Texas Register, Volume 32, Number 39, Pages 6689-6904, September 28, 2007 Page: 6,738
6689-6904 p. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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ments that use "similar language" to the language "Important No-
tices." There is no additional cost to insurers required to comply
with this amendment because the new requirement of not includ-
ing terms similar to "Important Notices" incurs no expenses in the
production of an advertisement. The anticipated public benefit
resulting from these proposed amendments will be that Medi-
care recipients or senior citizens will not be receiving such pro-
hibited advertisements, thus they will be less likely to be misled
or confused by such advertisements which will enable them to
make more informed decisions regarding the purchase of Medi-
care-related insurance.
The proposed amendment to existing 21.113(d)(17), renum-
bered as paragraph (16), deletes a provision that interprets cer-
tain U.S. Internal Revenue Service rules. There is no additional
cost to insurers required to comply with this amendment because
it imposes no new requirements. The anticipated public bene-
fit resulting from these proposed amendments is the removal of
outdated information that is currently considered to be inappro-
priate for inclusion in Department rules.
The proposed amendments to 21.113(g) mandate that an acci-
dent or health insurance advertisement stating or implying that
the advertised policy is "guaranteed renewable" clearly and con-
spicuously disclose that coverage may terminate at certain ages,
if such is a fact. The requirement that such an advertisement
indicate that rates may change is only imposed if the adver-
tisement suggests or implies that rates will actually not change.
In such a case, the advertisement must indicate the manner in
which the rates may change, such as by age, health status, or
class. There is no additional cost to insurers required to comply
with this amendment because the amendment is the result of the
legislative enactment of HB 2251, and any cost to comply result
directly from the enactment of HB 2251. The anticipated pub-
lic benefit resulting from these proposed amendments will be to
ensure consumers are fully and fairly informed of possible rate
increases when purchasing "guaranteed renewable" policies.
The proposed amendment to 21.113(h)(2) restricts the disclo-
sure requirement that all consideration due for group insurance,
such as enrollment fees, dues, administrative fees, membership
fees, service fees and similar charges paid by group members,
to apply only to invitation to contract advertisements. There is no
additional cost to insurers required to comply with this amend-
ment because it imposes no new requirements. The anticipated
public benefit resulting from this proposed amendment will be to
provide a level of required disclosure commensurate with the "in-
vitation to contract" stage of the process of making a purchasing
decision.
The proposed amendments to 21.113(k)(3)(A) delete the
reference to "on an individual basis" in order to apply the re-
quirements of the subsections to association group members.
The amendments apply the current restriction on the enrollment
period during which a particular insurance product may be pur-
chased and the requirement that advertisements must indicate
the date by which the applicant must mail the application to
include advertising soliciting members of association groups
that otherwise would be eligible under specific provisions of
the Insurance Code for group, blanket, or franchise accident
or health coverages. This is necessary to reduce the potential
for consumers to obtain a false sense of limited opportunity
to enroll in association-based group coverages that actually
have rolling "back-to-back" enrollment periods. Additionally,
proposed 21.113(k)(3)(C) requires that invitation to contract
Medicare supplement advertising must either describe all "openenrollment" opportunities or prominently disclose a means of
obtaining complete information regarding such opportunities.
Although Texas regulation treats association-based group
coverage as "group," the proposed new provision brings asso-
ciation-based group coverages under the same requirements
that are applicable in other states that have adopted the NAIC
model language regarding open enrollments. There should be
no costs to insurers to comply with the new requirement with
regard to the advertising content, as the required disclosure
is capable of being presented briefly and should not result in
increased production costs for the affected advertisement. The
anticipated public benefit is more clarity regarding the extent
of the enrollment periods and elimination of a false sense of
limited opportunity to enroll regarding associations that may
have offered rolling "back-to-back" enrollment periods.
The proposed amendments to 21.114(2)(C)(ii) also add lan-
guage in clause (ii) to require that an advertisement that uses
"non-medical," "no medical examination required," or similar lan-
guage where the advertised policy's issuance is not guaranteed
must provide an equally prominent disclosure in close conjunc-
tion to such language that issuance of the policy may depend
upon the answers to questions set forth in the application. Ad-
ditionally language that is not necessary for effective regulation
is deleted from clause (ii). There is no additional cost to insur-
ers required to comply with this amendment because it imposes
no new requirements. The anticipated public benefit resulting
from these proposed amendments will be to ensure that con-
sumers are fully and fairly informed by advertisements that use
the terms "non-medical," "no medical examination required" so
that they are not misled or confused as to the impact of pre-ex-
isting conditions or other criteria that may affect their eligibility
for coverage.
The proposed amendment to 21.114(3)(B) restricts the require-
ment that all consideration due for group insurance, such as en-
rollment fees, dues, administrative fees, membership fees, ser-
vice fees and similar charges, to apply only to invitation to con-
tract advertisements. There is no additional cost to insurers re-
quired to comply with this amendment because it imposes no
new requirements. The anticipated public benefit resulting from
this proposed amendment will be to provide a level of required
disclosure commensurate with the "invitation to contract" stage
of the process of making a purchasing decision.
The proposed amendments to 21.120(a) provide more detailed
requirements for information that must be contained in transmit-
tal letters that are required to accompany advertising material
submitted to the Department for review. The proposed require-
ments in 21.120(a)(1) clarify that separate identifying form num-
bers must be provided for each distinct Internet web page and
"pop-up," and in 21.120(a)(3) clarify that the transmittal letter
must identify the form number or numbers of the approved policy
and/or rider forms advertised. The amendments also propose a
new requirement in 21.120(a)(5) to require that the transmittal
letter identify the form numbers of all other advertising material
to be used with the advertisements being submitted. A new re-
quirement is proposed in 921.120(a)(6) to require that any vari-
able content in the advertisement be bracketed, and that an ex-
planation of how this material may vary be explained in an at-
tachment to the transmittal letter. The Department anticipates
that any costs to insurers to comply will be limited to the mini-
mal cost of producing the explanation of the variable material in
a separate document. The Department's experience with insur-
ers that already file in the proposed manner indicates that such
explanations typically are contained in two pages or less. Those32 TexReg 6738 September 28, 2007 Texas Register
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Texas. Secretary of State. Texas Register, Volume 32, Number 39, Pages 6689-6904, September 28, 2007, periodical, September 28, 2007; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth97416/m1/48/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.