California looks into long term care insurance plan

It’s possible that a long-term care insurance system may arrive in California, as lawmakers are considering the usefulness of such a program. It would be a statewide program, and the target demographic would be residents who need long-term care insurance (LTCI) and who are in a mid-level income bracket.

The actual accomplishment of creating such a system may still be a long way off. As of right now, the bill that has been put forward just asks that a team will be created to look into the possibility of a system and the specifics of what it would take to set one up.

California already has a disability insurance program in place. One thing that the task force would look into would be simply embedding the LTCI program into that system so that payments could be made in a similar fashion.

One problem that has already been noted, though, is that people may be so adverse to paying into such a program that they may leave California to get out of it. They may not want to pay for those who need assistance because it is such a prevalent issue, with many disabled people having been on the lower end of the income scale for their entire lives.

The issue with people leaving would only come about if the program was mandatory. An alternative would be to make it optional, but then even more people may simply decide that they want to opt out of it.

Despite the challenges, it’s important to keep an eye on this bill and any progress that the task force makes, as it could ultimately change funding for long term disability needs.

Source: Life Health Pro, “Should California set up a state LTCI program?” Allison Bell, Mar. 13, 2015