Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 120 - OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE, SAFETY FIRE COMMISSIONER AND INDUSTRIAL LOAN COMMISSIONER
Chapter 120-2 - RULES OF COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE
Subject 120-2-16 - LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE
Rule 120-2-16-.33 - Penalties

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024

In addition to any other penalties provided by the laws of this state any insurer and any agent found to have violated any requirement of this state relating to the regulation of long-term care insurance or the marketing of such insurance shall be subject to such fines and penalties as provided under O.C.G.A. Section 33-2-24.

APPENDIX A

RESCISSION REPORTING FORM FOR

LONG-TERM CARE POLICIES

FOR THE STATE OF _______________

FOR THE REPORTING YEAR 20[]

Company Name: ___________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________

Phone Number: ____________________________________________________

Due: March 1 annually

Instructions:

The purpose of this form is to report all rescissions of long-term care insurance policies or certificates. Those rescissions voluntarily effectuated by an insured are not required to be included in this report. Please furnish one form per rescission.

Detailed reason for rescission:

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

__________________________________

Signature

__________________________________

Name and Title (please type)

__________________________________

Date

APPENDIX B

Long Term Care Insurance

Personal Worksheet

People buy long-term care insurance for many reasons. Some don't want to use their own assets to pay for long-term care. Some buy insurance to make sure they can choose the type of care they get. Others don't want their family to have to pay for care or don't want to go on Medicaid. But long term care insurance may be expensive, and may not be right for everyone.

By state law, the insurance company must fill out part of the information on this worksheet and ask you to fill out the rest to help you and the company decide if you should buy this policy.

Premium Information

Policy Form Numbers__________________________

The premium for the coverage you are considering will be [$_________ per month, or $_______ per year,] [a one-time single premium of $____________.]

Type of Policy (noncancellable/guaranteed renewable):

________________________________________

The Company's Right to Increase Premiums:

______________________________________________

[The company cannot raise your rates on this policy.] [The company has a right to increase premiums on this policy form in the future, provided it raises rates for all policies in the same class in this state.] [Insurers shall use appropriate bracketed statement. Rate guarantees shall not be shown on this form.]

Rate Increase History

The company has sold long-term care insurance since [year] and has sold this policy since [year]. [The company has never raised its rates for any long-term care policy it has sold in this state or any other state.] [The company has not raised its rates for this policy form or similar policy forms in this state or any other state in the last 10 years.] [The company has raised its premium rates on this policy form or similar policy forms in the last 10 years. Following is a summary of the rate increases.]

Questions Related to Your Income

How will you pay each year's premium?

[] From my Income [] From my Savings/Investments [] My Family will Pay

[[] Have you considered whether you could afford to keep this policy if the premiums went up, for example, by 20%?]

What is your annual income? (check one)

[] Under $10,000 [] $[10-20,000] [] $[20-30,000] [] $[30-50,000] [] Over $50,000

How do you expect your income to change over the next 10 years? (check one)

[] No change [] Increase [] Decrease

If you will be paying premiums with money received only from your own income, a rule of thumb is that you may not be able to afford this policy if the premiums will be more than 7% of your income.

Will you buy inflation protection? (check one) [] Yes [] No

If not, have you considered how you will pay for the difference between future costs and your daily benefit amount?

[] From my Income [] From my Savings/Investments [] My Family will Pay

The national average annual cost of care in [insert year] was [insert $ amount], but this figure varies across the country. In ten years the national average annual cost would be about [insert $ amount] if costs increase 5% annually.

What elimination period are you considering? Number of days _______Approximate cost $__________ for that period of care.

How are you planning to pay for your care during the elimination period? (check one)

[] From my Income [] From my Savings/Investments [] My Family will Pay

Questions Related to Your Savings and Investments

Not counting your home, about how much are all of your assets (your savings and investments) worth? (check one)

[] Under $20,000 [] $20,000-$30,000 [] $30,000-$50,000 [] Over $50,000

How do you expect your assets to change over the next ten years? (check one)

[] Stay about the same [] Increase [] Decrease

If you are buying this policy to protect your assets and your assets are less than $30,000, you may wish to consider other options for financing your long-term care.

Disclosure Statement

Signed: _____________________________ _________________________

(Applicant) (Date)

[[] I explained to the applicant the importance of completing this information.

Signed: _____________________________ _________________________

(Agent) (Date)

Agent's Printed Name: [_________________________________________]

[In order for us to process your application, please return this signed statement to [name of company], along with your application.]

