230 R.I. Code R. 230-RICR-20-35-1.5

Current through November 7, 2024

Section 230-RICR-20-35-1.5 - Policy Definitions

A. No long-term care insurance policy delivered or issued for delivery in this state shall use the terms set forth below, unless the terms are defined in the policy and the definitions satisfy the following requirements, except that, when and if the U.S. Treasury Department may develop additional or different policy definitions intended to satisfy the requirements of Section 7702B(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. § 7702B(b)), as amended, such definitions may be used in policies and certificates intended to be tax qualified, instead of and/or in addition to the following definitions:

1. "Activities of daily living" means at least bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting and transferring.

2. "Acute condition" means that the individual is medically unstable. Such an individual requires frequent monitoring by medical professionals, such as physicians and registered nurses, in order to maintain his or her health status.

3. "Adult day care" means a program for six (6) or more individuals, of social and health-related services provided during the day in a community group setting for the purpose of supporting frail, impaired elderly or other disabled adults who can benefit from care in a group setting outside the home.

4. "Bathing" means washing oneself by sponge bath; or in either a tub or shower, including the task of getting into or out of the tub or shower.

5. "Cognitive impairment" means a deficiency in a person's short or long-term memory, orientation as to person, place and time, deductive or abstract reasoning, or judgment as it relates to safety awareness.

6. "Continence" means the ability to maintain control of bowel and bladder function; or, when unable to maintain control of bowel or bladder function, the ability to perform associated personal hygiene (including caring for catheter or colostomy bag).

7. "Dressing" means putting on and taking off all items of clothing and any necessary braces, fasteners or artificial limbs.

8. "Eating" means feeding oneself by getting food into the body from a receptacle (such as a plate, cup or table) or by a feeding tube or intravenously.

9. "Hands-on assistance" means physical assistance (minimal, moderate or maximal) without which the individual would not be able to perform the activity of daily living.

10. "Home health care services" means medical and nonmedical services, provided to ill, disabled or infirm persons in their residences. Such services may include homemaker services, assistance with activities of daily living and respite care services.

11. "Medicare" shall be defined as "The Health Insurance for the Aged Act, Title XVIII of the Social Security Amendments of 1965 as Then Constituted or Later Amended," or "Title I, Part I of Public Law 89-97, as Enacted by the Eighty-Ninth Congress of the United States of America and popularly known as the Health Insurance for the Aged Act as then constituted and any later amendments or substitutes thereof," or words of similar import.

12. "Mental or nervous disorder" shall not be defined to include more than neurosis, psychoneurosis, psychopathy, psychosis, or mental or emotional disease or disorder.

13. "Personal care" means the provision of hands-on services to assist an individual with activities of daily living.

14. "Skilled nursing care," "personal care," "home care," "specialized care," "assisted living care" and other services shall be defined in relation to the level of skill required, the nature of the care and the setting in which care must be delivered.

15. "Toileting" means getting to and from the toilet, getting on and off the toilet, and performing associated personal hygiene.

16. "Transferring" means moving into or out of a bed, chair or wheelchair.

B. All providers of services, including but not limited to services licensed under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapters 23-17.1, 23-17.3, 23-17.4, and 23-17.7.1, and consumer or self-directed services provided under the same guidelines as R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 40-8.1 and similar services licensed under the laws of other jurisdictions. Such services shall be defined in relation to the services and facilities required to be available and the licensure, certification, registration or degree status of those providing or supervising the services. When the definition requires that the provider be appropriately licensed, certified or registered, it shall also state what requirements a provider must meet in lieu of licensure, certification or registration when the state in which the service is to be furnished does not require a provider of these services to be licensed, certified or registered, or when the state licenses, certifies or registers the provider of services under another name.

230 R.I. Code R. 230-RICR-20-35-1.5

Amended effective 5/26/2019