Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The Under 50
Plan shall not deny or condition the issuance or renewal, nor discriminate in
the pricing of coverage because of the health status, claims experience,
receipt of health care or medical condition of an applicant if the application
for coverage is submitted under the circumstances and within the time frames
specified below:
1. When an individual is
eligible for benefits under Medicare Part B, and the application is submitted
during the six-month period beginning with the first month in which the
individual is enrolled for benefits under Medicare Part B;
2. Where there is a retroactive determination
of Medicare eligibility, and the application is submitted during the six-month
period beginning with the month in which the retroactive determination is
made;
3. Where an individual is no
longer eligible under a plan that is considered creditable coverage or such a
plan terminates or ceases to provide benefits, and the application is submitted
within 63 days of the applicant losing creditable coverage;
4. Where an individual was enrolled under an
employee welfare benefit plan that provided health benefits that supplement
Medicare benefits and that plan terminates or ceases to provide all Medicare
supplemental health benefits, or the plan is primary or secondary to Medicare
and the plan terminates, ceases to provide all health benefits to the
individual, or the individual leaves the plan, and the application is submitted
within 63 days from the date the individual receives a notice of termination or
a claim denial due to termination, or within 63 days after the health coverage
ends;
5. Where an individual elects
COBRA coverage and chooses to terminate his or her COBRA coverage before the
maximum coverage period is reached, or the COBRA coverage period is exhausted,
and the application is submitted within 63 days of the date on which the COBRA
coverage terminated;
6. Where an
individual who is enrolled in a Medicare + Choice plan, Medicare managed care
plan, Medicare private-fee-for-service plan, Medicare risk or cost contract, a
plan offered by a similar organization operating under demonstration project
authority, a health care prepayment plan or a Medicare SELECT plan, and his or
her enrollment ends for reasons specified in (a)6iii below, such an
individual's application shall be subject to the following requirements:
i. In connection with an involuntary
termination, an application shall be submitted during the period beginning on
the date the individual receives a notice of termination and ending 63 days
after the date their coverage is terminated;
ii. In connection with a voluntary
termination, the application shall be submitted during the period beginning 60
days before the disenrollment effective date and ending 63 days after the
disenrollment effective date.
iii.
The reasons for termination of enrollment that will trigger the applicability
of this paragraph are:
(1) The organization's
or plan's certification under Part C of Medicare has been terminated or will be
terminated;
(2) The plan is leaving
the Medicare program;
(3) The
organization has discontinued providing the plan or will be discontinuing the
plan in the area where the enrollee resides;
(4) The demonstration project has
ended;
(5) The enrollee moves out
of the service area;
(6) The
individual demonstrates that the organization substantially violated a material
provision of the policy (with respect to the individual), such as failure to
provide covered care on a timely basis or adhere to quality standards;
or
(7) The organization, agent or
other entity acting in the organization's behalf materially misrepresented the
policy provisions in marketing.
7. Where an individual is enrolled under a
Medicare Supplement policy and the enrollment ceases due to the bankruptcy or
insolvency of the issuer, or to other involuntary termination of the coverage
under the policy, and the application is submitted during the time period
beginning on the earlier of the date the individual receives a notice of
termination, bankruptcy or insolvency or other such similar notice, if any, and
the date on which their prior coverage terminated and ending 63 days after the
prior coverage is terminated.
8.
Where an individual is enrolled under a Medicare Supplement policy and
enrollment ends because the issuer substantially violated a material provision
of the policy, or because the issuer, its agent, or another entity acting on
the issuer's behalf materially misrepresented the policy provisions in
marketing the policy, and the application is submitted during the period
beginning on the disenrollment effective date and ending 63 days after the
disenrollment effective date. However, if in such a situation the termination
is voluntary, the period shall begin 60 days before the disenrollment effective
date and end 63 days after the disenrollment effective date.
9. Where an individual is enrolled under a
Medicare supplement policy, including the Under 50 Plan, terminates enrollment,
and subsequently enrolls, for the first time, in a Medicare + Choice plan, a
Medicare managed care plan, a Medicare private-fee-for-service plan, a Medicare
risk or cost contract, a plan offered by a similar organization operating under
demonstration project authority, a health care prepayment plan, or a Medicare
SELECT plan, and thereafter terminates enrollment within the trial period, and
the application is submitted during the period beginning 60 days before the
disenrollment effective date and ending 63 days after the disenrollment
effective date. For the purposes of this subsection, the trial period is
whichever of the following that occurs first: 12 months of continuous
enrollment in any one plan of the types listed above, or 24 months of
continuous enrollment in any two or more plans of the types listed
above.
(b) Nothing in
(a) above shall be construed to prohibit the exclusion of benefits during the
first three months, based on a pre-existing condition for which the insured
received treatment or was otherwise diagnosed during the six months before the
policy or contract became effective, except that:
1. The pre-existing condition exclusion shall
not apply to individuals who submit an application under the circumstances and
in the time periods referenced in (a)4, 6, 7, 8 or 9 above; and
2. The pre-existing condition exclusion shall
be reduced by the amount of time the applicant had a continuous period of
creditable coverage, if he or she submits an application under the
circumstances and during the time periods referenced in (a)2, 3 and 5
above.
(c) The effective
date of coverage by the Under 50 Plan is the first day of the month following
the date an applicant enrolls in the Under 50 Plan and makes a premium
payment.