An Act To Increase Accessibility to Health Insurance
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1734
Committee: Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: GLYNN

Legislative Document 
No. 1734 
H.P.1242 
House of Representatives, January 3,2006 
An Act To Increase Accessibility to Health Insurance 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 28,2005. Referred to the Committee on 
Insurance and Financial Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to 
Joint Rule 401. 
Presented by Representative GLYNN of South Portland. 
Printed on recycled paper 
1Y/~/J7.7J?~ 
Mll...UCENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 24·A MRS A §2736·C, sub·§l. 1JC·l, as 
amended by PL 
1999, c. 256, Pt. C, §l, is further amended to read: 
C-l. 
"Legally domiciled" means a person who lives in this 
State and who satisfies 3 of the following 4 criteria: has a 
motor 
vehicle 
operator's 
license 
from 
this 
State, 
is 
registered to vote in this State, has a permanent dwelling 
place in this State or files an income tax return for this 
State that declares the person is a 
Maine resident. 
A 
person may establish that that person is "legally domiciled" 
in this 
State 
by 
providing evidence 
of 
other 
relevant 
criteria associated with residency. 
A child is legally 
domiciled in this State if at least one of the child's 
parents or the child's legal guardian is legally domiciled 
in this State. 
A person with a 
developmental or other 
disability that prevents that person from obtaining a motor 
vehicle operator's license, registering to vote or filing an 
income tax return is legally domiciled in this State by 
living in this State. 
An alien lawfully admitted to the 
United States with a resident visa and living in this State 
is legally domiciled in this State. 
Sec. 2. 24·A MRSA §2736·C, sub·§3, 1JA, 
as corrected by RR 
2001, c. 1, §30, is amended to read: 
A. 
Coverage must be guaranteed to all residents of this 
State other than those eligible without paying a premium for 
Medicare Part A. 
GB-~~-~~4<--JaB~a~Y--~r-~~--eeyeFa~e 
Coverage 
must 
be 
guaranteed 
to 
all 
legally 
domicileQ 
state-eligible individuals 
and 
to 
all legally domiciled 
federally eligible individuals, as defined in section 2848, 
regardless of the length of time they have been legally 
domiciled in this State. 
Except for 
federally eligible 
individuals, coverage need not be issued to an individual 
whose coverage was terminated for 
nonpayment of premiums 
during the previous 
days or for fraud or intentional 
misrepresentation of material fact during the previous 12 
months. 
When a managed care plan, as defined by section 
430l-A, provides coverage a carrier may: 
(1) Deny coverage to individuals who neither live nor 
reside within the approved service area of the p~an for 
at least 6 months of each year; and 
(2) 
Deny coverage to individuals if the carrier has 
demonstrated to the superintendent's satisfaction that: 
Page l-LR2669(1) 
(a) 
The carrier does not have the capacity to 
deliver 
services 
adequately 
to 
additional 
enrollees within all or a designated part of its 
service 
area 
because 
of 
its 
obligations 
to 
existing enrollees; and 
(b) 
The 
carrier 
is 
applying 
this 
provision 
uniformly to individuals and groups without regard 
to any health-related factor. 
A carrier that denies coverage in accordance with this 
paragraph may not enroll individuals residing within 
the area subject to denial of coverage or groups or 
subgroups within that area for a period of 180 days 
after the date of the first denial of coverage. 
SUMMARY 
This bill extends 
the eligibility for 
health 
insurance 
coverage to include a person who is not yet a United States 
citizen, but who is living legally in this country.