California State Lawmaker Tries to Keep Insurance Legislators Talking
NCOIL President Ken Cooley could influence how the Golden State addresses long-term care financing.
California Assemblymember Ken Cooley is in charge of trying to help state legislators from all over the United States overcome partisan differences long enough to understand insurance.
Cooley is the president of the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), a Belmar, New Jersey-based group that held its summer meeting this past week in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Democrats and Republicans came together to grapple with issues such as regulatory barriers to delivering life insurance and annuity documents electronically, and whether letting the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission help states process insurance product filings somehow violates the U.S. Constitution.
Cooley said in an interview Friday that he thinks NCOIL has done a good job of bringing people with diverse views together for discussions.
“It’s very constructive,” he said, adding that to draft good laws, “you have to listen and understand first.”
Long-Term Care Policy
One issue that could give state legislators in California a chance to work together is long-term care finance.
The California Department of Insurance has set up a task force that’s supposed to give state lawmakers recommendations for setting up a public-private long-term care insurance program by the end of the year.
Some state long-term care insurance programs in states like Washington have run into problems.
But California lawmakers’ own experiences with aging loved ones could give the effort some momentum.
“It’s certainly something people are dealing with more in personal terms,” Cooley said.
Assemblymember Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, California. (Photo: Cooley)