Alaska Long-Term Care Training Requirement

July 1, 2011 Alaska, Long-Term Care Training

Effective July 1, 2011 a long-term care raining requirement will be in effect for producers in Alaska. The initial long-term care training must be completed no later than July 1, 2012.

Overview of Long-Term Care Training Requirement

One-time eight hour course requirements

Any producer licensed for health authority as of July 1, 2011 may not continue to sell, solicit, or negotiate long-term care insurance after July 1, 2012 unless the producer has completed a one-time long-term care training course that is at least eight credit hours. Training taken by the producer to comply with another state’s requirements would satisfy our requirement as long as the one-time long-term care training course meets the requirements in Alaska Statute 21.53.066(d)

Ongoing requirements

Any producer licensed for health authority that sells, solicits, or negotiates long-term care insurance and is renewing their license after July 1, 2012 must complete an ongoing long-term care training course of at least four (4) credit hours every 24 months. The ongoing requirement must be satisfied at each renewal cycle after July 1, 2012.

A Full Copy of the Rule Pertaining to Producers

AK Stat § 21.53.066 (through 27th Leg Sess 2012) outlines these new producer training requirements. Below is the long-term care training requirement as published by the state of Alaska:

(a) A person may not sell, solicit, or negotiate long-term care insurance unless the person is licensed as an insurance producer for health or life insurance lines of authority and has completed a one-time training course that meets the requirements in (d) of this section.

(b) A person currently licensed and selling, soliciting, or negotiating long-term care insurance may not continue to sell, solicit, or negotiate long-term care insurance unless the person has completed a one-time training course that meets the requirements in (d) of this section.

(c) A person who sells, solicits, or negotiates long-term care insurance shall complete ongoing training that meets the requirements in (e) of this section.

(d) The one-time training course required under this section

(1) must be at least eight credit hours;

(2) may not include training that is insurer or company product specific or that includes any sales or marketing information, materials, or training, other than those required by state or federal law;

(3) must consist of topics related to long-term care insurance, long-term care services, and, if applicable, qualified long-term care insurance partnership programs, including

(A) state and federal requirements and the relationship between qualified state long-term care insurance partnership programs and other public and private coverage of long-term care services;

(B) available long-term care services and providers;

(D) alternatives to the purchase of private long-term care insurance;

(E) the effect of inflation on benefits and the importance of inflation protections; and

(F) consumer suitability standards and guidelines.

(e) The ongoing training course required under (c) of this section must be at least four credit hours every 24 months and must comply with the requirements in (d)(2) and (3) of this section.

(f) The director may approve the training requirements in (d) and (e) of this section as continuing education courses under AS 21.27.020.

(g) An insurer shall

(1) obtain verification that a producer received the training required under this section before a producer is permitted to sell, solicit, or negotiate the insurer’s long-term care insurance products;

(2) maintain records of required training subject to the state’s record retention requirements;

(3) make the verification required under (1) of this subsection available to the director on request.

(h) An insurer shall maintain

(1) records with respect to the training of its producers concerning the distribution of its partnership policies that allow the director to provide assurance to the medical assistance program under AS 47.07 that producers have received the training described in (d)(3) of this section and that producers have demonstrated an understanding of the partnership policies and their relationship to public and private coverage of long-term care in this state; and

(2) the records described under (1) of this subsection in accordance with the record requirements under AS 21.09.320 and shall make the records available to the director on request.