom generation begins to re7 tire, funding social security and Medicare will put a

8 strain on the financial resources of younger Ameri9 cans.
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1 (2) Medicaid was designed as a program for the

2 poor, but in many States Medicaid is being used for

3 middle income elderly people to fund long-term care

4 expenses.

5 (3) In the coming decade, people over age 65

6 will represent 20 percent or more of the population,

7 and the proportion of the population composed of in8 dividuals who are over age 85, and most likely to

9 need long-term care, may double or triple.

10 (4) With nursing home care now costing an av11 erage of $40,000 to $50,000 per year, long-term

12 care expenses can have a catastrophic effect on fami13 lies, wiping out a lifetime of savings before a spouse,

14 parent, or grandparent becomes eligible for Med15 icaid.

16 (5) Many people are unaware that most long17 term care costs are not covered by Medicare and

18 that Medicaid covers long-term care only after the

19 person’s assets have been exhausted.

20 (6) Widespread use of private long-term care

21 insurance has the potential to protect families from

22 the catastrophic costs of long-term care services

23 while, at the same time, easing the burden on Med24 icaid as the baby boom generation ages.
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1 (7) The Federal Government has endorsed the

2 concept of private long-term care insurance by estab3 lishing Federal tax rules for tax-qualified policies in

4 the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability

5 Act of 1996.

6 (8) The Federal Government has ensured the

7 availability of quality long-term care insurance prod8 ucts and sales practices by adopting strict consumer

9 protections in the Health Insurance Portability and

10 Accountability Act of 1996.

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that—

13 (1) the Federal Government should take all ap14 propriate steps to inform the public about the finan15 cial risks posed by rapidly increasing long-term care

16 costs and about the need for families to plan for

17 their long-term care needs;

18 (2) the Federal Government should take all ap19 propriate steps to inform the public that Medicare

20 does not cover most long-term care costs and that

21 Medicaid covers long-term care costs only when the

22 beneficiary has exhausted his or her assets;

23 (3) the Federal Government should take all ap24 propriate steps not only to encourage employers to

25 offer private long-term care insurance coverage to
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1 employees, but also to encourage both working-aged

2 people and older citizens to obtain long-term care in3 surance either through their employers or on their

4 own;

5 (4) appropriate committees of Congress, to6 gether with the Department of Health and Human

7 Services and other appropriate executive branch

8 agencies, should develop specific ideas for encour9 aging Americans to plan for their own long-term

10 care needs; and

11 (5) the congressional tax-writing committees,

12 together with the Department of the Treasury,

13 should determine whether modification of the tax

14 rules for long-term care insurance is necessary to

15 ensure that the rules adequately facilitate the afford16 ability of long-term care insurance.

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