Code of Massachusetts Regulations
211 CMR - DIVISION OF INSURANCE
Title 211 CMR 90.00 - Legal Services Plans
Section 90.08 - Rates

No insurer or membership plan sponsor shall use rates which are inadequate, excessive, or unfairly discriminatory. The rates used shall enable subscribers to receive legal services at a reasonable cost and shall tend to restrain any inflation in the cost of legal services attributable to the operation of legal services plans. The burden of demonstrating that proposed rates fall within the standards of this article shall lie entirely with the insurer or membership plan sponsor. To assure reasonable opportunity for the Commissioner to scrutinize rates, insurers and membership plan sponsors must file all proposed rate schedules no less than 15 calendar days prior to their intended effective date. The Commissioner may delay the implementation of any proposed rates for an additional 30 calendar days at his or her sole discretion while the Division conducts an investigation of the proposed rates. The Commissioner may issue a notice of hearing at any time during the period between the filing of a proposed rate schedule and its effective date. The effective date shall then automatically be postponed until the issuance of a decision approving or disapproving the rates.

If the Commissioner does not issue a notice of hearing, the rates shall become effective on the date specified in the filing or, if the Commissioner has delayed their implementation, on the date specified by the Commissioner.

No filing shall be accepted in accordance with this article unless it includes a detailed statement of the procedures used to derive the rates and an explanation by the insurer's or membership plan sponsor's actuary supporting the actuarial assumptions and calculations utilized in the submission.