Bill Text: NY A06466 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires health and motor vehicle insurance policies to notify policyholders of cancellation, discontinuance or major changes to their policy via email and to offer paperless notification upon the issuance of such policies.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-4)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - ordered to third reading cal.238 [A06466 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A06466-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6466 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 7, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. D. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to requiring health and motor vehicle insurance policies to notify policyholders of cancella- tion, discontinuance or major changes to their policy via email and to offer paperless notification upon the issuance of such policies The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of subparagraph (H) of paragraph 2 of 2 subsection (d) of section 3216 of the insurance law, as amended by chap- 3 ter 344 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows: 4 CANCELLATION: Within the first ninety days after the date of issue, 5 the insurer may cancel this policy by written notice delivered to the 6 insured, or sent by first class mail to his or her last address as shown 7 by the records of the insurer, and shall also give such notice by email 8 if the insurer has the insured's email address on file stating when, not 9 less than ten days thereafter, such cancellation shall be effective. In 10 the event of cancellation, the insurer will return promptly the pro-rata 11 unearned portion of any premium paid. Cancellation shall be without 12 prejudice to any claim originating prior to the effective date of 13 cancellation. 14 § 2. Subsection (c) of section 3216 of the insurance law is amended by 15 adding a new paragraph 15 to read as follows: 16 (15) That the insurer offers the person applying for such policy the 17 option to receive all notifications required by this section electron- 18 ically. 19 § 3. Subparagraph (A) of paragraph 1 of subsection (d) of section 3216 20 of the insurance law, as amended by chapter 13 of the laws of 2002, is 21 amended to read as follows: 22 (A) ENTIRE CONTRACT; CHANGES: This policy, including the endorsements 23 and the attached papers, if any, constitutes the entire contract of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09593-02-9A. 6466 2 1 insurance. No change in this policy shall be valid until approved by an 2 executive officer of the insurer and unless such approval be endorsed 3 hereon or attached hereto. No agent or broker has authority to change 4 this policy or to waive any of its provisions. The insurer shall notify 5 the insured of any major change made to this policy via email if the 6 insurer has the insured's email address on file. 7 § 4. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 3 of subsection (g) of section 3216 8 of the insurance law, as added by chapter 661 of the laws of 1997, is 9 amended to read as follows: 10 (B) the insurer provides written notice of such discontinuance, and 11 notice via email if the insurer has the insured's email address on file, 12 to each covered individual at least one hundred eighty days prior to the 13 date of termination of such coverage; 14 § 5. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 2 of subsection (g) of section 3216 15 of the insurance law, as added by chapter 661 of the laws of 1997, is 16 amended to read as follows: 17 (B) the insurer provides written notice of such discontinuance, and 18 notice via email if the insurer has the insured's email address on file, 19 to each covered individual at least ninety days prior to the date of 20 discontinuance of such coverage; 21 § 6. Paragraph 2 of subsection (a) of section 3221 of the insurance 22 law is amended to read as follows: 23 (2) That no agent has authority to change the policy or waive any of 24 its provisions and that no change in the policy shall be valid unless 25 approved by an officer of the insurer and evidenced by endorsement on 26 the policy, or by amendment to the policy signed by the policyholder and 27 the insurer. The insurer shall notify the insured of any significant 28 change made to the policy via email if the insurer has the insured's 29 email address on file. 30 § 7. The opening paragraph of item (i) of subparagraph (A) of para- 31 graph 3 of subsection (p) of section 3221 of the insurance law, as 32 amended by chapter 398 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as 33 follows: 34 the insurer provides written notice to each policyholder provided 35 coverage of this class in such market (and to all employees and member 36 insureds covered under such coverage) of such discontinuance at least 37 ninety days prior to the date of discontinuance of such coverage, 38 provided, however, the insurer shall also provide such notice via email 39 if the insurer has the email addresses of the policyholders on file. In 40 addition to any other information required of notices by the superinten- 41 dent, this written notice shall conspicuously include an explanation, in 42 plain language, of the policyholder's and covered employee's or member 43 insured's rights under this subparagraph and (B) of this paragraph, 44 including: 45 § 8. Item (i) of subparagraph (E) of paragraph 3 of subsection (p) of 46 section 3221 of the insurance law, as amended by chapter 398 of the laws 47 of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 48 (i) the insurer provides written notice to the superintendent and to 49 each policyholder (and all employees and member insureds covered under 50 such coverage) of such discontinuance at least one hundred eighty days 51 prior to the date of the discontinuance of such coverage, provided, 52 however, the insurer shall also provide such notice via email if the 53 insurer has the email addresses of the policyholders on file; 54 § 9. Subsection (a) of section 3221 of the insurance law is amended by 55 adding a new paragraph 17 to read as follows:A. 6466 3 1 (17) That the insurer offers the person applying for such policy the 2 option to receive all notifications required by this section electron- 3 ically. 