Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 33 > Chapter 10 > Part 2 - Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations

• Account: means either of the two accounts created under 33-10-203. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Association: means the Montana life and health insurance guaranty association created under 33-10-203. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• authorized: when used in the context of assessments means a specified amount of money authorized for collection from member insurers by a resolution of the board of directors established in 33-10-204. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Benefit plan: means a benefit plan for a specific employee, union, or association of natural persons. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Called: when used in the context of assessments, means that the association has issued a notice to member insurers requiring that an authorized assessment be paid within the timeframe set forth within the notice. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contractual obligation: means an obligation under any of the following for which coverage is provided in this part:

  (a)a policy or contract;

  (b)a certificate under a group policy or contract; or

  (c)a portion of a policy or contract or a portion of a certificate. See Montana Code 33-10-202

• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Covered policy: means any policy or contract or portion of a policy or contract for which coverage is provided within the scope of this part. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Impaired insurer: means a member insurer that is not an insolvent insurer and that is placed under an order of rehabilitation or supervision by a court of competent jurisdiction. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Insolvent insurer: means a member insurer that is placed under an order of liquidation by a court of competent jurisdiction upon a finding of insolvency. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Member insurer: means an insurer, health service corporation, or health maintenance organization that is licensed or that holds a certificate of authority to transact any kind of insurance in this state for which coverage is provided under this part and includes any insurer, health service corporation, or health maintenance organization whose license or certificate of authority in this state may have been suspended, revoked, not renewed, or voluntarily withdrawn. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means any individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, governmental body or entity, or voluntary organization. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plan sponsor: means :

  (a)the employer in the case of a benefit plan established or maintained by a single employer;

  (b)the employee organization in the case of a benefit plan established or maintained by an employee organization; or

  (c)in the case of a benefit plan established or maintained by two or more employers or jointly by one or more employers and one or more employee organizations, the association, committee, joint board of trustees, or other similar group of representatives of the parties who establish or maintain the benefit plan. See Montana Code 33-10-202

• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Premiums: means the amount or consideration received on covered policies or contracts less return premiums, considerations, and deposits, and less dividends and experience credits. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Principal place of business: means :

  (a)in the case of a plan sponsor, the state in which more than 50% of the participants in the benefit plan are employed;

  (b)if 50% of the participants of a benefit plan are not employed in a single state and for a person other than an individual, the single state in which the individuals who establish policies for the direction, control, and coordination of the operations of the entity as a whole primarily exercise that function, as determined by the association in its reasonable judgment by considering the following factors:

  (i)the state in which the primary executive and administrative headquarters is located;

  (ii)the state in which the principal office of the chief executive officer is located;

  (iii)the state in which the board of directors or similar governing persons conduct its meetings;

  (iv)the state in which the executive or management committee of the board of directors or similar governing person or persons conduct the majority of their meetings;

  (v)the state from which the management of the overall operations is directed; and

  (vi)in the case of a benefit plan sponsored by affiliated companies comprising a consolidated corporation, the state in which the holding company or controlling affiliate has its principal place of business as determined using the above factors; or

  (c)with respect to a plan sponsor defined in subsection (17)(c), the principal place of business of the association, committee, joint board of trustees, or other similar group of representatives of the parties who establish or maintain the benefit plan that, in lieu of specific or clear designation of a principal place of business, is the principal place of business of the employer or employee organization that has the largest investment in the benefit plan in question. See Montana Code 33-10-202

• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Receivership court: means the court in the insolvent or impaired insurer's state that has jurisdiction over the supervision, rehabilitation, or liquidation of the insurer. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Resident: means a person to whom a contractual obligation is owed and who resides in this state on the date of entry of a court order that determines a member insurer to be an impaired insurer or a court order that determines a member insurer to be an insolvent insurer. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: means a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a United States possession, territory, or protectorate. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Structured settlement annuity: means an annuity purchased in order to fund periodic payments for a plaintiff or other claimant in payment for or with respect to personal injury suffered by the plaintiff or other claimant. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Unallocated annuity contract: means an annuity contract or group annuity certificate that is not issued to and owned by an individual, except to the extent of annuity benefits guaranteed to an individual by the insurer under the contract or certificate. See Montana Code 33-10-202
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203