2.__Prohibition against discontinuity.__The insurer shall, for any person described in subsection 1, waive any medical underwriting or preexisting conditions exclusion to the extent that benefits would have been payable under the prior policy and any earlier policy if those policies were still in effect.__This subsection does not require the succeeding insurer to pay any benefits that are not within the terms of coverage of the succeeding policy solely because they would have been paid by the prior policy.

3.__Determination of benefits.__When a determination of benefits under the prior policy is required, the issuer of the prior policy shall, at the request of the issuer of the succeeding policy, furnish a statement of benefits available or pertinent information sufficient to permit verification of the benefit determination or the determination itself by the issuer of the succeeding policy.__For purposes of this section, benefits of the prior policy are determined in accordance with the definitions, conditions and covered expense provisions of that policy rather than those of the succeeding policy.__The benefit determination must be made as if coverage had not been replaced.

Sec. 5. 24-A MRSA §5015, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 370, Pt. D, §1, is repealed.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect April 28, 1999.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the laws governing Medicare supplement insurance policies in order to conform to requirements in federal law. It makes the continuity of coverage chapter of the insurance code inapplicable to Medicare supplement policies and enacts an analogous continuity of coverage section in the Medicare supplement chapter. It repeals the law allowing a person who switches from a Medicare supplement to a Medicare managed care program to switch back within a 12-month period. It has an effective date of April 28, 1999.