I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 32 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for cooperative governing 
of individual health insurance coverage. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2021 
Mr. BIGGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 
cooperative governing of individual health insurance coverage. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. COOPERATIVE GOVERNING OF INDIVIDUAL 
HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title XXVII of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new part: 
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‘‘PART D—COOPERATIVE GOVERNING OF 
INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE 
‘‘SEC. 2795. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this part: 
‘‘(1) PRIMARY
STATE.—The term ‘primary 
State’ means, with respect to individual health insur-
ance coverage offered by a health insurance issuer, 
the State designated by the issuer as the State 
whose covered laws shall govern the health insurance 
issuer in the sale of such coverage under this part. 
An issuer, with respect to a particular policy, may 
only designate one such State as its primary State 
with respect to all such coverage it offers. Such an 
issuer may not change the designated primary State 
with respect to individual health insurance coverage 
once the policy is issued, except that such a change 
may be made upon renewal of the policy. With re-
spect to such designated State, the issuer is deemed 
to be doing business in that State. 
‘‘(2) SECONDARY STATE.—The term ‘secondary 
State’ means, with respect to individual health insur-
ance coverage offered by a health insurance issuer, 
any State that is not the primary State. In the case 
of a health insurance issuer that is selling a policy 
in, or to a resident of, a secondary State, the issuer 
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is deemed to be doing business in that secondary 
State. 
‘‘(3) HEALTH INSURANCE ISSUER.—The term 
‘health insurance issuer’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 2791(b)(2), except that such an 
issuer must be licensed in the primary State and be 
qualified to sell individual health insurance coverage 
in that State. 
‘‘(4) INDIVIDUAL
HEALTH
INSURANCE
COV-
ERAGE.—The term ‘individual health insurance cov-
erage’ means health insurance coverage offered in 
the individual market, as defined in section 
2791(e)(1). 
‘‘(5) APPLICABLE
STATE
AUTHORITY.—The 
term ‘applicable State authority’ means, with respect 
to a health insurance issuer in a State, the State in-
surance commissioner or official or officials des-
ignated by the State to enforce the requirements of 
this title for the State with respect to the issuer. 
‘‘(6) HAZARDOUS FINANCIAL CONDITION.—The 
term ‘hazardous financial condition’ means that, 
based on its present or reasonably anticipated finan-
cial condition, a health insurance issuer is unlikely 
to be able— 
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‘‘(A) to meet obligations to policyholders 
with respect to known claims and reasonably 
anticipated claims; or 
‘‘(B) to pay other obligations in the normal 
course of business. 
‘‘(7) COVERED LAWS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 
laws’ means the laws, rules, regulations, agree-
ments, and orders governing the insurance busi-
ness pertaining to— 
‘‘(i) individual health insurance cov-
erage issued by a health insurance issuer; 
‘‘(ii) the offer, sale, rating (including 
medical 
underwriting), 
renewal, 
and 
issuance of individual health insurance cov-
erage to an individual; 
‘‘(iii) the provision to an individual in 
relation to individual health insurance cov-
erage of health care and insurance related 
services; 
‘‘(iv) the provision to an individual in 
relation to individual health insurance cov-
erage of management, operations, and in-
vestment activities of a health insurance 
issuer; and 
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‘‘(v) the provision to an individual in 
relation to individual health insurance cov-
erage of loss control and claims adminis-
tration for a health insurance issuer with 
respect to liability for which the issuer pro-
vides insurance. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term does not in-
clude any law, rule, regulation, agreement, or 
order governing the use of care or cost manage-
ment techniques, including any requirement re-
lated to provider contracting, network access or 
adequacy, health care data collection, or quality 
assurance. 
‘‘(8) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the 50 
States and includes the District of Columbia, Puerto 
Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 
and the Northern Mariana Islands. 
‘‘(9) UNFAIR
CLAIMS
SETTLEMENT
PRAC-
TICES.—The term ‘unfair claims settlement prac-
tices’ means only the following practices: 
‘‘(A) Knowingly misrepresenting to claim-
ants and insured individuals relevant facts or 
policy provisions relating to coverage at issue. 
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‘‘(B) Failing to acknowledge with reason-
able promptness pertinent communications with 
respect to claims arising under policies. 
‘‘(C) Failing to adopt and implement rea-
sonable standards for the prompt investigation 
and settlement of claims arising under policies. 
‘‘(D) Failing to effectuate prompt, fair, 
and equitable settlement of claims submitted in 
which liability has become reasonably clear. 
‘‘(E) Refusing to pay claims without con-
ducting a reasonable investigation. 
‘‘(F) Failing to affirm or deny coverage of 
claims within a reasonable period of time after 
having completed an investigation related to 
those claims. 
‘‘(G) A pattern or practice of compelling 
insured individuals or their beneficiaries to in-
stitute suits to recover amounts due under its 
policies by offering substantially less than the 
amounts ultimately recovered in suits brought 
by them. 
