420-D:1 Definitions. –
In this chapter:
I. (a) "Advertising" means and includes the publication or dissemination of any information, offering for sale, or for the purpose of causing or inducing any other person to enter into a continuing care contract in a continuing care community, including the contract to be used and any photographs or drawings or artist's representation of physical conditions or facilities existing or to exist by means of any:
(1) Newspaper or periodical;
(2) Radio or television broadcast;
(3) Written, printed or photographic matter;
(4) Billboards or signs;
(5) Display of model facilities or units;
(6) Material used in connection with the disposition or offer of the facility by radio, television, telephone or any other electronic means including the Internet; or
(7) Material used by a provider or their agents to induce prospective residents to visit the facility, particularly gift certificates which require the holders of such certificates to attend or submit to a sales presentation by providers or their agents.
(b) "Advertising" shall not include stockholder communications, such as annual reports, interim financial reports, proxy materials, certification statements, securities prospectuses, applications for listing securities on stock exchanges, and the like, and any and all communications addressed and relating to the account of any person who has previously executed a continuing care contract.
II. "Affiliate" means any person, corporation, limited liability company, business trust, non-profit, partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity that directly or indirectly owns or controls, or is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, a provider. With respect to a non-profit entity, affiliate status is determined solely by control and not by ownership.
III. "Certificate of authority" means the certificate issued by the commissioner licensing the provider to operate a continuing care community.
IV. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the insurance department.
V. "Company level officer" includes an executive director, chief executive officer, president, controlling administrator/manager, chief financial officer, director, trustee, managing or general partner, any person having a 5 percent or greater equity or beneficial interest in the continuing care community or any other person identified by the commissioner as having significant responsibility over the finances or operations of the continuing care community or any company level officer of an affiliate.
VI. "Continuing care" or "life care" means furnishing or promising to furnish to a person, services that shall include boarding or lodging, or both, and may include services for assisted living, independent living, nursing, or memory care pursuant to a continuing care contract. Services may be limited to food or lodging or both as long as the continuing care contract exceeds one year, the entrance fee is more than $10,000, and the age minimum is met if a continuing care retirement community. Continuing care contracts may provide for additional periodic charges for services and include contracts where the resident does not immediately move into the facility; provided that a continuing care contract shall not include services provided by a relative.
VII. "Continuing care contract" means a contract that includes a promise by a provider made in exchange for an entrance fee or the payment of periodic charges, or both, in exchange for the provider providing one or more elements of continuing care to a resident for the duration of his or her life or for a specified term in excess of one year, provided that the entrance fee exceeds $10,000. A continuing care contract includes a life care contract if the contract provides health and/or life services at the facility in addition to room and/or board.
VIII. "Continuing care retirement community" or "CCRC" means a continuing care community, located within the state of New Hampshire, that provides services pursuant to a continuing care contract in a retirement setting, which may include age minimums, assisted living services, memory care, nursing care, and/or independent living.
IX. "Control" means:
(a) With respect to a non-profit entity, the power to elect a majority or more of the governing body of the entity; and
(b) With respect to any entity the power to influence the financial management or policies of the entity, including but not limited to the exercise of approval rights over the budgets of the entity.
X. "Department" means the insurance department.
XI. "Disclosure statement" means the statement prepared by the provider and delivered to the resident before execution of the contract as more particularly described in RSA 420-D:4 and any amendments to the statement.
XII. "Entity" means any form of enterprise of any kind, including a not-for-profit entity.
XIII. "Entrance fee" means an initial or deferred payment, agreed upon in the continuing care contract, of a sum, usually a lump sum, in cash or in kind, to a provider in return for acceptance as a resident for the purposes of ensuring care or related services and may be limited to lodging and/or board. This definition shall not apply to the payment of a sum which is less than the total of periodic payments for one year or $10,000 or if the care is from a relative or someone who is not in the business of providing continuing care.
XIV. "Facility" means any place or accommodation where a provider provides a resident with care or related services, whether or not the place or accommodation is constructed, owned, leased, rented or otherwise contracted by the provider.
XV. "License" means that the provider has obtained a certificate of authority from the commissioner to enter into continuing care contracts and operate a facility.
XVI. "Life care contract" means a continuing care contract that includes a promise by the provider to pay for services at one or more levels of care as provided in the continuing care contract, unless the continuing care contract expressly excludes some or all of such services. Services may include independent living, assisted care, nursing care, and memory care to the extent not covered by public or private insurance benefits.
XVII. "Owner" means the owner of the facility's real and personal property, or if there are multiple places of operation and multiple owners, all of the real estate and personal property. The owner may or may not be an affiliate of the provider, or the provider itself. The owner may be a landlord. The owner must consent to the operation of a continuing care community at the facility as part of the application process.
XVIII. "Periodic payments" or "monthly care fees" mean those payments in addition to the entrance fee made by a resident to a provider for continuing care during the entire period that the continuing care contract is in effect.
XIX. "Person" means any natural person, corporation, limited liability company, non-profit or any other type of entity.
XX. "Provider" means any person that provides continuing care pursuant to a continuing care contract, including a life care contract.
XXI. "Relative" means a person related to the resident by consanguinity or marriage up to and including the third degree, including step-relatives or who is not in the business of providing continuing care.
XXII. "Resident" means a person who meets the age requirements, if any, and enters into a continuing care contract, including a life care contract, with the provider. The resident may have contracted to occupy a specific unit. Resident shall include, in appropriate circumstances, the estate or trust of the resident if the resident has died.
XXIII. "Solicit" means all actions by a person or provider seeking to have individuals enter into a continuing care contract. This includes, but is not limited to, mail, telephone, personal contacts, Internet contacts, and advertisements.
XXIV. "Unit" means a room, apartment, cottage, or other area within a facility set aside for the exclusive use or control of one or 2 residents. However, the resident may be moved to other units during their stay at a CCRC as provided in the life care contract.