Certification of coverage in the group market

1. A health carrier offering group health insurance coverage under a group health benefit plan is required to provide certificates of qualifying previous coverage in accordance with this section. 2. Any entity required to provide a certificate under this section for an individual is deemed to have satisfied the requirements of this section for that individual if another party provides the certificate, but only to the extent the information related to the individual's qualifying previous coverage and waiting period is provided by the other party. 3. A health carrier is not required to provide information regarding coverage provided to an individual by another party. 4. If an individual's coverage under a health carrier's policy ceases before an individual's coverage under the plan ceases, the health carrier is required to provide sufficient information to the plan to enable a certificate to be provided by the plan, after cessation of the individual's coverage under the plan, that reflects the period of coverage under the policy. 5. A certificate of coverage must be provided, without charge, for individuals and dependents, who are or were covered under a group health insurance policy, for the following: a. An automatic certificate must be provided in the following circumstances: (1) In the case of an individual who is a qualified beneficiary entitled to elect Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act [Pub. L. 99-272; 100 Stat. 82] continuation coverage, an automatic certificate is required to be provided at the time the individual would lose coverage under the plan in the absence of Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act continuation coverage or alternative coverage elected instead of Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act continuation coverage. (2) In the case of an individual who is not a qualified beneficiary entitled to elect Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act continuation coverage, an automatic certificate is required to be provided at the time the individual ceases to be covered under the plan. A health carrier satisfies this requirement if it provides the certificate within a reasonable time period after the individual ceases to be covered under the plan. In the case of an individual who is entitled to elect continuation coverage under North Dakota Century Code section 26.1-36-23 or 26.1-36-23.1, an automatic certificate is required to be furnished no later than thirty-one days after the individual ceases to be covered under the plan. (3) In the case of an individual who has elected Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act continuation coverage, an automatic certificate must be provided at the time the individual's coverage under the plan ceases. The health carrier satisfies this requirement if it provides the automatic certificate within a reasonable time after coverage ceases. An automatic certificate is required to be provided to an individual regardless of whether the individual has previously received an automatic certificate. b. A certificate of coverage must be provided upon request if the request is made, by or on behalf of an individual, within twenty-four months after coverage ends. 6. A certificate of coverage issued pursuant to this section must be provided in writing. However, a written certificate is not required if: a. The individual is entitled to receive a certificate of coverage; b. The individual requests that the certificate be sent to another plan or health carrier instead of to the individual; c. The plan or health carrier agrees to accept the information through means other than a written certificate; and d. The plan or health carrier receives the certification within a reasonable time. 7. A certificate of coverage issued under this section must include the following information in a form similar to that shown in appendix B: a. The date on which the certificate is issued; b. The name of the individual or dependent to whom the certificate applies and any other information necessary to identify the individual; c. The name, address, and telephone number of the issuer of the certificate; d. A telephone number to call for further information; e. The date qualifying previous coverage ended, unless the certificate indicates the qualifying previous coverage is continuing as of the date of the certificate; and f. Either: (1) A statement that the individual has at least eighteen months of qualifying previous coverage; or (2) The date any waiting period began and the date qualifying previous coverage began. 8. If an automatic certificate is provided under this section, the period that must be included on the certificate is the last period of continuous qualifying previous coverage ending on the date coverage ended. 9. If an individual requests a certificate under this section, a certificate must be provided for each period of continuous qualifying previous coverage ending within the twenty-four-month period ending on the date of the request. A separate certificate may be provided for each such period of continuous qualifying previous coverage. 10. A certificate may provide information with respect to both a participant and the participant's dependents if the information is identical for each individual or, if the information is not identical, certificates may be provided on one form if the form provides all the required information for each individual and separately states the information that is not identical. 11. The certificate is required to be provided to each individual described in this section or an entity requesting the certificate on behalf of the individual. The certificate may be provided by first-class mail. If the certificate or certificates are provided to the participant and the participant's spouse at the participant's last-known address, the requirements of this section are satisfied with respect to all individuals residing at that address. If the dependent's last-known address is different than the participant's last-known address, a separate certificate is required to be provided to the dependent at the dependent's last-known address. 12. A health carrier must establish a procedure for individuals to request and receive certificates under this section. 13. If an automatic certificate is required to be provided under this section, and the individual entitled to receive the certificate designates another individual or entity to receive the certificate, the health carrier responsible for providing the certificate is permitted to provide the certificate to the designated party. 14. If a certificate is required to be provided upon request under this section and the individual entitled to receive the certificate designates another individual or entity to receive the certificate, the health carrier responsible for providing the certificate is required to provide the certificate to the designated party. 15. A health carrier is required to use reasonable efforts to determine any information needed for a certificate relating to the dependent coverage. In any case in which an automatic certificate is required to be furnished with respect to a dependent under this section, no individual certificate is required to be furnished until the health carrier knows, or making reasonable efforts should know, of the dependent's cessation of coverage under the plan. 16. If a certificate furnished by a health carrier does not provide the name of any dependent of an individual covered by the certificate, the individual may, if necessary, use the procedures described in this section for demonstrating dependent status. In addition, an individual may, if necessary, use these procedures to demonstrate that a child was enrolled within thirty days of birth, adoption, or placement for adoption. 17. A health carrier that cannot provide the names of dependents, or related coverage information, for purposes of providing a certificate of coverage for a dependent may satisfy the requirements of this section by providing the name of the participant covered by the health carrier and specifying that the type of coverage described in the certificate is for dependent coverage. This subsection is in effect through June 30, 1998. 18. For purposes of certificates provided on the request of, or on behalf of, an individual in this section, a health carrier must make reasonable efforts to obtain and provide the names of any dependent covered by the certificate when such information is requested to be provided. If the certificate does not include the name of any dependent of an individual covered by the certificate, the individual may, if necessary, use the procedures described in this section for submitting documentation to establish that the qualifying previous coverage in the certificate applies to the dependent. 19. Issuers of group and individual health insurance are required to provide certificates of any qualifying previous coverage they provide in the group or individual health insurance market even if the coverage is provided in connection with an entity or program that is not itself required to provide a certificate because it is not subject to the group market provisions. 20. If an individual enrolls in a group health benefit plan with respect to which the plan or health carrier uses the alternative method of counting qualifying previous coverage described in this section, the individual provides a certificate of coverage under this section, and the plan or health carrier in which the individual enrolls so requests, the entity that issued the certificate, the "prior entity", is required to disclose promptly to a requesting plan or health carrier, the "requesting entity", the information set forth in this section. The prior entity furnishing the information under this subsection may charge the requesting entity for the reasonable cost of disclosing such information. 21. Every health carrier must allow individuals to establish qualifying previous coverage by means other than a certificate. The health carrier is required to take into account all information that it obtains or that is presented on behalf of an individual in making its determination, based on the relevant facts and circumstances, whether the individual has qualifying previous coverage and is entitled to offset all or a portion of any preexisting condition exclusion period. The health carrier shall treat the individual as having provided a certificate if the individual attests to the period of qualifying previous coverage, presents relevant corroborating evidence, and cooperates with the plan or health carrier's efforts to verify the coverage. While a health carrier may refuse to credit coverage where the individual fails to cooperate with efforts to verify coverage, the health carrier may not consider an individual's inability to obtain a certificate as evidence of the absence of qualifying previous coverage. 22. Every health carrier offering health insurance on a group basis using the alternative method of crediting coverage is required to allow an individual to demonstrate categories of qualifying previous coverage in a fashion similar to that outlined in subsection 21. Likewise, a health carrier offering health insurance on a group basis must allow an individual to demonstrate dependent status in a fashion similar to that outlined in subsection 21.