Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-2703 — NE Code / Chapter 44 / Section 44-2703
View Statute 44-2703
Status: in_force

(1)(a) The Nebraska Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Act shall provide coverage for the policies and contracts specified in subsection (2) of this section:

(i) To persons who, regardless of where they reside, except for nonresident certificate holders under group policies or contracts, are the beneficiaries, assignees, or payees, including health care providers rendering services covered under health insurance policies or certificates, of the persons covered under subdivision (1)(a)(ii) of this section; and

(ii) To persons who are owners of or certificate holders under the policies or contracts, other than structured settlement annuities, and in each case who:

(A) Are residents; or

(B) Are not residents and all of the following conditions apply:

(I) The member insurer that issued the policies or contracts is domiciled in this state;

(II) The states in which the persons reside have associations similar to the association created by the act; and

(III) The persons are not eligible for coverage by an association in any other state due to the fact that the insurer or health maintenance organization was not licensed in the state at the time specified in the state's guaranty association law.

(b) For structured settlement annuities specified in subsection (2) of this section, subdivisions (1)(a)(i) and (ii) of this section do not apply. The act shall, except as provided in subdivisions (1)(c) and (d) of this section, provide coverage to a person who is a payee under a structured settlement annuity, or beneficiary of a payee if the payee is deceased, if the payee:

(i) Is a resident, regardless of where the contract owner resides; or

(ii) Is not a resident, but only under the following conditions:

(A)(I) The contract owner of the structured settlement annuity is a resident; or

(II) The contract owner of the structured settlement annuity is not a resident, but the insurer that issued the structured settlement annuity is domiciled in this state and the state in which the contract owner resides has an association similar to the association created by the act; and

(B) The payee or beneficiary and the contract owner are not eligible for coverage by the association of the state in which the payee or contract owner resides.

(c) The act shall not provide coverage to a person who is a payee or beneficiary of a contract owner resident of this state if the payee or beneficiary is afforded any coverage by the association of another state.

(d) The act is intended to provide coverage to a person who is a resident of this state and, in special circumstances, to a nonresident. To avoid duplicate coverage, if a person who would otherwise receive coverage under the act is provided coverage under the laws of any other state, the person shall not be provided coverage under the act. In determining the application of the provisions of this subdivision in situations in which a person could be covered by the association of more than one state, whether as an owner, payee, enrollee, beneficiary, or assignee, the act shall be construed in conjunction with other state laws to result in coverage by only one association.

(2)(a) The act shall provide coverage to the persons specified in subsection (1) of this section for direct nongroup life insurance, health insurance, which for purposes of the act includes health maintenance organization subscriber contracts and certificates, or annuity policies or contracts and supplemental contracts to any of these and for certificates under direct group policies and contracts, except as limited by the act. Annuity contracts and certificates under group annuity contracts include allocated funding agreements, structured settlement annuities, and any immediate or deferred annuity contracts.

(b) The act shall not apply to:

(i) Any portion of any policy or contract not guaranteed by the insurer or under which the risk is borne by the policy or contract holder;

(ii) A policy or contract of reinsurance, unless assumption certificates have been issued pursuant to the reinsurance policy or contract;

(iii) A portion of a policy or contract, except any portion of a policy or contract, including a rider, that provides long-term care or any other health insurance benefits, to the extent that the rate of interest on which it is based or the interest rate, crediting rate, or similar factor determined by use of an index or other external reference stated in the policy or contract employed in calculating returns or changes in value:

(A) Averaged over the period of four years prior to the date on which the association becomes obligated with respect to the policy or contract, exceeds the rate of interest determined by subtracting two percentage points from Moody's corporate bond yield average averaged for that same four-year period or for such lesser period if the policy or contract was issued less than four years before the association became obligated; and

(B) On and after the date on which the association becomes obligated with respect to the policy or contract, exceeds the rate of interest determined by subtracting three percentage points from Moody's corporate bond yield average as most recently available;

(iv) A portion of a policy or contract issued to a plan or program of an employer, association, or other person to provide life, health, or annuity benefits to its employees, members, or others, to the extent that the plan or program is self-funded or uninsured, including, but not limited to, benefits payable by an employer, association, or other person under:

(A) A multiple employer welfare arrangement as described in 29 U.S.C. 1002(40);

(B) A minimum premium group insurance plan;

(C) A stop-loss group insurance plan; or

(D) An administrative services only contract;

(v) A portion of a policy or contract to the extent that it provides for:

(A) Dividends or experience rating credits;

(B) Voting rights; or

(C) Payment of any fees or allowances to any person, including the policy or contract owner, in connection with the service to or administration of the policy or contract;

(vi) A policy or contract issued in this state by a member insurer at a time when it was not licensed or did not have a certificate of authority to issue the policy or contract in this state;

(vii) A portion of a policy or contract to the extent that the assessments required by section 44-2708 with respect to the policy or contract are preempted by federal or state law;

(viii) An obligation that does not arise under the express written terms of the policy or contract issued by the member insurer to the enrollee, contract holder, contract owner, or policy owner, including, without limitation:

(A) Claims based on marketing materials;

(B) Claims based on side letters, riders, or other documents that were issued by the member insurer without meeting applicable policy or contract form, filing, or approval requirements;

(C) Misrepresentations of or regarding policy or contract benefits;

