Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 37 - INSURANCE Part
Part XIII - Regulations
Chapter 5 - Regulation 33-Medicare Supplement Insurance Minimum Standards
Section XIII-510 - Minimum Benefit Standards for Pre-Standardized Medicare Supplement Benefit Plan Policies or Certificates Issued for Delivery Prior to July 20, 1992
Universal Citation: LA Admin Code XIII-510
Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. No policy or certificate may be advertised, solicited or issued for delivery in this state as a Medicare supplement policy or certificate unless it meets or exceeds the following minimum standards. These are minimum standards and do not preclude the inclusion of other provisions or benefits which are not inconsistent with these standards.
1. General Standards. The
following standards apply to Medicare supplement policies and certificates and
are in addition to all other requirements of this regulation.
a. A Medicare supplement policy or
certificate shall not exclude or limit benefits for losses incurred more than
six months from the effective date of coverage because it involved a
preexisting condition. The policy or certificate shall not define a preexisting
condition more restrictively than a condition for which medical advice was
given or treatment was recommended by or received from a physician within six
months before the effective date of coverage.
b. A Medicare supplement policy or
certificate shall not indemnify against losses resulting from sickness on a
different basis than losses resulting from accidents.
c. A Medicare supplement policy or
certificate shall provide that benefits designed to cover cost sharing amounts
under Medicare will be changed automatically to coincide with any changes in
the applicable Medicare deductible, copayment, or coinsurance amounts. Premiums
may be modified to correspond with such changes.
d. A noncancellable, guaranteed renewable, or
noncancellable and guaranteed renewable Medicare supplement policy shall not:
i. provide for termination of coverage of a
spouse solely because of the occurrence of an event specified for termination
of coverage of the insured, other than the nonpayment of premium; or
ii. be cancelled or nonrenewed by the issuer
solely on the grounds of deterioration of health.
e.
i. Except
as authorized by the commissioner of this state, an issuer shall neither cancel
nor nonrenew a Medicare supplement policy or certificate for any reason other
than nonpayment of premium or material misrepresentation.
ii. If a group Medicare supplement insurance
policy is terminated by the group policyholder and not replaced as provided in
§510. A.1.e iv, the
issuer shall offer certificateholders an individual Medicare supplement policy.
The issuer shall offer the certificateholder at least the following choices:
(a). an individual Medicare supplement policy
currently offered by the issuer having comparable benefits to those contained
in the terminated group Medicare supplement policy; and
(b). an individual Medicare supplement policy
which provides only such benefits as are required to meet the minimum standards
as defined in
§516. A.2 of this
regulation;
(c). group contracts in
force prior to the effective date of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
(OBRA) of 1990 may have existing contractual obligations to continue benefits
contained in the group contract. This Section is not intended to impair those
obligations.
iii. If
membership in a group is terminated, the issuer shall:
(a). offer the certificateholder the
conversion opportunities described in
§510. A.1.e ii;
or
(b). at the option of the group
policyholder, offer the certificateholder continuation of coverage under the
group policy.
iv. If a
group Medicare supplement policy is replaced by another group Medicare
supplement policy purchased by the same policyholder, the issuer of the
replacement policy shall offer coverage to all persons covered under the old
group policy on its date of termination. Coverage under the new group policy
shall not result in any exclusion for preexisting conditions that would have
been covered under the group policy being replaced.
f. Termination of a Medicare supplement
policy or certificate shall be without prejudice to any continuous loss which
commenced while the policy was in force, but the extension of benefits beyond
the period during which the policy was in force may be predicated upon the
continuous total disability of the insured, limited to the duration of the
policy benefit period, if any, or to payment of the maximum benefits. Receipt
of Medicare Part D benefits will not be considered in determining a continuous
loss.
g. If a Medicare supplement
policy eliminates an outpatient prescription drug benefit as a result of
requirements imposed by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and
Modernization Act of 2003, the modified policy shall be deemed to satisfy the
guaranteed renewal requirements of this Subsection.
2. Minimum Benefit Standards
a. Coverage of Part A Medicare eligible
expenses for hospitalization to the extent not covered by Medicare from the
sixty-first day through the ninetieth day in any Medicare benefit
period;
b. coverage for either all
or none of the Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible amount;
c. coverage of Part A Medicare eligible
expenses incurred as daily hospital charges during use of Medicare's lifetime
hospital inpatient reserve days;
d.
upon exhaustion of all Medicare hospital inpatient coverage including the
lifetime reserve days, coverage of 90 percent of all Medicare Part A eligible
expenses for hospitalization not covered by Medicare subject to a lifetime
maximum benefit of an additional 365 days;
e. coverage under Medicare Part A for the
reasonable cost of the first 3 pints of blood (or equivalent quantities of
packed red blood cells, as defined under federal regulations) unless replaced
in accordance with federal regulations or already paid for under Part
B;
f. coverage for the coinsurance
amount, or in the case of hospital outpatient department services paid under a
prospective payment system, the copayment amount, of Medicare eligible expenses
under Part B regardless of hospital confinement, subject to a maximum calendar
year out-of-pocket amount equal to the Medicare Part B deductibles
($183);
g. effective January 1,
1990, coverage under Medicare Part B for the reasonable cost of the first 3
pints of blood (or equivalent quantities of packed red blood cells, as defined
under federal regulations), unless replaced in accordance with federal
regulations or already paid for under Part A, subject to the Medicare
deductible amount.
AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 22:1111 (re-designated from LSA-R.S. 22:224 pursuant to Acts 2008, No. 415, effective January 1, 2009) and 42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Louisiana may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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