Some Policies Automatically Tax Qualified

The article “Buyer Beware” ( JofA, Aug.99, page 27) does not mention that long-term care insurance policies issued prior to January 1, 1997, are automatically tax qualified, as provided by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

Harry Midows
St. Louis

Author’s Reply:

Pre-1997 policies were grandfathered and are tax qualified. That point does not influence any current decision a CPA would make in evaluating the new “tax qualified” policies.

The information could be valuable because someone who owns a grandfathered policy would not want to purchase a new tax qualified policy, thinking it necessary to obtain some tax advantages that already exist with the pre-97 policy.

Richard J. Bergstrom
California State Polytechnic University
Pomona, California