(a) All RBC reports, to the extent the information is not required to be set forth in a publicly available annual statement schedule, and RBC plans, including the results or report of any examination or analysis of a health organization performed pursuant to this part and any corrective order issued by the commissioner pursuant to examination or analysis, with respect to a domestic health organization or foreign health organization that are in the possession or control of the department of commerce and insurance shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to § 10-7-503 or § 56-1-602, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action. However, the commissioner is authorized to use the documents, materials or other information in the furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as a part of the commissioner’s official duties.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 56-46-208

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-1-102
  • Corrective order: means an order issued by the commissioner specifying corrective actions which the commissioner has determined are required. See Tennessee Code 56-46-201
  • Department: means the department of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 56-1-102
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Domestic health organization: means a health organization domiciled in this state. See Tennessee Code 56-46-201
  • 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.
  • Foreign: when used without limitation, includes all companies formed by authority of any other state or government. See Tennessee Code 56-1-102
  • Health organization: means a health maintenance organization, limited health service organization, dental or vision plan, hospital, medical and dental indemnity or service corporation, or other managed care organization licensed pursuant to chapters 27, 28, 30, 31, 32 and 51 of this title. See Tennessee Code 56-46-201
  • 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.
  • NAIC: means the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. See Tennessee Code 56-46-201
  • Person: means any association, aggregate of individuals, business, company, corporation, individual, joint-stock company, Lloyds-type organization, organization, partnership, receiver, reciprocal or interinsurance exchange, trustee or society. See Tennessee Code 56-16-102
  • RBC instructions: means the RBC report including risk-based capital instructions adopted by the NAIC, as these RBC instructions may be amended by the NAIC from time to time in accordance with the procedures adopted by the NAIC. See Tennessee Code 56-46-201
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Total adjusted capital: means the sum of:
    (A) A health organization's statutory capital and surplus, also known as net worth, as determined in accordance with the statutory accounting applicable to the annual financial statements required to be filed under §. See Tennessee Code 56-46-201
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Neither the commissioner nor any person who received documents, materials or other information while acting under the authority of the commissioner shall be permitted or required to testify in any private civil action concerning any confidential documents, materials or information deemed confidential and privileged under subsection (a).
(c) In order to assist in the performance of the commissioner’s duties, the commissioner may:

(1) Share documents, materials or other information, including the confidential and privileged documents, materials or information deemed confidential and privileged under subsection (a), with other state, federal and international regulatory agencies, with the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and with state, federal and international law enforcement authorities; provided, that the recipient agrees to maintain the confidentiality and privileged status of the document, material or other information;
(2) Receive documents, materials or information, including otherwise confidential and privileged documents, materials or information, from the NAIC and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and from regulatory and law enforcement officials of other foreign or domestic jurisdictions, and shall maintain as confidential or privileged any document, material or information received with notice or the understanding that it is confidential or privileged under the laws of the jurisdiction that is the source of the document, material or information; and
(3) Enter into agreements governing sharing and use of information consistent with this subsection (c).
(d) Disclosure of documents, materials or information to the commissioner under this section or as a result of sharing as authorized in subsection (c) shall not constitute a waiver of any applicable privilege or claim of confidentiality.
(e) It is the judgment of the legislature that the comparison of a health organization’s total adjusted capital to any of its RBC levels is a regulatory tool which may indicate the need for corrective action with respect to the health organization, and is not intended as a means to rank health organizations generally. Therefore, except as otherwise required under this part, the making, publishing, disseminating, circulating or placing before the public, or causing, directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the public, in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter or poster, or over a radio or television station, or in any other way, an advertisement, announcement or statement containing an assertion, representation or statement with regard to the RBC levels of any health organization, or of any component derived in the calculation, by any health organization, agent, broker or other person engaged in any manner in the insurance business is misleading and is therefore prohibited; provided, however, that if any materially false statement with respect to the comparison regarding a health organization’s total adjusted capital to its RBC levels (or any of them) or an inappropriate comparison of any other amount to the health organizations’ RBC levels is published in any written publication and the health organization is able to demonstrate to the commissioner with substantial proof the falsity of the statement, or the inappropriateness, as the case may be, then the health organization may publish an announcement in a written publication if the sole purpose of the announcement is to rebut the materially false statement.
(f) It is the further judgment of the legislature that the RBC instructions, RBC reports, adjusted RBC reports, RBC plans and revised RBC plans are intended solely for use by the commissioner in monitoring the solvency of health organizations and the need for possible corrective action with respect to health organizations and shall not be used by the commissioner for ratemaking nor considered or introduced as evidence in any rate proceeding nor used by the commissioner to calculate or derive any elements of an appropriate premium level or rate of return for any line of insurance that a health organization or any affiliate is authorized to write.
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