(a)  Every individual or group health insurance contract, plan, or policy delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state which provides medical coverage that includes coverage for physician services in a physician’s office, and every policy which provides major medical or similar comprehensive type coverage, except for supplemental policies which only provide coverage for specified diseases and other supplemental policies, shall include a provision that policyholders shall receive thirty (30) days notice from the nonprofit optometric service corporation that a child covered as a dependent by the policyholder is about to lose his or her coverage as a result of reaching the maximum age for a dependent child and that the child will only continue to be covered upon documentation being provided of current college enrollment, or that the child may purchase a conversion policy if he or she is not a college student.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 27-20.2-14

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Nonprofit optometric service corporation: means any corporation organized pursuant to this chapter for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, and operating a nonprofit optometric service plan;

    (2)  "Nonprofit optometric service plan" means a plan by which specified optometric service is provided to subscribers to the plan by a nonprofit optometric service corporation;

    (3)  "Optometric service" means the professional services rendered by persons duly licensed under the laws of this state to practice optometry or the expense indemnity for the services, appliances, supplies, and care as may be specified in any nonprofit optometric service plan. See Rhode Island General Laws 27-20.2-1

(b)  Nothing in this section prohibits a nonprofit optometric service corporation from requiring a policyholder to annually provide proof of a child’s current college enrollment in order to maintain the child’s coverage. Provided further, nothing in this section requires coverage inconsistent with the membership criteria in effect under the policyholder’s health benefits coverage.

History of Section.
P.L. 2000, ch. 214, § 5; P.L. 2002, ch. 292, § 41.