2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XXII - Corporations › Chapter 175 - Insurance › Section 133 - Group Life Insurance Defined

Section 133. Group life insurance is hereby defined to be that form of life insurance covering (a) employees, with or without medical examination, written under a policy issued to the employer, or to the trustees of a fund established by the employer, the premium on which is to be paid by the policyholder, either wholly from the employer's funds or funds contributed by him, or partly from such funds and partly from funds contributed by the insured employees, and insuring only all of the employees of the employer, or all of any class or classes thereof determined by conditions pertaining to their employment, or by duration of service in which case no employee shall be excluded if he has been for one year or more in the employ of the employer, or for such period longer than one year as may be required by any pension plan under or in connection with which the policy is taken out, for amounts of insurance based upon some plan precluding individual selection, and for the benefit of persons other than the employer, or wholly from funds contributed by the insured employee where the benefits under the policy are offered to all eligible employees of the employer, or all of a class thereof determined by conditions pertaining to their employment, or by duration of service in which case no employee shall be excluded if he has been employed by the employer for 1 year or more, or for such period longer than 1 year as may be required by a pension plan under, or in connection with, which the policy is taken out and insuring all of the eligible employees who contribute premium for amounts of insurance based upon some plan precluding individual selection and for the benefit of persons other than the employer; or (b) the members of any trade union or other association of wage workers described in section twenty-nine, with or without medical examination, written under a policy issued to such union or association, the premium on which is to be paid by the union or association or by the union or association and the members thereof jointly, and insuring all of the members of such union or association, or all of any class or classes thereof determined by conditions pertaining to their employment, or to membership in such union or association, or to both, for amounts of insurance based upon some plan which will preclude individual selection, and for the benefit of persons other than the union or association or any officers thereof, or wholly from funds contributed by the member of such union or association where the benefits under the policy are offered to all eligible members, or all of a class thereof determined by conditions pertaining to their employment or to membership in such union or association, or both, and insuring all of the eligible members who contribute premium for amounts of insurance based upon some plan which will preclude individual selection and for the benefit of persons other than the union or association or any officers thereof, and provided further that any member or members insured under the policy may apply for amounts of insurance additional to those granted by said policy, in which case the members may be insured for additional amounts if they pass satisfactory medical examinations; or (c) a group of persons who at any time are debtors of a bank, association, financial or other institution, including its subsidiary or affiliated institutions, if any, for a loan, or of the vendor of any property for its purchase price, or who are co-debtors or guarantors of said obligation, under an agreement to pay said obligation, or who at any time have been granted a policy loan pursuant to a policy provision therefor, written under a policy issued, with or without requirement of evidence of individual insurability, to said bank, association, financial or other institution or vendor, or to a parent holding company, or to the trustee, trustees or agent designated by one or more said banks, associations, financial or other institutions or vendors, or to the insurance company granting said policy loan, and made payable to said creditor or to the assignee of said obligation, or to said insurance company granting said policy loan, including the insurance company which issues said policy, and insuring the life of each debtor, co-debtor, guarantor or the person granted said policy loan, for an amount, with respect to each said obligation or policy loan, not exceeding his individual obligation exclusive of unearned finance charges, or policy loan with interest, and not exceeding $125,000; provided, however, that where joint life insurance is afforded, not more than two persons may be insured in connection with any one credit transaction; provided, however, that no such debtor shall be insured in such a group for a period of more than fifteen years on account of a debt arising out of said loan or policy loan or obligation for said purchase price, and provided, further, that said $125,000 amount limitation and said fifteen year period limitation contained in this clause shall not apply to said insurance for which no identifiable charge is made to the debtor, co-debtor or guarantor; or (d) the members of any association of state, county or municipal employees, who are regularly and permanently employed by the commonwealth, a county or a municipality and, if employed by the commonwealth or the city of Boston, are paid by a common paymaster and are eligible for membership in the retirement association for the employees of the commonwealth or of the city of Boston, or the members of any association of employees of two or more municipalities within one county who are regularly and permanently employed by one or more such municipalities, with or without medical examination, written under a policy issued to the association, the premium on which is to be paid by its members for amounts of insurance based upon some plan which will preclude individual selection, and for the benefit of persons other than the association or any officers thereof; provided, that any member or members