[My agent has advised me that this policy does not seem to be suitable for me. However, I still want the company to consider my application.

Signed: ______________________________ _______________________]

(Applicant) (Date)

The company may contact you to verify your answers.

APPENDIX C

Things You Should Know Before You Buy

Long-Term Care Insurance

APPENDIX D

Long-Term Care Insurance Suitability Letter

Dear [Applicant]:

Your recent application for long-term care insurance included a "personal worksheet," which asked questions about your finances and your reasons for buying long-term care insurance. For your protection, state law requires us to consider this information when we review your application, to avoid selling a policy to those who may not need coverage.

[Your answers indicate that long-term care insurance may not meet your financial needs. We suggest that you review the information provided along with your application, including the booklet "Shopper's Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance" and the page titled "Things You Should Know Before Buying Long-Term Care Insurance." Your state insurance department also has information about long-term care insurance and may be able to refer you to a counselor free of charge who can help you decide whether to buy this policy.]

[You chose not to provide any financial information for us to review.]

Drafting Note: Choose the paragraph that applies.

We have suspended our final review of your application. If, after careful consideration, you still believe this policy is what you want, check the appropriate box below and return this letter to us within the next 60 days. We will then continue reviewing your application and issue a policy if you meet our medical standards.

If we do not hear from you within the next 60 days, we will close your file and not issue you a policy. You should understand that you will not have any coverage until we hear back from you, approve your application and issue you a policy.

Please check one box and return in the enclosed envelope.

[] Yes, [although my worksheet indicates that long-term care insurance may not be a suitable purchase,] I wish to purchase this coverage. Please resume review of my application.

Drafting Note: Delete the phrase in brackets if the applicant did not answer the questions about income.

[] No. I have decided not to buy a policy at this time.

____________________________ _______________________

APPLICANT'S SIGNATURE DATE

Please return to [issuer] at [address] by [date].

APPENDIX E

Claims Denial Reporting Form

Long-Term Care Insurance

For the State of __________________________

For the Reporting Year of ________________

Company Name:______________________________________________ Due: June 30 annually

Company Address:________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Company NAIC Number:_________________________________________

Contact Person: ____________________Phone Number: ______________

Line of Business: Individual Group

Instructions

The purpose of this form is to report all long-term care claim denials under in force long-term care insurance policies. "Denied" means a claim that is not paid for any reason other than for claims not paid for failure to meet the waiting period or because of an applicable preexisting condition.

1. The nationwide data may be viewed as a more representative and credible indicator where the data for claims reported and denied for your state are small in number.

2. Example-home health care claim filed under a nursing home only policy.

3. Example-a facility that does not meet the minimum level of care requirements or the licensing requirements as outlined in the policy.

4. Examples-a benefit trigger not met, certification by a licensed health care practitioner not provided, no plan of care.

APPENDIX F

Instructions:

This form provides information to the applicant regarding premium rate schedules, rate schedule adjustments, potential rate revisions, and policyholder options in the event of a rate increase.

Insurers shall provide all of the following information to the applicant:

Long Term Care Insurance

Potential Rate Increase Disclosure Form

1. [Premium Rate] [Premium Rate Schedules]: [Premium rate] [Premium rate schedules] that [is][are] applicable to you and that will be in effect until a request is made and [filed][approved] for an increase [is][are] [on the application][$_____])

2. The [premium] [premium rate schedule] for this policy [will be shown on the schedule page of] [will be attached to] your policy.

3. Rate Schedule Adjustments:

The company will provide a description of when premium rate or rate schedule adjustments will be effective (e.g., next anniversary date, next billing date, etc.) (fill in the blank): __________________.

4. Potential Rate Revisions:

This policy is Guaranteed Renewable. This means that the rates for this product may be increased in the future. Your rates can NOT be increased due to your increasing age or declining health, but your rates may go up based on the experience of all policyholders with a policy similar to yours.

If you receive a premium rate or premium rate schedule increase in the future, you will be notified of the new premium amount and you will be able to exercise at least one of the following options:

* Pay the increased premium and continue your policy in force as is.

* Reduce your policy benefits to a level such that your premiums will not increase. (Subject to state law minimum standards.)

* Exercise your nonforfeiture option if purchased. (This option is available for purchase for an additional premium.)

* Exercise your contingent nonforfeiture rights.* (This option may be available if you do not purchase a separate nonforfeiture option.)

