(1) This section applies to all life insurance policies issued on or after the operative date defined in this subsection for the issuing insurer. After January 1, 1982, any insurer may file with the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services a written notice of its election to comply with the provisions of this section with regard to any number of plans of insurance after a specified date before January 1, 1989. The specified date shall be the operative date of this subsection for the plan or plans, but if an insurer elects to make this subsection operative before January 1, 1989, for fewer than all plans, the insurer must comply with rules adopted by the director. There is no limit to the number of times that an insurer may make the election. If an insurer makes no such election, the operative date of this section for the insurer shall be January 1, 1989.

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(2) Except as provided in subsection (8) of this section, the adjusted premiums referred to in ORS § 743.210 for any life insurance policy to which this section applies shall be calculated as provided in this subsection, on an annual basis, as a uniform percentage of the respective premiums specified in the policy for each policy year, excluding amounts payable as extra premiums to cover impairments or special hazards and excluding any uniform annual contract charge or policy fee specified in the policy statement of the method to be used in calculating the cash surrender values and paid-up nonforfeiture benefits. This percentage shall be such that the present value, at the date of issue of the policy, of all such adjusted premiums shall equal the sum of:

(a) The present value at the policy issue date of the future guaranteed benefits provided for by the policy;

(b) One percent of either the amount of insurance, if the insurance is uniform in amount, or the average of the amounts of insurance at the beginning of each of the first 10 policy years; and

(c) One hundred twenty-five percent of the nonforfeiture net level premium as defined in subsection (3) of this section. For this purpose, any excess of the nonforfeiture net level premium over four percent of such uniform or average amount of insurance shall be disregarded.

(3) The nonforfeiture net level premium referred to in subsection (2) of this section shall equal the present value, at the date of issue of the policy, of the guaranteed benefits provided for by the policy divided by the present value, at the date of issue of the policy, of an annuity of one per annum payable on the date of issue and on each anniversary of the policy on which a premium falls due.

(4) In the case of policies which provide, on a basis guaranteed in the policy, for unscheduled changes in benefits or premiums, or which provide an option for changes in benefits or premiums other than by change to a new policy, the adjusted premiums and present values shall initially be calculated on the assumption that future benefits and premiums do not change from those stipulated by the policy at the date of issue. At the time of any such change in the benefits or premiums the future adjusted premiums, nonforfeiture net level premiums and present values shall be recalculated as provided in subsection (5) of this section on the assumption that future benefits and premiums do not change from those stipulated by the policy immediately after the change.

(5) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (8) of this section, the recalculated future adjusted premiums referred to in subsection (4) of this section shall be calculated as provided in this subsection, on an annual basis, as a uniform percentage of the respective future premiums specified in the policy for each policy year, excluding amounts payable as extra premiums to cover impairments and special hazards and excluding any uniform annual contract charge or policy fee specified in the policy statement of the method to be used in calculating the cash surrender values and paid-up nonforfeiture benefits. This percentage shall be such that the present value, at the date of change to the newly defined benefits or premiums, of all such future adjusted premiums shall equal A plus B minus C, where these amounts are defined as follows:

(a) ‘A’ equals the present value, as of the date of change, of the future guaranteed benefits provided for by the policy.

(b) ‘B’ equals the additional expense allowance, if any, for the policy, as defined in subsection (6) of this section.

(c) ‘C’ equals the cash surrender value under the policy, if any, or present value of any paid-up nonforfeiture benefit under the policy, as of the date of change.

(6) The additional expense allowance at the date of the change to the newly defined benefits or premiums, as referred to in subsection (5) of this section, shall equal the sum of:

(a) One percent of the excess, if positive, of the average of the amounts of insurance at the beginning of each of the first 10 policy years subsequent to the change, over the average of the amounts of insurance, as defined before the change, at the beginning of each of the first 10 policy years subsequent to the last previous change or the policy issue date if there has been no change.

(b) One hundred twenty-five percent of the change, if positive, in the amount of the nonforfeiture net level premium from the amount applicable prior to the change in policy benefits or premiums to the amount of the recalculated nonforfeiture net level premium determined from subsection (7) of this section as of the date of the change in policy benefits or premiums.

