2023 New York Laws › ELD - Elder › Article 2 - Programs for the Elderly › Title 1 - State Office for the Aging › 217-A - Long Term Care Insurance Education and Outreach Program.

* § 217-a. Long term care insurance education and outreach program. 1.
For  the  purposes  of  this section, the term "long term care insurance
resource center" shall mean a project within an  area  agency  on  aging
funded  pursuant  to this section that provides direct assistance to the
general public in choosing and obtaining long term care insurance.
2. The commissioner of health, in consultation with  the  director  of
the  office  for the aging and the superintendent of financial services,
is hereby authorized and directed,  within  amounts  allocated  therefor
pursuant  to  paragraph  (qq) of subdivision one of section twenty-eight
hundred seven-v of the public health law, to establish a long term  care
insurance education and outreach program within the department of health
for the purpose of informing and educating the general public about long
term care insurance, including those policies that are available through
the partnership for long term care program.
3.  The  commissioner  of  health,  the  superintendent  of  financial
services and the director of the office for the aging  shall  appoint  a
state  program  coordinator  to  implement, administer and supervise the
long term care insurance education and outreach program, and  coordinate
the  development  of  the  educational  and informational materials. The
state program coordinator shall be an employee of  the  office  for  the
aging  who  shall  be selected from among individuals with expertise and
experience in the fields of long term care  insurance,  and  with  other
qualifications   determined   by   the   commissioner   of  health,  the
superintendent of financial services and the director of the office  for
the  aging  to  be  appropriate  for  the  position.  The  state program
coordinator shall,  within  amounts  available,  personally  or  through
authorized representatives, be responsible for training staff persons of
the  program,  including  staff  persons of the long term care insurance
resource centers, and shall provide for the collection and dissemination
of timely and accurate long term  care  insurance  information  to  said
staff persons.
4.  The long term care insurance education and outreach program shall,
within amounts available, consist of the following elements which  shall
be provided by the office for the aging:
(a)  educational  and informational materials in print, audio, visual,
electronic or other media;
(b) public service  announcements,  advertisements,  media  campaigns,
workshops, mass mailings, conferences or presentations;
(c)  establishment  of  a  toll-free  telephone hotline and electronic
services to provide information; and
(d) establishment of long term care insurance resource centers  within
each area agency on aging.
5.  Long  term  care  insurance resource centers shall, within amounts
available, provide the  general  public  with  the  following  items  or
services:
(a)  educational  and informational materials in print, audio, visual,
electronic or other media;
(b) public service  announcements,  advertisements,  media  campaigns,
workshops, mass mailings, conferences or presentations; and
(c)  counseling, information, referral services, and direct assistance
in choosing and obtaining long term care  insurance.  Direct  assistance
shall,   within  amounts  available,  include  but  not  be  limited  to
assistance with the following:
(i) planning for the financing of long term care;
(ii) understanding policy options, benefits and appeal rights;
(iii) obtaining the coverage needed and the appropriate benefits; and
(iv) avoiding or reporting illegal billing,  fraudulent  practices  or
scams.
Each  long  term  care insurance resource center shall be responsible,
within amounts available, for providing a  sufficient  number  of  staff
positions  (including volunteers) necessary to provide and carry out the
services of the long term care insurance education and outreach program,
provided that at least one position shall be filled by an individual who
is  employed  full  time  and paid by the area agency on aging. The long
term care insurance resource center shall be  responsible  for  ensuring
that  its  staff  persons  have no conflict of interest in providing the
services described in subdivision four of this section.
6. Annually, in order to receive funding, each area  agency  on  aging
shall  submit  a service plan and proposed budget for the operation of a
long  term  care  insurance  resource  center  to  the   state   program
coordinator  for  approval. An area agency on aging shall be eligible to
receive funds in an amount of up to fifty thousand dollars, except  that
an  area  agency  on  aging located within a city of one million or more
shall be eligible to receive funds in an amount of  up  to  one  hundred
thousand dollars.
7.  The  department of health shall produce, post on its website, make
available to others for reproduction, or contract with others to develop
such materials required by this section. The material produced  pursuant
to  this  section shall be culturally and linguistically appropriate for
the communities served by the long term care insurance resource centers.
These materials shall be made available to the public free of charge.
8.  In  exercising  any  of  their  powers  under  this  section,  the
commissioner  of  health and/or the director of the office for the aging
may consult with appropriate agencies, organizations, and consumers  and
providers  of  long  term  care  insurance or organizations representing
them.
9. In addition to  state  funds  allocated  for  programs  under  this
section,  the  commissioner  of health and/or the director of the office
for the aging may accept funding from public sources for these programs,
and may undertake  joint  or  cooperative  programs  with  other  public
entities  or  a  private  not-for-profit  corporation which is neither a
provider or regulator of long term care insurance, or  an  affiliate  or
unit of such agency or corporation.
10.  The  commissioner  of  health, the director of the office for the
aging and the superintendent of financial services shall issue an annual
report to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, and  the  temporary
president  of  the  senate. Such report shall contain, at a minimum, the
following information: the  number  of  individuals  who  have  received
counseling  and assistance by the long term care insurance education and
outreach program,  their  ages  and  their  occupations;  whether  these
individuals have purchased a long term care insurance policy, and if so,
the  policy  that  was  purchased; a description of all of the services,
including counseling, education and outreach services, being provided by
the long term care  education  and  outreach  program,  broken  down  by
county;  the  activities  used  to promote the partnership for long term
care program; and a description of the  long  term  care  education  and
outreach  program's  funding  sources and whether they are adequate. The
report shall also contain recommendations  for  targeting  specific  age
groups  to  buy  long  term  care  insurance,  creating  new  methods of
promoting the purchase of long term care insurance, and  improving  long
term care insurance products.
11. An area agency on aging may use up to five percent of the total of
any  funds  provided to an area agency on aging pursuant to this section
for administration.
* NB Added Ch.  58/2004  Part  B  §23,  language  juxtaposed  per  Ch.
642/2004 §12
* NB   Section  number  supplied  by  the  Legislative  Bill  Drafting
Commission