4 § 10. Paragraph 1 of subsection (h) of section 3425 of the insurance 5 law, as amended by chapter 675 of the laws of 2003, is amended and a new 6 paragraph 4 is added to read as follows: 7 (1) Proof of mailing of a notice of cancellation, reduction of limits, 8 substitution of policy form, elimination of coverages, conditioned 9 renewal or of intention not to renew, or proof of the mailing of the 10 reasons therefor, to the named insured at the address shown in the poli- 11 cy, shall be sufficient proof of the giving of notice and the giving of 12 reasons required by this section. Provided, however, with respect to 13 automobile insurance if the insurer has the insured's email address on 14 file the insurer shall send a notice of cancellation, reduction of 15 limits, substitution of policy form, elimination of coverages, condi- 16 tional renewal or of intention not to renew, or notice of the reasons 17 therefor to the insured via email. 18 (4) The insurer of any automobile insurance shall, when issuing a 19 covered policy, offer the insured the option of opting into paperless 20 communication to receive all notification regarding any cancellation, 21 reduction of limits, substitution of policy form, elimination of cover- 22 ages, conditioned renewal or of intention not to renew, or notice of the 23 reasons therefor. 24 § 11. Items (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph 2 of 25 subsection (c) of section 4304 of the insurance law, item (i) as amended 26 by chapter 317 of the laws of 2017 and item (ii) as amended by chapter 27 661 of the laws of 1997, are amended to read as follows: 28 (i) Discontinuance of a class of contract upon not less than ninety 29 days' prior written notice, and notice via email if the corporation has 30 the enrolled individual's email address on file. In exercising the 31 option to discontinue coverage pursuant to this item, the corporation 32 must act uniformly without regard to any health status-related factor of 33 enrolled individuals or individuals who may become eligible for such 34 coverage and must offer to subscribers or group remitting agents, as may 35 be appropriate, the option to purchase all other individual health 36 insurance coverage currently being offered by the corporation to appli- 37 cants in that market. Provided, however, the superintendent may, after 38 giving due consideration to the public interest, approve a request made 39 by a corporation for the corporation to satisfy the requirements of this 40 item through the offering of contracts at each level of coverage as 41 defined in section 1302(d) of the affordable care act, 42 U.S.C. § 42 18022(d) that contains the benefits described in paragraph one of 43 subsection (b) of section four thousand three hundred twenty-eight of 44 this [chapter] article by another corporation, insurer or health mainte- 45 nance organization within the corporation's same holding company system, 46 as defined in article fifteen of this chapter. 47 (ii) Discontinuance of all hospital, surgical or medical expense 48 coverage in the individual direct payment market in this state upon 49 written notice to the superintendent and to each subscriber not less 50 than one hundred eighty days prior to the date of the expiration of such 51 coverage, and notice via email if the corporation has the subscriber's 52 email address on file. In the event of such a withdrawal from the indi- 53 vidual direct payment market, the corporation must also provide the 54 superintendent with a written plan to minimize potential disruption in 55 the marketplace occasioned by such withdrawal. In addition, the corpo- 56 ration may not provide for the issuance of any hospital, surgical orA. 6466 4 1 medical expense coverage in the individual direct payment market in this 2 state during the five-year period beginning on the date of the discon- 3 tinuance of the last health insurance coverage not so renewed. 4 § 12. The opening paragraph of item (i) of subparagraph (A) and item 5 (i) of subparagraph (E) of paragraph 3 of subsection (j) of section 4305 6 of the insurance law, as amended by chapter 398 of the laws of 2010, are 7 amended to read as follows: 8 the corporation provides written notice to each contract holder, and 9 notice via email if the corporation has the contract holder's email 10 address on file, provided coverage of this class in such market (and to 11 all employees and member insureds covered under such coverage) of such 12 discontinuance at least ninety days prior to the date of discontinuance 13 of such coverage. In addition to any other information required of 14 notices by the superintendent, this written notice shall conspicuously 15 include an explanation, in plain language, of the contract holder's and 16 covered employee's or member insured's rights under this subparagraph 17 and subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, including: 18 (i) the corporation provides written notice to the superintendent and 19 to each contract holder (and all employees and member insureds covered 20 under such coverage), and notice via email if the corporation has the 21 contract holder's email address on file, of such discontinuance at least 22 one hundred eighty days prior to the date of the discontinuance of such 23 coverage; 24 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all 25 policies or contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on 26 and after such effective date.
