A person may not sell, solicit, or negotiate long-term care insurance unless he or she is appropriately licensed as an insurance producer and has successfully completed long-term care coverage education that meets the requirements of this section.

(1) All long-term care education required by this chapter must meet the requirements of chapter 48.17 RCW and rules adopted by the commissioner.

(2)(a)(i) After January 1, 2009, prior to soliciting, selling, or negotiating long-term care insurance coverage, an insurance producer must successfully complete a one-time education course consisting of no fewer than eight hours on long-term care coverage, long-term care services, state and federal regulations and requirements for long-term care and qualified long-term care insurance coverage, changes or improvements in long-term care services or providers, alternatives to the purchase of long-term care insurance coverage, the effect of inflation on benefits and the importance of inflation protection, and consumer suitability standards and guidelines.

(ii) In order to continue soliciting, selling, or negotiating long-term care coverage in this state, all insurance producers selling, soliciting, or negotiating long-term care insurance coverage prior to January 1, 2009, must successfully complete the eight-hour, one-time long-term care education and training course no later than July 1, 2009.

(b) In addition to the one-time education and training requirement set forth in (a) of this subsection, insurance producers who engage in the solicitation, sale, or negotiation of long-term care insurance coverage must successfully complete no fewer than four hours every twenty-four months of continuing education specific to long-term care insurance coverage and issues. Long-term care insurance coverage continuing education shall consist of topics related to long-term care insurance, long-term care services, and, if applicable, qualified state long-term care insurance partnership programs, including, but not limited to, the following:

(i) State and federal regulations and requirements and the relationship between qualified state long-term care insurance partnership programs and other public and private coverage of long-term care services, including medicaid;

(ii) Available long-term care services and providers;

(iii) Changes or improvements in long-term care services or providers;

(iv) Alternatives to the purchase of private long-term care insurance;

(v) The effect of inflation on benefits and the importance of inflation protection;

(vi) This chapter and chapters 48.84 and 48.85 RCW; and

(vii) Consumer suitability standards and guidelines.

(3) The insurance producer education required by this section shall not include training that is issuer or company product-specific or that includes any sales or marketing information, materials, or training, other than those required by state or federal law.

(4) Issuers shall obtain verification that an insurance producer receives training required by this section before that producer is permitted to sell, solicit, or otherwise negotiate the issuer's long-term care insurance products.

(5) Issuers shall maintain records subject to the state's record retention requirements and shall make evidence of that verification available to the commissioner upon request.

(6)(a) Issuers shall maintain records with respect to the training of its producers concerning the distribution of its long-term care partnership policies that will allow the commissioner to provide assurance to the state department of social and health services, medicaid division, that insurance producers engaged in the sale of long-term care insurance contracts have received the training required by this section and any rules adopted by the commissioner, and that producers have demonstrated an understanding of the partnership policies and their relationship to public and private coverage of long-term care, including medicaid, in this state.

(b) These records shall be maintained in accordance with the state's record retention requirements and shall be made available to the commissioner upon request.

(7) The satisfaction of these training requirements for any state shall be deemed to satisfy the training requirements of this state.