Group disability insurance is that form of disability insurance which conforms to all of the following conditions:
(a) Written under a master policy, issued to any of the following:
(1) The federal or state government, any federal or state agency, political subdivision or district, any public, governmental, or municipal corporation, any unit, agency, or department thereof, any corporation, copartnership or individual employer, or to the trustee of any association of employers, offering insurance to all the employees of the employer or of the employer members of the association or to all of any class or classes thereof determined by conditions pertaining to employment and covering not less than two such employees or those employees together with their dependents or spouses for amounts of insurance based upon some plan which will preclude individual selection by the employee as to the amount of his or her insurance coverage thereunder.
(2) A principal eligible to have issued to him or her a policy of group life insurance under the provisions of Section 10203.7 and insuring not less than two agents as defined in that section and eligible thereunder to be insured, or those agents together with their dependents or spouses.
(3) Any association having a constitution and bylaws and formed and continuously maintained in good faith for purposes other than that of obtaining insurance, offering insurance to all the eligible members, or class of members, of the association and covering not less than two such members or those members together with their dependents or spouses and not less than 25 percent of all eligible members, or class of members, for amounts of insurance based upon some plan which will preclude individual selection by the member as to the amount of his or her insurance coverage thereunder. If the master policy is to be issued to cover members of labor unions, it may be issued to more than one such union.
(4) An association or a trust, or the trustees of a fund established, created, or maintained for the benefit of members of one or more associations. The association or associations shall have at the outset a minimum membership of 100 persons, and shall be organized and maintained in good faith for purposes other than that of obtaining insurance. The association or associations shall have been in active existence for at least two years, and shall have a constitution and bylaws which require regular meetings not less than annually to further purposes of the members. The members shall have voting privileges and representation on the governing board or boards and committees. The policy shall be subject to the following requirements:
(A) The policy may insure members of the association or associations, and employees thereof.
(B) The premium for the policy shall be paid from funds contributed by the association or associations, or by members, or by both, or from funds contributed by the covered persons, or from both the covered persons and the association.
(C) A policy on which no part of the premium is to be derived from funds contributed by the covered persons specifically for the insurance shall insure all eligible persons, except those who, in writing, reject the coverage.
(5) Any trustees eligible to have issued to them a policy of group life insurance under the provisions of Section 10202.8 and insuring not less than two employees or members eligible thereunder to be insured or those employees or members together with their dependents or spouses.
(6) A school district or districts, the governing board of any school district or districts, a private or parochial school or schools, or the governing board or person in charge of the operation of any private or parochial school or schools, insuring not less than 50 pupils of the school or district and providing benefits to pupils or persons responsible for their support for death or dismemberment resulting from accident or for hospital, medical and surgical expenses resulting from accident to those pupils while they are in or on buildings or premises of the schools or districts during the time the pupils are required to be therein or thereon by reason of their attendance upon a college or a regular day school or any regular day school of a school district or districts or while being transported by the school or schools or district or districts to and from school or other place of instruction or while at any other place as an incident to school-sponsored activities and while being transported to, from and between these places.
(b) Transmission or collection of all premiums or premium contributions shall be performed by the policyholder, except where the policy specifies the persons other than the policyholder by whom the transmission or collection shall be made, and in one of the following situations:
(1) If the policy covers the employees of more than one employer, the insurer may collect premium contributions from individual employers whose employees are insured or may assist the policyholder in making these collections. If the employees of more than 100 such employers are covered under that policy, it shall state as a separate part of the premium to be charged for the policy the amount to be charged by the insurer for the collection.
(2) If the policy covers a group of governmental employees and the governmental unit paying those employees will not transmit their premium contribution after payroll deduction, the insurer may collect from the individual employees. If more than 100 of these employees are covered under that policy, it shall state as a separate part of the premium to be charged for the policy the amount to be charged by the insurer for the collection.
(3) If individual members of the group make payment of their share of the premium contribution to the insurer with or without billing or solicitation by the insurer during a period of temporary absence from active work of not exceeding 90 days, the payment may be received without the necessity of any separately stated charge by the insurer.
(4) If the policy covers the members of an association, the insurer may collect premium contributions from individual members or may assist the policyholder in making these collections. If more than 100 such members are covered under that policy, it shall state as a part of the premium to be charged for the policy the amount to be charged by the insurer for the collection.
(c) There is issued and delivered in accordance with the policy provision required by subdivision (b) of Section 10270.6 an individual certificate setting forth the benefits and the exceptions under, and referring to, the master policy under which the certificate is issued.
Those certificates are not subject to the provisions of this chapter relating to the master policy, but the forms thereof shall be submitted to the commissioner for his or her approval and shall not be issued without approval of the forms in the manner provided in the case of the master policy.
(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 78, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2008.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018