2. A hospital service corporation may issue to a policyholder a group contract, covering at least two employees or members at the date of issue, if it conforms to the following description:

(a) A contract issued to an employer or to the trustees of a fund established by one or more employers, or issued to a labor union, or issued to an association formed for purposes other than obtaining such contract, or issued to the trustees of a fund established by one or more labor unions, or by one or more employers and one or more labor unions, covering employees and members of associations or labor unions.

(b) A contract issued to cover any other group which the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance determines may be covered in accordance with sound underwriting principles.

Benefits may be provided for one or more members of the families or one or more dependents of persons who may be covered under a group contract referred to in (a) or (b) above.

Family type contracts shall provide that the services applicable for children shall be payable with respect to a newly-born child of the subscriber, or his or her spouse from the moment of birth. The services for newly-born children shall consist of coverage of injury or sickness including the necessary care and treatment of medically diagnosed congenital defects and abnormalities. If a subscription payment is required to provide services for a child, the contract may require that notification of birth of a newly-born child and the required payment must be furnished to the service corporation within 60 days after the date of birth in order to have the coverage continue beyond such 60-day period.

Group contracts which provide for services to the subscriber but not to family members or dependents of that subscriber, other than contracts which provide no dependent coverage whatsoever for the subscriber’s class, shall also provide services to newly-born children of the subscriber which shall commence with the moment of birth of each child and shall consist of coverage of injury or sickness including the necessary care and treatment of medically diagnosed congenital defects and abnormalities, provided that application therefor and payment of the required subscription amount are made to include in said contract the coverage described in the preceding paragraph of this section within 60 days from the date of birth of a newborn child.

A contract under which coverage of such a dependent terminates at a specified age shall, with respect to an unmarried child, covered by the contract prior to attainment of age 19, who is incapable of self-sustaining employment by reason of intellectual disability or physical handicap and who became so incapable prior to attainment of age 19 and who is chiefly dependent upon the covered employee or member for support and maintenance, not so terminate while the coverage of the employee or member remains in force and the dependent remains in such conditions, if the employee or member has within 31 days of such dependent’s attainment of the termination age submitted proof of such dependent’s incapacity as described herein. The foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall not apply retrospectively or prospectively to require a hospital service corporation to insure as a covered dependent any child with an intellectual disability or physical handicap of the applicant where the contract is underwritten on evidence of insurability based on health factors required to be set forth in the application. In such cases any contract heretofore or hereafter issued may specifically exclude such child with an intellectual disability or physical handicap from coverage.

Any group contract which contains provisions for the payment by the insurer of benefits for members of the family or dependents of a person in the insured group shall provide that, subject to payment of the appropriate premium, such family members or dependents be permitted to have coverage continued for at least 180 days after the death of the person in the insured group.

The contract may provide that the term “employees” shall include as employees of a single employer the employees of one or more subsidiary corporations and the employees, individual proprietors and partners of affiliated corporations, proprietorships and partnerships if the business of the employer and such corporations, proprietorships or partnerships is under common control through stock ownership, contract or otherwise. The contract may provide that the term “employees” shall include the individual proprietor or partners of an individual proprietorship or a partnership. The contract may provide that the term “employees” shall include retired employees. A contract issued to trustees may provide that the term “employees” shall include the trustees or their employees, or both, if their duties are principally connected with such trusteeship. A contract issued to the trustees of a fund established by the members of an association of employers may provide that the term “employees” shall include the employees of the association.

L.1964, c.104, s.2; amended 1966, c.236, ss.2,3; 1975, c.109, s.2; 1976, c.101, s.2; 1993, c.162, s.24; 2010, c.50, s.4; 2017, c.361, s.2.