This bulletin addresses the provisions of 2009 Wisconsin Act 28 that created s. 601.428, Wis. Stat., and requires insurers writing individual health insurance to annually file with the OCI cancellation and rescission reports. You should carefully review the provisions of s. 601.428, Wis. Stat., to determine whether this reporting requirement applies to your company.
Section 601.428, Wis. Stat.
Beginning in 2009, every insurer that issues individual health insurance policies shall annually report to the commissioner the total number of individual health insurance policies that the insurer issued in the preceding year and the total number of individual health insurance policies with respect to which the insurer initiated or completed a cancellation or rescission in the preceding year.
Attached to this bulletin is a copy of the reporting form for 2009, which is due April 1, 2010. The cancellation and rescission reporting form is also available on the OCI's web site under
Special Reporting Forms.
Discussion
Section 601.428, Wis. Stat., requires insurers that issue individual health insurance policies to annually report to the commissioner policy cancellations and rescissions for the preceding year. The OCI has determined that it must promulgate a rule that clarifies the information to be reported, definitions of terms and the due date for reporting cancellations and rescissions. The rule will define terms and require for 2010 that companies report reformations of policies. The OCI will amend the reporting form for 2010 to include reformations.
Wisconsin statutes do not define the term individual health insurance policies. The intent of the legislation was to include all insurance commonly known as individual health insurance in the reporting requirement. The reporting form identifies categories of coverage for reporting purposes. The reporting requirement does not apply to long-term care insurance policies. Long-term care insurance policies are subject to the reporting requirements in s. Ins 3.46 (10) (j), Wis. Adm. Code.
Companies that have only closed blocks of business and have not offered or marketed individual health policies during the reporting period and have not rescinded or cancelled policies do not have to report.
Companies may e-mail their reports to OCIRescissionReport@wisconsin.gov or mail to OCI Cancellation & Rescission Report, P.O. Box 7873, Madison, WI 53707-7873.
This bulletin applies to cancellation and rescission reports filed for individual health insurance business conducted during 2009. A copy of the legislation may be obtained from Legislative Documents, 1 East Main Street, Madison, WI 53703, and (608) 266-2400 or through the Legislature's Web page at
www.legis.state.wi.us.
Contact Information:
Questions regarding this bulletin and s. 601.428, Wis. Stat., may be e-mailed to Diane Dambach, at
diane.dambach@wisconsin.gov or Linda Low at
linda.low@wisconsin.gov.
Attachment: Cancellation and Rescission Reporting Form