Insurance bill would shield seniors' savings
Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Lawmakers are considering an innovative long-term-care insurance bill that would shield seniors' life savings while preserving Medicaid for the most needy.
"The purpose of this bill is to encourage people to buy long-term- care insurance, because the (aging) baby boomers are coming at us like a freight train," said Rep. Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial, sponsor of House Bill 1039.
"If we don't do something, they're going to totally overload Medicaid with long-term-care costs."
Swalm's proposal would allow Coloradans to take advantage of a federal long-term-care partnership that Congress revived in 2005 after the initial program was halted in the early 1990s.
The bill would allow people who purchase long-term-care insurance that provides, for example, $300,000 in coverage, to shelter the same amount of assets and receive Medicaid coverage after spending their maximum long- term policy benefits.
Swalm said the bill would also shield the state Medicaid budget by allowing those buying long- term-care insurance to delay or avoid going on Medicaid.
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