1. An individual health benefit plan subject to this chapter is renewable with respect to an eligible individual or dependents, at the option of the individual, except for one or more of the following reasons:

 a. The individual fails to pay, or to make timely payment of, premiums or contributions pursuant to the terms of the individual health benefit plan.
 b. The individual performs an act or practice constituting fraud or makes an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact under the terms of the individual health benefit plan.
 c. A decision by the individual carrier to discontinue offering a particular type of individual health benefit plan in the state‘s individual insurance market. An individual health benefit plan may be discontinued by the carrier in that market with the approval of the commissioner and only if the carrier does all of the following:

 (1) Provides advance notice of its decision to discontinue such plan to the commissioner. Notice to the commissioner, at a minimum, shall be no less than three days prior to the notice provided for in subparagraph (2) to affected individuals.
 (2) Provides notice of its decision not to renew such plan to all affected individuals no less than ninety days prior to the nonrenewal date of any discontinued individual health benefit plans.
 (3) Offers to each individual of the discontinued plan the option to purchase any other health plan currently offered by the carrier to individuals in this state.
 (4) Acts uniformly in opting to discontinue the plan and in offering the option under subparagraph (3), without regard to the claims experience of any affected eligible individual or beneficiary under the discontinued plan or to a health status-related factor relating to any covered individuals or beneficiaries who may become eligible for the coverage.
 d. A decision by the carrier to discontinue offering and to cease to renew all of its individual health benefit plans delivered or issued for delivery to individuals in this state. A carrier making such decision shall do all of the following:

 (1) Provide advance notice of its decision to discontinue such plan to the commissioner. Notice to the commissioner, at a minimum, shall be no less than three days prior to the notice provided for in subparagraph (2) to affected individuals.
 (2) Provide notice of its decision not to renew such plan to all individuals and to the commissioner in each state in which an individual under the discontinued plan is known to reside, no less than one hundred eighty days prior to the nonrenewal of the plan.
 e. The commissioner finds that the continuation of the coverage is not in the best interests of the individuals, or would impair the carrier’s ability to meet its contractual obligations.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 513C.6

  • Basic or standard health benefit plan: means the core group of health benefits developed pursuant to section 513C. See Iowa Code 513C.3
  • 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
  • Carrier: means any entity that provides individual health benefit plans in this state. See Iowa Code 513C.3
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of insurance. See Iowa Code 513C.3
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Eligible individual: means an individual who is a resident of this state and who either has qualifying existing coverage or has had qualifying existing coverage within the immediately preceding thirty days, or an individual who has had a qualifying event occur within the immediately preceding thirty days. See Iowa Code 513C.3
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Individual health benefit plan: means any hospital or medical expense incurred policy or certificate, hospital or medical service plan, or health maintenance organization subscriber contract sold to an individual, or any discretionary group trust or association policy, whether issued within or outside of the state, providing hospital or medical expense incurred coverage to individuals residing within this state. See Iowa Code 513C.3
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. At the time of coverage renewal, a carrier may modify the health insurance coverage for a policy form offered to individuals in the individual market so long as such modification is consistent with state law and effective on a uniform basis among all individuals with that policy form.
 3. An individual carrier that elects not to renew an individual health benefit plan under subsection 1, paragraph “d”, shall not write any new business in the individual market in this state for a period of five years after the date of notice to the commissioner.
 4. This section, with respect to a carrier doing business in one established geographic service area of the state, applies only to such carrier’s operations in that service area.
 5. A carrier offering coverage through a network plan is not required to renew or continue in force coverage or to accept applications from an individual who no longer resides or lives in, or is no longer employed in, the service area of such carrier, or no longer resides or lives in, or is no longer employed in, a service area for which the carrier is authorized to do business, but only if coverage is not offered or terminated uniformly without regard to health status-related factors of a covered individual.
 6. A carrier offering coverage through a bona fide association is not required to renew or continue in force coverage or to accept applications from an individual through an association if the membership of the individual in the association on which the basis of coverage is provided ceases, but only if the coverage is not offered or terminated under this paragraph uniformly without regard to health status-related factors of a covered individual.
 7. An individual who has coverage as a dependent under a basic or standard health benefit plan may, when that individual is no longer a dependent under such coverage, elect to continue coverage under the basic or standard health benefit plan if the individual so elects immediately upon termination of the coverage under which the individual was covered as a dependent.
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