Marr long-term health care bill wins unanimous approval

OLYMPIA — The Senate today gave overwhelming approval of a key piece of legislation sponsored by Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane.

“Many people with long-term care policies are caught having to pay rapidly increasing premiums or dropping their policies,” said Marr. “They often end up dropping their coverage just when they’re going to need the benefits, leaving the taxpayers with the responsibility of paying for their health care.”

Marr drafted Senate Bill 6364 to establish standards for long-term care insurance in our state, including adoption of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) model for all long-term care insurance policies sold in Washington on or after January 1, 2009.

The NAIC model includes a number of modifications to long-term coverage dealing with rate stabilization and other consumer protections, including a more strict definition of pre-existing conditions which limits the conditions to those identified within the six months preceding the effective date of coverage.

“I think it’s a good idea to make sure that people who invested in long-term care insurance get what they paid for,” said Marr. “This will help increase consumer confidence, and will help to grow the long-term care insurance market.”

The legislation passed on a vote of 48-0, and will now be sent to the House for consideration.

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