Insurance: long-term care.

Existing law generally regulates long-term care insurance policies delivered or issued after January 1, 1990. As to these policies, existing law requires a policy or certificate to include a provision that gives the policyholder or certificate holder certain specified rights to reduce coverage and lower premiums. This bill would provide that, if a premium increases, a policyholder or certificate holder has a right to retain a policy or certificate while reducing coverage and lowering the premium, and specifies options and information that an insurer would be required to provide under those circumstances. The bill would require an insurer offering a policy or certificate with an inflation protection provision to provide specified options if a policyholder or certificate holder opts to reduce coverage. The bill would provide that the premium for a reduced coverage policy or certificate shall be based on the issue age and underwriting class, as specified, and consistent with the approved rate table. The bill would require an insurer to provide specified options to retain a policy or certificate while reducing coverage and lowering the premium, including reducing or eliminating the benefit adjustments provided by an inflation protection provision for a policy issued or delivered on or after January 1, 2020.