‘‘(H) A pattern or practice of attempting 
to settle or settling claims for less than the 
amount that a reasonable person would believe 
the insured individual or his or her beneficiary 
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was entitled by reference to written or printed 
advertising material accompanying or made 
part of an application. 
‘‘(I) Attempting to settle or settling claims 
on the basis of an application that was materi-
ally altered without notice to, or knowledge or 
consent of, the insured. 
‘‘(J) Failing to provide forms necessary to 
present claims within 15 calendar days of a re-
quest with reasonable explanations regarding 
their use. 
‘‘(K) Attempting to cancel a policy in less 
time than that prescribed in the policy or by the 
law of the primary State. 
‘‘(10) FRAUD AND ABUSE.—The term ‘fraud 
and abuse’ means an act or omission committed by 
a person who, knowingly and with intent to defraud, 
commits, or conceals any material information con-
cerning, one or more of the following: 
‘‘(A) Presenting, causing to be presented 
or preparing with knowledge or belief that it 
will be presented to or by an insurer, a rein-
surer, broker or its agent, false information as 
part of, in support of or concerning a fact ma-
terial to one or more of the following: 
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‘‘(i) An application for the issuance or 
renewal of an insurance policy or reinsur-
ance contract. 
‘‘(ii) The rating of an insurance policy 
or reinsurance contract. 
‘‘(iii) A claim for payment or benefit 
pursuant to an insurance policy or reinsur-
ance contract. 
‘‘(iv) Premiums paid on an insurance 
policy or reinsurance contract. 
‘‘(v) Payments made in accordance 
with the terms of an insurance policy or 
reinsurance contract. 
‘‘(vi) A document filed with the com-
missioner or the chief insurance regulatory 
official of another jurisdiction. 
‘‘(vii) The financial condition of an in-
surer or reinsurer. 
‘‘(viii) The formation, acquisition, 
merger, 
reconsolidation, 
dissolution 
or 
withdrawal from one or more lines of in-
surance or reinsurance in all or part of a 
State by an insurer or reinsurer. 
‘‘(ix) The issuance of written evidence 
of insurance. 
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‘‘(x) The reinstatement of an insur-
ance policy. 
‘‘(B) Solicitation or acceptance of new or 
renewal insurance risks on behalf of an insurer, 
reinsurer, or other person engaged in the busi-
ness of insurance by a person who knows or 
should know that the insurer or other person 
responsible for the risk is insolvent at the time 
of the transaction. 
‘‘(C) Transaction of the business of insur-
ance in violation of laws requiring a license, cer-
tificate of authority or other legal authority for 
the transaction of the business of insurance. 
‘‘(D) Attempt to commit, aiding or abet-
ting in the commission of, or conspiracy to com-
mit the acts or omissions specified in this para-
graph. 
‘‘SEC. 2796. APPLICATION OF LAW. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The covered laws of the primary 
State shall apply to individual health insurance coverage 
offered by a health insurance issuer in the primary State 
and in any secondary State, but only if the coverage and 
issuer comply with the conditions of this section with re-
spect to the offering of coverage in any secondary State. 
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‘‘(b) EXEMPTIONS FROM COVERED LAWS IN A SEC-
ONDARY STATE.—Except as provided in this section, a 
health insurance issuer with respect to its offer, sale, rat-
ing (including medical underwriting), renewal, and 
issuance of individual health insurance coverage in any 
secondary State is exempt from any covered laws of the 
secondary State (and any rules, regulations, agreements, 
or orders sought or issued by such State under or related 
to such covered laws) to the extent that such laws would— 
‘‘(1) make unlawful, or regulate, directly or in-
directly, the operation of the health insurance issuer 
operating in the secondary State, except that any 
secondary State may require such an issuer— 
‘‘(A) to pay, on a nondiscriminatory basis, 
applicable premium and other taxes (including 
high risk pool assessments) which are levied on 
insurers and surplus lines insurers, brokers, or 
policyholders under the laws of the State; 
‘‘(B) to register with and designate the 
State insurance commissioner as its agent solely 
for the purpose of receiving service of legal doc-
uments or process; 
‘‘(C) to submit to an examination of its fi-
nancial condition by the State insurance com-
missioner in any State in which the issuer is 
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doing business to determine the issuer’s finan-
cial condition, if— 
‘‘(i) the State insurance commissioner 
of the primary State has not done an ex-
amination within the period recommended 
by the National Association of Insurance 
Commissioners; and 
‘‘(ii) any such examination is con-
ducted in accordance with the examiners’ 
handbook of the National Association of 
Insurance Commissioners and is coordi-
nated to avoid unjustified duplication and 
unjustified repetition; 
‘‘(D) to comply with a lawful order 
issued— 
‘‘(i) in a delinquency proceeding com-
menced by the State insurance commis-
sioner if there has been a finding of finan-
cial impairment under subparagraph (C); 
or 
‘‘(ii) in a voluntary dissolution pro-
ceeding; 
‘‘(E) to comply with an injunction issued 
by a court of competent jurisdiction, upon a pe-
tition by the State insurance commissioner al-
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