H. B. 2039
(By Delegate Walters)
[Introduced January 14, 1998
; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article sixteen, chapter
thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to insurance;
group insurance policies.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article sixteen, 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 16. GROUP ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS INSURANCE.
§33-16-2. Eligible groups.
Any insurer licensed to transact accident and sickness
insurance in this state may issue group accident and sickness
policies coming within any of the following classifications:
(a) A policy issued to an employer, who shall be is deemed
the policyholder, insuring at least ten employees of such the
employer, for the benefit of persons other than the employer, and
conforming to the following requirements:
(1) If the premium is paid by the employer the group shall
comprise all employees or all of any class or classes thereof
determined by conditions pertaining to the employment; or
(2) If the premium is paid by the employer and employees
jointly, or by the employees, the group shall comprise not less
than seventy percent of all employees of the employer or not less
than seventy-five percent of all employees of any class or
classes thereof determined by conditions pertaining to the
employment employees who elect to make the payments;
(3) The term "employee" as used herein shall be is deemed to
include the officers, managers and employees of the employer, the
partners, if the employer is a partnership, the officers,
managers, and employees of subsidiary or affiliated corporations
of a corporation employer, and the individual proprietors,
partners and employees of individuals and firms, the business of
which is controlled by the insured employer through stock
ownership, contract or otherwise. The term "employer" as used
herein may be is deemed to include any municipal or governmental corporation, unit, agency or department thereof and the proper
officers as such, of any unincorporated municipality or
department thereof, as well as private individuals, partnerships
and corporations.
(b) A policy issued to an association which has a
constitution and bylaws and which has been organized and is
maintained in good faith for purposes other than that of
obtaining insurance, insuring at least ten members of the
association for the benefit of persons other than the association
or its officers or trustees. as such
(c) A policy issued to a college, school or other
institution of learning or to the head or principal thereof,
insuring at least ten students, or students and employees, of
such the institution.
(d) A policy issued to or in the name of any volunteer fire
department, insuring all of the members of such the department or
all of any class or classes thereof against any one or more of
the hazards to which they are exposed by reason of such the
membership but in each case not less than ten such members.
(e) A policy issued to any person or organization to which
a policy of group life insurance may be issued or delivered in
this state, to insure any class or classes of individuals that could be insured under such the group life policy.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the 75%
participation requirement currently required for group insurance
policies when the policy premium is partly or wholly paid by the
employee. The bill also includes technical changes for the
purpose of cleaning up language in the code.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.