North Dakota Insurance

With an eye on the future, where more people, long-term assistance, the government in early promote the Americans themselves pay for him to translate. The carrot is proposed a tax deduction for individuals and employers on the acquisition of insurance long-term care. Nitrogen is criminal penalties for some people, instead of financing their own long-term care, try to connect to a government paid care by transferring assets to family members or trusts.

The officials and health care economists said the new incentives, with effect from January 1, herald sweeping changes in public policy. The federal government and states face enormous growth in programs like Medicaid, which were quickly overwhelmed by aging baby boomers and their parents.

With this legislation’’says the Congress, there is not a new government programs long-term care,’’said Günther Ruch, head of the implementation of the Wisconsin Insurance Commission.

Glenn Pomeroy, the insurance commissioner of North Dakota, said que”le Congress is directly promoting the private market to play a larger role.”

The assurance of the economy, has been lobbying for tax incentives for years, welcomed the legislation, the Kennedy health insurance law of the tree. The industry says millions of people from middle class for long-term care without additional help from government, insurance and large companies say they are always an increase in requests for information on long-term care employers and unions.

Under the new rules, employers can deduct from their taxes the cost of providing long-term care plan for workers, as they do now, if medical benefits. And individuals in their purchasing policy may be unique to deduct the premium federal taxes when the full cost of health care and long-term care exceed 7.5 percent of income. People 51 to 60 years may deduct from their $ 750 of their premiums from their taxes people over 60 up to $ 2000, and over 70 up to $ 2500.
”The really good to be able to self-insure,’’said Doug Bates of Washington, a lawyer for the American Council of Life Insurance, a trade group. ”It really is aid that can not.”

But the carrot should not be quite mild and the key perhaps not big enough for people to buy insurance. Only about five million Americans, or 6 percent of all taxpayers, net of medicine in 1994, the latest year for which data are available. And the deduction is often not much. A person with the application of a gross income of $ 30000, purchased a policy of long-term care for $ 1400, the typical price for an individual in his mid-60’s, it would take more than $ 950 for medical expenses, even for a deduction of $ 100.

Young workers, already struggling to save their pensions and their children’s education, may also be reluctant to pay premiums, especially for insurance they may never need.

And for only a few spokesmen for the elderly believe that the government really starts launch seniors in prison for passing on their heritage to create the conditions for Medicaid.

Under the law, people would be for reimbursement of insurance policies, if a licensed physician or another health care provider certifying that they control more than two daily activities such as bathing, eating, washing, ‘dressing or moving from a bed in a chair. But these and other provisions in the Act establishes guidelines stricter than those of several countries, Mr. Pomeroy, North Dakota commissioner, said. In Kansas, for example, only a general diagnosis by a doctor, a care in the long term is necessary, it is enough for insurers require that payments to policyholders.

Gail Shearer, a policy analyst with the Consumers Union, an advocacy group, invited buyers of insurance to look closely at the policy, benefits and costs. ”It’s caveat emptor,’’she said.
Still, the insurance sector was the preparation of an expected increase in turnover. More than 400000 individual policy of long-term care were sold last year, and GE Capital Assurance, one of the biggest suppliers, projects 10 to 15 percent of sales industrywide higher next year . So last year, it bought Amex Life Assurance, the unit of long-term care of American Express.

Conseco Inc. recently bought several insurers, including U.S. travellers Corporation, in the last month, agreed on a common market organisation in the insurance policy of collaboration with the American International Group. And September, Metropolitan Life said that 1998 would have on long-term care business offered by the American Association of Retired Persons.

Barbara B. Representatives Kennelly, Connecticut Democrat, has worked in law bipartie, said that people buy insurance for long-term care, would help protect the elderly, economies by the high cost of health care and reduce the bill to Medicaid for long-term care is projected to reach $ 67 billion in 2006, from about $ 30 billion during the fiscal year that ended on October 1st . ”Both are clearly in the national interest,’’she said.