Maine Long-Term Care Insurance (*)

Long-term-care insurance in Maine is regulated by the Bureau of Insurance, part of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, which publishes both consumer-facing long-term-care information and materials specific to the state's Partnership policy program. That Partnership framework rests on three legal sources: 22 M.R.S.A. §3174-GG, 24-A M.R.S.A. §§5071-81, and Bureau of Insurance Rule 425.

The Bureau's own guidance draws a useful line for consumers: people with low income who have already spent down their assets may be better served by MaineCare directly, while people who actually have assets worth protecting are the ones who should be weighing insurance or self-funding. It also issues a clear warning — MaineCare's rules make it impractical to simply spend down assets or give them away specifically to qualify for long-term-care assistance, since transfer and look-back rules are designed to catch exactly that.