The following definitions are applicable to long-term care contracts and the implementation of chapter 48.84 RCW and this chapter, and no contract may be advertised, solicited, or issued for delivery in this state as a long-term care contract which uses definitions more restrictive or less favorable to an insured than the following:

(1) "Acute care" means care provided for patients who are not medically stable. These patients require frequent monitoring by health care professionals in order to maintain their health status.

(2) "Benefit period" means the period of time for which the insured is eligible to receive benefits or services under a contract. A benefit period begins on the first day that the insured is eligible for and begins to receive the benefits of the contract. The benefit period ends when the insured is no longer eligible to receive benefits or has received the lifetime maximum benefits available. Such benefit period must be stated in terms of days rather than in terms of months of benefit.

(3) "Case manager" or "case coordinator" means an individual qualified by training and/or experience to coordinate the overall medical, personal and social service needs of the long-term care patient. Such coordination activities shall include but are not limited to: Assessing the individual's condition to determine what services and resources are necessary and by whom they might most appropriately be delivered; coordination of elements of a treatment or care plan and referral to the appropriate medical or social services personnel or agency; control coordination of patient services and continued monitoring of the patient to assess progress and assure that services are delivered. Such activities shall be conducted in consultation with the attending physician.

(4) "Chronic care" or "maintenance care" means care that is necessary to support an existing level of health and is intended to preserve that level from further failure or decline. The care provided is usually for a long, drawn out or lingering disease or infirmity showing little change or slowly progressing with little likelihood of complete recovery, whether such care is provided in an institution or is community-based and whether such care requires skilled, intermediate or custodial/personal care.

(5) "Convalescent care" or "rehabilitative care" is nonacute care which is prescribed by a physician and is received during the period of recovery from an illness or injury when improvement can be anticipated, whether such care requires skilled, intermediate or custodial/personal care, and whether such care is provided in an institutional care facility or is community-based.

(6) "Custodial care" or "personal care" means care which is mainly for the purpose of meeting daily living requirements. This level of care may be provided by persons without professional skills or training. Examples are: Help in walking, getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, eating, meal preparation, and taking medications. Such care is intended to maintain and support an existing level of health or to preserve the patient from further decline. Custodial or personal care services are those which may be recommended by the case manager in consultation with the patient's attending physician and are not primarily for the convenience of the insured or the insured's family.

(7) "Guaranteed renewable" means that renewal of a contract may not be declined by an insurer for any reason except for nonpayment of premium, but the insurer may revise rates on a class basis.

(8) A "home health aide" is a person who is providing care under the supervision of a physician, licensed professional nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist. Care provided may include ambulation and exercise, assistance with self-administered medications, reporting changes in a covered person's conditions and needs, completing appropriate records, and personal care or household services needed to achieve medically desired results.

(9) "Home care services" or "personal care services" are services of a personal nature including, but not limited to, homemaker services, assistance with the activities of daily living, respite care services, or any other nonmedical services provided to ill, disabled, or infirm persons which services enable those persons to remain in their own residences consistent with their desires, abilities and safety. An insurer may require that services are provided by or under the direction of a home health care agency or home care agency regulated by this state, or that services are administered in accordance with a plan of treatment developed by or with the assistance of health care professionals.

(10) "Home health care" shall mean, but is not limited to, any of the following health or medical services: Nursing services, home health aide services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, respiratory therapy, nutritional services, medical or social services, and medical supplies or equipment services. An insurer may require that services are provided by or under the direction of a regulated home health care agency regulated by this state, or that services are administered in accordance with a plan of treatment developed by or with the assistance of health care professionals.

(11) "Intermediate care" means technical nursing care which requires selected nursing procedures for which the degree of care and evaluation is less than that provided for skilled care, but greater than that provided for custodial/personal care. This level of care provides a planned continuous program of nursing care that is preventive or rehabilitative in nature.

(12) "Long-term care total disability" means the functional inability due to illness, disease or infirmity to engage in the regular and customary activities of daily living which are usual for a person of the same age and sex.

(13) "Managed long-term care delivery system" means a system or network of providers arranged or controlled by a managed long-term care plan. Such systems provide a range of long-term care services with provisions for effective utilization controls and quality assurance. In the case of provision of long-term care in the managed care environment, a case manager or other qualified individual may be used to develop and coordinate a care plan of appropriate long-term care services.

(14) "Managed long-term care plan" means a plan which on a prepaid basis assumes the responsibility and the risk for delivery of the covered long-term care services set forth in the benefit agreement. Actual services are rendered by the plan through its own staff, through capitation, or other contractual arrangements with providers. Managed long-term care plans may include but are not limited to those offered by health maintenance organizations, and health care service contractors, if their services are provided through a managed long-term care delivery system.

(15) "Noncancellable" means that renewal of a contract may not be declined except for nonpayment of premium, nor may rates be revised by the insurer.

(16) "One period of confinement" means consecutive days of institutional care received as an inpatient in a health care institution, or successive confinements due to the same or related causes when discharge from and readmission to the institution occurs within a period of time not more than ninety days or three times the maximum number of days of institutional care provided by the policy to a maximum of one hundred eighty days, whichever provides the covered person with the greater benefit.

(17) "Preexisting condition," as defined by RCW 48.84.020(3), means a covered person's medical condition that caused that person to have received medical advice or treatment during the specified time period before the effective date of coverage.

(18) "Respite care" is short-term care which is required in order to maintain the health or safety of the patient and to give temporary relief to the primary caretaker from his or her caretaking duties.

(19) "Skilled care" means care for an illness or injury which requires the training and skills of a licensed professional nurse, is prescribed by a physician, is medically necessary for the condition or illness of the patient, and is available on a twenty-four-hour basis.