A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT To permit Continuing Care retirement communities to offer in‑home services When those services are provided adjunct to a contract for continuing care.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 58‑64‑1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 58‑64‑1.  Definitions.
As used in this Article, unless otherwise specified:
(1)	"Continuing care" means the furnishing to an individual other than an individual related by blood, marriage, or adoption to the person furnishing the care, of lodging together with nursing services, medical services, or other health related services, under an agreement effective for the life of the individual or for a period longer than one year. "Continuing care" also may include in‑home services provided or arranged by a facility when those in‑home services are provided as part of an agreement for continuing care between the facility and individual.
(2)	"Entrance fee" means a payment that assures a resident a place in a facility for a term of years or for life.
(3)	"Facility" means the retirement community or communities in which a provider undertakes to provide continuing care to an individual.
(4)	"Health related services" means, at a minimum, nursing home admission or assistance in the activities of daily living, exclusive of the provision of meals or cleaning services.
(4a)	"In‑home services" means health related services provided to an individual in the individual's home or in the home of a person to whom the individual is related by blood, marriage, or adoption.
(5)	"Living unit" means a room, apartment, cottage, or other area within a facility set aside for the exclusive use or control of one or more identified residents.
(6)	"Provider" means the promoter, developer, or owner of a facility, whether a natural person, partnership, or other unincorporated association, however organized, trust, or corporation, of an institution, building, residence, or other place, whether operated for profit or not, or any other person, that solicits or undertakes to provide continuing care under a continuing care facility contract, or that represents himself, herself, or itself as providing continuing care or "life care."
(7)	"Resident" means a purchaser of, a nominee of, or a subscriber to, a continuing care contract.
(8)	"Hazardous financial condition" means a provider is insolvent or in eminent danger of becoming insolvent."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 58‑64‑25 reads as rewritten:
"§ 58‑64‑25.  Contract for continuing care; specifications.
(a)	Each contract for continuing care shall provide that:
…
(b)	Each contract shall include provisions that specify the following:
(1)	The total consideration to be paid;
(2)	Services to be provided;
(3)	The procedures the provider shall follow to change the resident's accommodation if necessary for the protection of the health or safety of the resident or the general and economic welfare of the residents;
(4)	The policies to be implemented if the resident cannot pay the periodic fees;
(5)	The terms governing the refund of any portion of the entrance fee in the event of discharge by the provider or cancellation by the resident;
(6)	The policy regarding increasing the periodic fees;
(7)	The description of the living quarters;
(8)	Any religious or charitable affiliations of the provider and the extent, if any, to which the affiliate organization will be responsible for the financial and contractual obligations of the provider;
(9)	Any property rights of the resident;
(10)	The policy, if any, regarding fee adjustments if the resident is voluntarily absent from the facility; (11)	Any requirement, if any, that the resident apply for Medicaid, public assistance, or any public benefit program; and
(12)	When the contract provides for the provision or arrangement of in‑home services by the facility, the procedures and time line for determining when the individual will transition from in‑home services to receiving services in residence at the facility."
SECTION 3.  The Department of Insurance and the Department of Health and Human Services shall report jointly to the Committee on Insurance and the Committee on Health of the House of Representatives by April 1, 2010, identifying any statutory, regulatory, or practical barriers that prevent or discourage individuals contracting with continuing care retirement communities from receiving at‑home services for as long as they are willing and able to do so.  The report also shall include suggestions for statutory changes and a timetable for promulgation of any rules necessary to eliminate the barriers identified.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Department of Insurance the sum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for the 2009‑2010 fiscal year, and there is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services the sum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for the 2009‑2010 fiscal year for the costs to each Department to implement this act.
SECTION 4.  Section 3 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2009. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.