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.