An Act To IO Ensure Life Insurance Claims Are Paid
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1229
Committee Amendment CA_A_H241 (House)
Amends: 24-A MRSA §4551

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 851, L.D. 1229, Bill, "An Act To 
IO 
Ensure Life Insurance Claims Are Paid" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and insetting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 24-A MRSA §4551, as amended by PL 2003, c. 20, Pt. T, § 14, is further 
amended to read: 
§4551. Disposition of unclaimed funds 
All unclaimed money held and owing by any life insurer doing business in this State 
must be disposed of according to Title 33, chapter 41. Before disposing of any unclaimed 
money in accordance with Title 33, chapter 41, a life insurer doing business in this State 
shall comply with this section. 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Contract" means an annuity contract. "Contract" does not include an annuity 
used to fund an employment-based retirement plan or program in which the insurer 
does not perform the record-keeping services or the insurer is not committed by terms 
of the annuity contract to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of specific plan 
participants. 
B. 
"Death master file" means the United States Social Security Administration's 
death master file or any other database or service that is at least as comprehensive as 
the United States Social Security Administration's death master file that is used for 
determining and recording that a person has been reported to have died. 
C. "Death master file match" means a search of the death master file that results in a 
match of the social security number or the name and date of birth of an insured, an 
annuity owner or a retained asset account holder. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
tl ftf s. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"4 "to H.P. 851, L.D. 1229 
D. "Knowledge of death" means the receipt of an original or valid copy of a certified 
death ce1tificate or a death master file match validated by the insurer in accordance 
with this section. 
E. "Policy" means any policy or certificate of life insurance that provides a death 
benefit. "Policy" does not include: 
(I) Any policy or certificate of life insurance that provides a death benefit under 
an employee benefit plan subject to the federal Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974, as amended; 
(2) Any policy or ce1tificate of life insurance that provides a death benefit under 
any federal employee benefit program; 
(3) Any policy or cettificate of life insurance that is used to fund a pre-need 
funeral contract or prearrangement; 
( 4) Any policy or ce1tificate of credit life or accidental death insurance; or 
(5) Any policy issued to a group master policyholder for which the insurer does 
not provide record-keeping services. 
F. "Record-keeping services" means those circumstances under which the insurer has 
agreed with a group policy or contract customer to be responsible for obtaining, 
maintaining and administering in its own or its agents' systems at least the following 
information about each individual insured under an insured's group insurance contract 
or a line of coverage thereunder: the individual insured's social security number or 
name and date of bitth, beneficiary designation information, coverage eligibility, 
benefit amount and premium payment status. 
G. "Retained asset account" means an account in which the settlement of proceeds 
payable under a policy or contract occurs when the insurer, or an entity acting on 
behalf of the insurer, deposits the proceeds into an account with check or draft 
writing privileges and those proceeds are retained by the insurer or its agent pursuant 
to a supplementa1y contract not involving annuity benefits other than death benefits. 
2. Insurer conduct. An insurer shall perform a comparison of its insureds' in-force 
policies, contracts and retained asset accounts against a death master file, on at least a 
semiannual basis, by using the death master file once for each insured and thereafter 
using the death master file update files for future comparisons to identify potential 
matches of the insurer's insureds. For those potential matches identified as a result of a 
death master file match, the insurer shall: 
A. Within 90 days of a death master file match, complete a good faith effott, which 
must be documented by the insurer, to confirm the death of an insured, an annuity 
owner or retained asset account holder against other available records and 
information; 
B. Determine whether benefits are due in accordance with the applicable policy or 
contract and, if benefits are due in accordance with the applicable policy or contract: 
(1) Use good faith eff01ts, which must be documented by the insurer, to locate 
the beneficiary or beneficiaries; and 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
~. 
t' .~. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT"~ "to H.P. 851, L.D. 1229 
(2) Provide the appropriate claim forms or instructions to the beneficiary or 
beneficiaries, including notice of the necessity of providing an official death 
ce1iificate, if applicable under the policy or contract. 
With respect to group life insurance, the insurer shall confirm the death of an insured 
when the insurer maintains at least the following information about each insured covered 
under a policy or ce1iificate: the insured's social security number or name and date of 
biiih, beneficiary designation information, coverage eligibility, benefit amount and 
premium payment status. 
3. Required procedures. As pmi of its record-keeping procedures, an insurer shall 
implement procedures to account for: 
A. Common nicknames, initials used in lieu of a first or middle name and use of a 
middle name; 
B. Compound first and middle names and interchanged first and middle names;· 
C. Compound last names, maiden or married names and hyphens or blank spaces; 
D. Apostrophes in last names; 
E. Transposition of the month and date portions of the date of birth; and 
F. Incomplete social security numbers. 
4. Disclosure of personal information. To the extent permitted by law, an insurer 
may disclose the minimum necessary personal infotmation about an insured or 
beneficiary to a person the insurer reasonably believes may be able to assist the insurer in 
locating a beneficiaty or a person otherwise entitled to payment of the claims proceeds. 
5. No fees. An insurer or its service provider may not charge any beneficiary or 
other authorized representative for any fees or costs associated with a death master file 
search or verification of a death master file match conducted pursuant to this section. 
6. Payment of benefits. The benefits from a policy, a contract or a retained asset 
account, plus any applicable accrued contractual interest, is payable to a designated 
beneficiaty or annuity owner. In the event a beneficiaty or owner cannot be found after 
good faith efforts to contact the beneficiary or owner pursuant to this section have been 
carried out and documented, the insurer shall dispose of any unclaimed money according 
to Title 33, chapter 41.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill. The amendment requires life insurers to implement 
specific procedures for confirming the death of a policyholder and identifying 
beneficiaries or other persons entitled to payment of life insurance policies. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05/17 /17 feac.. 
LD 1229 
LR 2023(02) 
An Act To Ensure Life Insurance Claims Are Paid 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Commit~ee Amendment/~{ H-J~I) 
Committee: Insurance and Financial Services 
Fiscal Note Required: No 
Fiscal Note 
No fiscal impact 
LR2023(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1