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* Contingent Nonforfeiture

If the premium rate for your policy goes up in the future and you didn't buy a nonforfeiture option, you may be eligible for contingent nonforfeiture. Here's how to tell if you are eligible:

You will keep some long-term care insurance coverage, if:

* Your premium after the increase exceeds your original premium by the percentage shown (or more) in the following table; and

* You lapse (not pay more premiums) within 120 days of the increase.

The amount of coverage (i.e., new lifetime maximum benefit amount) you will keep will equal the total amount of premiums you've paid since your policy was first issued. If you have already received benefits under the policy, so that the remaining maximum benefit amount is less than the total amount of premiums you've paid, the amount of coverage will be that remaining amount.

Except for this reduced lifetime maximum benefit amount, all other policy benefits will remain at the levels attained at the time of the lapse and will not increase thereafter.

Should you choose this Contingent Nonforfeiture option, your policy, with this reduced maximum benefit amount, will be considered "paid-up" with no further premiums due.

Example: You bought the policy at age 65 and paid the $1,000 annual premium for 10 years, so you have paid a total of $10,000 in premium. In the eleventh year, you receive a rate increase of 50%, or $500 for a new annual premium of $1,500, and you decide to lapse the policy (not pay any more premiums). Your "paid-up" policy benefits are $10,000 (provided you have a least $10,000 of benefits remaining under your policy.)

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[The following contingent nonforfeiture disclosure need only be included for those limited pay policies to which Sections 28D(4) and 28D(6) of the regulation are applicable].

In addition to the contingent nonforfeiture benefits described above, the following reduced "paid-up" contingent nonforfeiture benefit is an option in all policies that have a fixed or limited premium payment period, even if you selected a nonforfeiture benefit when you bought your policy. If both the reduced "paid-up" benefit AND the contingent benefit described above are triggered by the same rate increase, you can chose either of the two benefits.

You are eligible for the reduced "paid-up" contingent nonforfeiture benefit when all three conditions shown below are met:

1. The premium you are required to pay after the increase exceeds your original premium by the same percentage or more shown in the chart below;

2. You stop paying your premiums within 120 days of when the premium increase took effect; AND

3. The ratio of the number of months you already paid premiums is 40% or more than the number of months you originally agreed to pay.

If you exercise this option your coverage will be converted to reduced "paid-up" status. That means there will be no additional premiums required. Your benefits will change in the following ways:

a. The total lifetime amount of benefits your reduced paid up policy will provide can be determined by multiplying 90% of the lifetime benefit amount at the time the policy becomes paid up by the ratio of the number of months you already paid premiums to the number of months you agreed to pay them.

b. The daily benefit amounts you purchased will also be adjusted by the same ratio.

If you purchased lifetime benefits, only the daily benefit amounts you purchased will be adjusted by the applicable ratio.

Example:

* You bought the policy at age 65 with an annual premium payable for 10 years.

* In the sixth year, you receive a rate increase of 35% and you decide to stop paying premiums.

* Because you have already paid 50% of your total premium payments and that is more than the 40% ratio, your "paid-up" policy benefits are .45 (.90 times .50) times the total benefit amount that was in effect when you stopped paying your premiums. If you purchased inflation protection, it will not continue to apply to the benefits in the reduced "paid-up" policy.

Appendix G

Long-Term Care Insurance

Replacement and Lapse Reporting Form

For the State of _________________________

For the Reporting Year of ______________

Company Name: _______________________________

Due: June 30 annually

Company Address: _______________________________

Company NAIC Number: _________

Contact Person: _______________________________

Phone Number: (____)___________

Instructions

The purpose of this form is to report on a statewide basis information regarding long-term care insurance policy replacements and lapses. Specifically, every insurer shall maintain records for each agent on that agent's amount of long-term care insurance replacement sales as a percent of the agent's total annual sales and the amount of lapses of long-term care insurance policies sold by the agent as a percent of the agent's total annual sales. The tables below should be used to report the ten percent (10%) of the insurer's agents with the greatest percentages of replacements and lapses.

Listing of the 10% of Agents with the Greatest Percentage of Replacements

Listing of the 10% of Agents with the Greatest Percentage of Lapses

Company Totals

Percentage of Replacement Policies Sold to Total Annual Sales ____%

Percentage of Replacement Policies Sold to Policies In Force (as of the end of the preceding calendar year) ____%

Percentage of Lapsed Policies to Total Annual Sales _____%

Percentage of Lapsed Policies to Policies In Force (as of the end of the preceding calendar year) _____%

O.C.G.A. Secs. 33-2-9, 33-42-6, 33-42-7, 49-4-164, 49-4-165.