insured under such policy may apply for amounts of insurance additional to those granted by said policy, in which case the members may be insured for additional amounts if they pass satisfactory medical examinations; and provided, further, that no person shall be eligible for coverage under such a policy as a member of more than one such association; provided, however, that when the premium is to be paid wholly or partly from funds contributed by the insured persons specifically for their insurance and the benefits of the policy are offered to all eligible members, then the policy shall insure those eligible members who contribute premium; or (e) all the employees of two or more employers in the same industry, or the members of one or more trade unions or associations of wage workers described in section twenty-nine, or the employees of one or more employers in the same industry and the members of one or more such trade unions or such associations, or all of any class or classes thereof determined by conditions pertaining to their employment, or to membership in the union or unions or association or associations, or to both, with or without medical examination, written under a policy issued to the trustees of a fund established by two or more employers in the same industry or by one or more such trade unions or such associations, or by one or more employers and one or more such trade unions or associations, which trustees shall be deemed to be the policyholder, the premium on which is to be paid by the trustees, either wholly from funds contributed by the employer or employers of the insured persons, or by the union or association or unions or associations, or by both, or partly from such funds contributed by the employer or employers of the insured persons, or by the union or association or unions or associations, or by both, and partly from such funds contributed by the insured persons specifically for their insurance, or wholly from funds contributed by the insured persons specifically for their insurance where the benefits under the policy are offered to all of the employees or members, or all of a class thereof determined by conditions pertaining to their employment or to membership in such union or association, or both, or, with respect to a policy issued to the trustees of a fund established by one or more employers and one or more such trade unions or associations, partly from such funds contributed by the employers, unions or associations, or both, and partly from funds contributed by the insured persons specifically for their insurance, or wholly from funds contributed by the insured persons specifically for their insurance where the benefits under the policy are offered to all of the employees or members, or all of a class thereof determined by conditions pertaining to their employment or to membership in such union or association, or both, for amounts of insurance based upon some plan precluding individual selection either by the insured persons or by the policyholder, or employers, or union or unions or association or associations, and for the benefit of persons other than the employer or employers, or the union or unions or association or associations or any officers thereof; provided, however, that when the premium is to be paid wholly or partly from funds contributed by the insured persons specifically for their insurance and the benefits of the policy are offered to all eligible persons, then the policy shall insure those eligible employees or members who contribute premium; or (f) the members in good standing, or all of any class or classes thereof determined by conditions pertaining to membership, of any charitable or religious association which meets the requirements of chapter one hundred and eighty and which has been in existence for at least one year and not formed for the exclusive purpose of procuring insurance, written under a policy issued to the association, the premium on which is to be paid by the association or the insured members, or by both jointly, for amounts of insurance based upon some plan precluding individual selection, for the benefit of the association or of persons named by the insured members for the purpose of carrying out the duly stated objectives of the association; provided, however, that when the premium is to be paid wholly or partly from funds contributed by the insured persons specifically for their insurance and the benefits of the policy are offered to all eligible members, then the policy shall insure those eligible members who contribute premium.
Notwithstanding the provisions of clause (c) of this section, insurance on educational credit transaction commitments may be written under said clause (c) for the amount of such commitment that has not been advanced by the creditor; provided, that the amount of such insurance shall not exceed ten thousand dollars with respect to each student.
The term ''common paymaster'', as used in clause (d) of this section, shall mean any officer or employee of the commonwealth or the city of Boston or any board, department, or commission thereof, whose duties include the payment of salaries or wages to employees of the commonwealth, said city or any board, department or commission thereof.
Any group life insurance policy issued under the provisions of this section, except a policy insuring the lives of debtors in accordance with clause (c) may also insure the dependents of employees or members or other persons insured thereunder, and the employees or members or other persons may contribute part or all of the premium for such insurance. Notwithstanding provision 4 of section one hundred and thirty-four, only one certificate need be issued for delivery to an insured person if a statement concerning any dependents' coverage is included in such certificate. Upon termination of the insurance with respect to the spouse of any employee by reason of the employee's termination of employment or death, the spouse insured pursuant to this section shall have the same conversion rights as to the insurance on his or her life as is provided for the employee under provision 4 of said section one hundred and thirty-four.