1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to commerce; regulating insurance for funeral 
  1.3             or burial expenses; allowing funeral establishments to 
  1.4             sell funeral insurance and receive commissions for 
  1.5             these sales; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 
  1.6             72A.325. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 72A.325, is 
  1.9   amended to read: 
  1.10     72A.325 [INSURANCE FOR FUNERAL OR BURIAL EXPENSE; FREEDOM 
  1.11  OF CHOICE.] 
  1.12     No insurance company, agent, or other person engaged in the 
  1.13  business of providing insurance or other benefits for the 
  1.14  payment of any funeral or burial expense, shall designate, 
  1.15  endorse, or otherwise promote any particular mortician, funeral 
  1.16  director, funeral establishment, cemetery, or any other party 
  1.17  offering funeral or burial services or supplies, as the 
  1.18  beneficiary or recipient of the benefits, so as to deprive the 
  1.19  family, next of kin, or other representative of the deceased 
  1.20  policyholder persons with legal authority to control the 
  1.21  disposition of the remains of the deceased policyholder under 
  1.22  section 149A.80, subdivision 2, of the right to select the 
  1.23  funeral or burial services and supplies of their choice.  No 
  1.24  owner, director, or employee of a funeral establishment, or 
  1.25  entity having a direct equity interest in a funeral 
  1.26  establishment, shall receive any fee, commission, or other 
  2.1   reimbursement on any insurance sale facilitated through the 
  2.2   funeral establishment, except the sale of a preneed funeral 
  2.3   insurance contract with a face amount not to exceed $20,000.  
  2.4      No owner, director, or employee of a funeral establishment 
  2.5   shall receive any fee for endorsing insurance policies, plans, 
  2.6   or services. 
  2.7      For purposes of this section, "preneed funeral insurance 
  2.8   contract" means an agreement by or for an individual before that 
  2.9   individual's death relating to the purchase or provision of 
  2.10  specific funeral or cemetery merchandise or services.  
  2.11     Nothing in this section constitutes a waiver or exception 
  2.12  to the requirements of chapter 60K.