(D) Extra-contractual claims; or

(E) A claim for penalties or consequential or incidental damages;

(ix) A contractual agreement that establishes the member insurer's obligations to provide a book value accounting guaranty for defined contribution benefit plan participants by reference to a portfolio of assets that is owned by the benefit plan or its trustee, which in each case is not an affiliate of the member insurer;

(x) A portion of a policy or contract to the extent it provides for interest or other changes in value to be determined by the use of an index or other external reference stated in the policy or contract, but which have not been credited to the policy or contract or as to which the policy or contract owner's rights are subject to forfeiture as of the date the member insurer becomes an impaired or insolvent insurer under the act, whichever is earlier. If a policy's or contract's interest or changes in value are credited less frequently than annually, then for purposes of determining the values that have been credited and are not subject to forfeiture under this subdivision, the interest or change in value determined by using the procedures defined in the policy or contract will be credited as if the contractual date of crediting interest or changing values was the date of impairment or insolvency, whichever is earlier, and will not be subject to forfeiture;

(xi) An unallocated annuity contract, a funding agreement, a guaranteed interest contract, a guaranteed investment contract, a synthetic guaranteed investment contract, or a deposit administration contract;

(xii) Any such policy or contract issued by:

(A) A hospital or medical service organization, whether profit or nonprofit;

(B) A fraternal benefit society;

(C) A mandatory state pooling plan;

(D) An unincorporated mutual association;

(E) An assessment association operating under Chapter 44 which issues only policies or contracts subject to assessment;

(F) An insurance exchange; or

(G) An organization that has a certificate or license limited to the issuance of charitable gift annuities;

(xiii) Any policy or contract issued by any person, corporation, or organization which is not licensed by the Department of Insurance under Chapter 44;

(xiv) A policy or contract providing any hospital, medical, prescription drug, or other health care benefits pursuant to Title 42, Chapter 7, Subchapter XVIII, Part C or D, commonly known as Medicare Part C and D, or Title 42, Chapter 7, Subchapter XIX, commonly known as Medicaid, of the United States Code, any regulations issued pursuant thereto, or any other policy or contract issued pursuant to the Medical Assistance Act; or

(xv) A viatical settlement contract as defined in section 44-1102 or a viaticated policy as defined in section 44-1102 .

(3) The benefits that the association may become obligated to cover shall in no event exceed the lesser of:

(a) The contractual obligations for which the insurer is liable or would have been liable if it were not an impaired or insolvent insurer; or

(b)(i) With respect to one life, regardless of the number of policies or contracts:

(A) Three hundred thousand dollars in life insurance death benefits, but not more than one hundred thousand dollars in net cash surrender and net cash withdrawal values for life insurance;

(B) In health insurance benefits: (I) Five hundred thousand dollars for health benefit plans; (II) three hundred thousand dollars for disability insurance or long-term care insurance as defined in section 44-4509 . For purposes of this subdivision, disability insurance means the type of policy which pays a monthly or weekly amount if an individual is disabled and cannot work; and (III) one hundred thousand dollars for coverages not defined as disability insurance, long-term care insurance, or health benefit plans, including any net cash surrender and net cash withdrawal values; or

(C) Two hundred fifty thousand dollars in the present value of annuity benefits, including net cash surrender and net cash withdrawal values;

(ii) With respect to each payee of a structured settlement annuity or beneficiary or beneficiaries of the payee if deceased, two hundred fifty thousand dollars in the present value of annuity benefits, in the aggregate, including net cash surrender and net cash withdrawal values, if any;

(iii) The association shall not be obligated to cover more than:

(A) An aggregate of three hundred thousand dollars in benefits with respect to any one life under subdivisions (3)(b)(i) and (ii) of this section, except that with respect to benefits for health benefit plans under subdivision (3)(b)(i)(B)(I) of this section, in which case the aggregate liability of the association shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars with respect to any one individual; or

(B) With respect to one owner of multiple nongroup policies of life insurance, whether the policy owner is an individual, firm, corporation, or other person and whether the persons insured are officers, managers, employees, or other persons, more than five million dollars in benefits regardless of the number of policies and contracts held by the owner;

(iv) The limitations set forth in this subsection are limitations on the benefits for which the association is obligated before taking into account either its subrogation and assignment rights or the extent to which those benefits could be provided out of the assets of the impaired or insolvent insurer attributable to covered policies. The costs of the association's obligations under the act may be met by the use of assets attributable to covered policies or reimbursed to the association pursuant to its subrogation and assignment rights; and

(v) For purposes of the act, benefits provided by a long-term care rider to a life insurance policy or annuity contract shall be considered the same type of benefits as the base life insurance policy or annuity contract to which it relates.

(4) In performing its obligations to provide coverage under section 44-2707 , the association shall not be required to guarantee, assume, reinsure, reissue, or perform, or cause to be guaranteed, assumed, reinsured, reissued, or performed, the contractual obligations of the insolvent or impaired insurer under a covered policy or contract that do not materially affect the economic values or economic benefits of the covered policy or contract.

Laws 1975, LB 217, § 3;

Laws 1986, LB 593, § 5;

Laws 2001, LB 360, § 15;

Laws 2004, LB 1047, § 8;

Laws 2012, LB887, § 17;

Laws 2019, LB159, § 2.

Medical Assistance Act, see section 68-901 .