Section 1389.5 Of Article 7.5. Underwriting Practices From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 2. >> Chapter 2.2. >> Article 7.5.
1389.5
. (a) This section applies to a health care service plan that
provides coverage under an individual plan contract that is issued,
amended, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2007.
(b) At least once each year, the health care service plan shall
permit an individual who has been covered for at least 18 months
under an individual plan contract to transfer, without medical
underwriting, to any other individual plan contract offered by that
same health care service plan that provides equal or lesser benefits,
as determined by the plan.
"Without medical underwriting" means that the health care service
plan shall not decline to offer coverage to, or deny enrollment of,
the individual or impose any preexisting condition exclusion on the
individual who transfers to another individual plan contract pursuant
to this section.
(c) The plan shall establish, for the purposes of subdivision (b),
a ranking of the individual plan contracts it offers to individual
purchasers and post the ranking on its Internet Web site or make the
ranking available upon request. The plan shall update the ranking
whenever a new benefit design for individual purchasers is approved.
(d) The plan shall notify in writing all enrollees of the right to
transfer to another individual plan contract pursuant to this
section, at a minimum, when the plan changes the enrollee's premium
rate. Posting this information on the plan's Internet Web site shall
not constitute notice for purposes of this subdivision. The notice
shall adequately inform enrollees of the transfer rights provided
under this section, including information on the process to obtain
details about the individual plan contracts available to that
enrollee and advising that the enrollee may be unable to return to
his or her current individual plan contract if the enrollee transfers
to another individual plan contract.
(e) The requirements of this section do not apply to the
following:
(1) A federally eligible defined individual, as defined in
subdivision (c) of Section 1399.801, who is enrolled in an individual
health benefit plan contract offered pursuant to Section 1366.35.
(2) An individual offered conversion coverage pursuant to Section
1373.6.
(3) Individual coverage under a specialized health care service
plan contract.
(4) An individual enrolled in the Medi-Cal program pursuant to
Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Division 9 of Part 3 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(5) An individual enrolled in the Access for Infants and Mothers
Program pursuant to Part 6.3 (commencing with Section 12695) of
Division 2 of the Insurance Code.
(6) An individual enrolled in the Healthy Families Program
pursuant to Part 6.2 (commencing with Section 12693) of Division 2 of
the Insurance Code.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that individuals shall
have more choice in their health coverage when health care service
plans guarantee the right of an individual to transfer to another
product based on the plan's own ranking system. The Legislature does
not intend for the department to review or verify the plan's ranking
for actuarial or other purposes.
(g) (1) This section shall become inoperative January 1, 2014, or
the 91st calendar day following the adjournment of the 2013-14 First
Extraordinary Session, whichever date is later.
(2) If Section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by
Section 1501 of PPACA, is repealed or amended to no longer apply to
the individual market, as defined in Section 2791 of the federal
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300gg-91), this section
shall become operative 12 months after the date of that repeal or
amendment.