Giving New Meaning to the Word Partnership
The Indiana Long Term Care Insurance Program (ILTCIP), or Indiana
Partnership Program, has blazed a new trail in its efforts to make available
the highest-quality long term care insurance to Indiana residents. Thanks to
the approval of the federal government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS), there is now reciprocity between the Indiana Medicaid and
Connecticut Medicaid programs.
If an Indiana resident purchases a Partnership policy and then later
moves to Connecticut and uses his policy in a Connecticut nursing home,
he/she could reap asset-saving benefits from the Connecticut Medicaid
Program. The same would be true for Connecticut Partnership policyholders
who relocate to Indiana and use long term care services in Indiana (to be
closer to family or for any reason at all).
While we may not predict a great deal of migration between Indiana and
Connecticut, this is a great first step in portability of the asset
protection benefit. Prior to this agreement, the insurance benefits were
portable, but the asset protection benefit was state-specific. It’s
significant that the asset protection benefit is now portable, and even
though it is portable between only two states, it’s a start!
One important caveat to the reciprocity is that asset protection granted
by another State’s Medicaid program (Connecticut and Indiana only, for now)
provides dollar-for-dollar asset protection only. So, even though a person
buys an Indiana Partnership policy qualified for total asset protection in
Indiana, if they apply to the Connecticut Medicaid program, they will
receive dollar-for-dollar asset protection.
Achieving reciprocity was no walk in the park. It required legislation
in both states, a written and signed agreement between two states’ Medicaid
programs, and finally, federal approval.
There are only four Long Term Care Partnership programs operating in the
country. Having reciprocity between two of the four states is precedent
setting! Indiana and Connecticut are true leaders in this effort.
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