(7) The recalculated nonforfeiture net level premium referred to in subsection (6) of this section shall equal Y divided by Z, where these amounts are defined as follows:

(a) ‘Y’ equals the sum of:

(A) The nonforfeiture net level premium applicable prior to the change times the present value at the date of change of an annuity of one per annum payable on each anniversary of the policy, on or subsequent to the date of the change, on which a premium would have fallen due had the change not occurred; and

(B) The present value at the date of change of the increase in future guaranteed benefits provided for by the policy.

(b) ‘Z’ equals the present value at the date of change of an annuity of one per annum payable on each anniversary of the policy, on or subsequent to the date of change, on which a premium falls due.

(8) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the provisions of this subsection shall apply in the case of a policy issued on a substandard basis which provides reduced graded amounts of insurance determined so that, in each policy year, the policy has the same tabular mortality cost as for an otherwise similar policy of a higher nongraded amount or amounts of insurance issued on the standard basis. Adjusted premiums and present values for a policy on such a substandard basis may be calculated as if the policy were issued to provide such a higher nongraded amount or amounts of insurance on the standard basis.

(9) Except as provided in subsection (10) of this section, all adjusted premiums and present values referred to in the Standard Nonforfeiture Law for Life Insurance shall, for all policies of life insurance to which this section applies, be calculated on the mortality and interest bases as follows:

(a) For ordinary life insurance mortality:

(A) The Commissioners 1980 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table shall be used; or

(B) At the option of the insurer for any one or more specified plans of life insurance, the Commissioners 1980 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table with Ten-Year Select Mortality Factors may be used instead of such table without Ten-Year Select Mortality Factors.

(b) For industrial life insurance mortality, the Commissioners 1961 Standard Industrial Mortality Table shall be used.

(c) For all policies issued in a particular calendar year, an interest rate shall be used which does not exceed the nonforfeiture interest rate, as defined in subsection (11) of this section, for policies issued in that year.

(10) The following provisions shall also apply, for policies to which this section applies, to the calculation of premiums and values referred to in the Standard Nonforfeiture Law for Life Insurance:

(a) At the option of the insurer, such calculations for all policies issued in a particular calendar year may be made on the basis of an interest rate which does not exceed the nonforfeiture interest rate, as defined in subsection (11) of this section, for policies issued in the last preceding calendar year.

(b) Under any paid-up nonforfeiture benefit, including any paid-up dividend additions, any cash surrender value available, whether or not required by ORS § 743.207, shall be calculated on the basis of the mortality table and interest rate used in determining the amount of such paid-up nonforfeiture benefit and paid-up dividend additions.

(c) An insurer shall calculate the amount of any guaranteed paid-up nonforfeiture benefit, including any paid-up additions, on the basis of an interest rate no lower than that specified in the policy for calculating cash surrender values.

(d) In calculating the present value of any paid-up term insurance with accompanying pure endowment, if any, offered as a nonforfeiture benefit, the rates of mortality assumed may be not more than those shown in the Commissioners 1980 Extended Term Insurance Table for policies of ordinary life insurance, and not more than those shown in the Commissioners 1961 Industrial Extended Term Insurance Table for policies of industrial life insurance.

(e) For insurance issued on a substandard basis, the calculation of premiums and values may be based on appropriate modifications of the mortality tables referred to in subsection (9) of this section and in this subsection.

(f) Any ordinary life mortality tables adopted after 1980 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that are approved under rules issued by the director for use in determining the minimum nonforfeiture standard may be substituted for the Commissioners 1980 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table with or without Ten-Year Select Mortality Factors, or for the Commissioners 1980 Extended Term Insurance Table.

(g) Any industrial life mortality tables adopted after 1980 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that are approved under rules issued by the director for use in determining the minimum nonforfeiture standard may be substituted for the Commissioners 1961 Standard Industrial Mortality Table or the Commissioners 1961 Industrial Extended Term Insurance Table.

(11) The nonforfeiture interest rate for any policy issued in a particular calendar year shall equal 125 percent of the calendar year statutory valuation interest rate for such policy as defined in the Standard Valuation Law, rounded to the nearer one-quarter of one percent.

(12) Notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter or ORS Chapter 743A, for any previously approved policy form, any refiling of nonforfeiture values or their methods of computation which involves only a change in the interest rate or mortality table used to compute nonforfeiture values shall not of itself require refiling of any other provisions of that policy form. [1981 c.609 § 17; 1983 c.282 § 1]