H. B. 4656
(By Delegate McGraw)
[Introduced February 22, 2002; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article six, chapter
thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to insurance
associations and requiring that a proposed rate increase of an
association be first approved by the insurance commissioner.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article six, chapter thirty-three of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. THE INSURANCE POLICY.
§33-6-8. Approval of forms.
(a) Except as provided in section eight, article seventeen of
this chapter (fire and marine forms), no insurance policy form, no group certificate form, no insurance application form where written
application is required and is to be made a part of the policy,
and no rider, endorsement or other form to be attached to any
policy, shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state by
an insurer unless it has been filed with and approved by the
commissioner, except that as to group insurance policies delivered
outside this state, only the group certificates to be delivered or
issued for delivery in this state shall be filed for approval with
the commissioner. This section shall not apply to policies,
riders, endorsements or forms of unique character designed for and
used with relation to insurance upon a particular subject, or which
relate to the manner of distribution of benefits or to the
reservation of rights and benefits under life or accident and
sickness insurance policies, and are used at the request of the
individual policyholder, contract holder or certificate holder, nor
to the surety bond forms.
(b) Every such filing shall be made not less than sixty days
in advance of any such delivery. At the expiration of such sixty
days, the form so filed shall be deemed approved unless prior
thereto it has been affirmatively approved or disapproved by the
commissioner. Approval of any such form by the commissioner shall constitute a waiver of any unexpired portion of such waiting
period. The commissioner may at any time, after notice and for
cause shown, withdraw any such approval.
(c) Any order of the commissioner disapproving any such form
or withdrawing a previous approval shall state the grounds
therefor.
(d) The commissioner may, by order, exempt from the
requirements of this section for so long as he or she deems proper
any insurance document or form or type thereof as specified in such
order, to which, in his or her opinion, this section may not
practicably be applied, or the filing and approval of which are, in
his or her opinion, not desirable or necessary for the protection
of the public.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any
mass marketed life and/or health insurance policy offered to
members of any association by the association shall not be exempt
from the rate setting provisions and the provision requiring prior
approval under this section: Provided, That for purposes of this
section, the association shall have a minimum of sixty-one members
at the outset of the issuance of the mass marketed life and/or
health insurance policy and shall have been organized and maintained in good faith for purposes other than that of obtaining
or providing insurance: Provided, however, That the association
shall also have been in active existence for at least two years and
shall have a constitution and bylaws which provide that: (1) The
association holds annual meetings to further purposes of its
members; (2) except in the case of credit unions, the association
collects dues or solicits contributions from members; and (3) the
members have voting privileges and representation on the governing
board and committees that exist under the authority of the
association: Provided further, That upon written application by an
association and for good cause shown, the commissioner may grant an
exemption to the association from the minimum member requirements
of this section.
(f) This section shall apply also to any form used by domestic
insurers for delivery in a jurisdiction outside West Virginia, if
the insurance supervisory official of such jurisdiction informs the
commissioner that such form is not subject to approval or
disapproval by such official, and upon the commissioner's order
requiring the form to be submitted to him or her for the purpose.
The applicable same standards shall apply to such forms as apply to
forms for domestic use.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
require that a proposed
rate increase of an association offering life and health insurance
be first approved by the insurance commissioner.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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