2007 Minnesota Statutes

62A.146 CONTINUATION OF BENEFITS TO SURVIVORS.
No policy, contract, or plan of accident and health protection issued by an insurer, nonprofit
health service plan corporation, or health maintenance organization, providing coverage of
hospital or medical expense on either an expense incurred basis or other than an expense incurred
basis which in addition to coverage of the insured, subscriber, or enrollee, also provides coverage
to dependents, shall, except upon the written consent of the survivor or survivors of the deceased
insured, subscriber, or enrollee, terminate, suspend, or otherwise restrict the participation in or
the receipt of benefits otherwise payable under the policy, contract, or plan to the survivor or
survivors until the earlier of the following dates:
(a) the date the surviving spouse becomes covered under another group health plan; or
(b) the date coverage would have terminated under the policy, contract, or plan had the
insured, subscriber, or enrollee lived.
The survivor or survivors, in order to have the coverage and benefits extended, may be
required to pay the entire cost of the protection on a monthly basis. The policy, contract, or plan
must require the group policyholder or contract holder to, upon request, provide the insured,
subscriber, or enrollee with written verification from the insurer of the cost of this coverage
promptly at the time of eligibility for this coverage and at any time during the continuation period.
In no event shall the amount of premium or fee contributions charged exceed 102 percent of the
cost to the plan for such period of coverage for other similarly situated spouses and dependent
children who are not the survivors of a deceased insured, without regard to whether such cost
is paid by the employer or employee. Failure of the survivor to make premium or fee payments
within 90 days after notice of the requirement to pay the premiums or fees shall be a basis for
the termination of the coverage without written consent. In event of termination by reason of the
survivor's failure to make required premium or fee contributions, written notice of cancellation
must be mailed to the survivor's last known address at least 30 days before the cancellation.
If the coverage is provided under a group policy, contract, or plan, any required premium or
fee contributions for the coverage shall be paid by the survivor to the group policyholder or
contract holder for remittance to the insurer, nonprofit health service plan corporation, or health
maintenance organization.
History: 1973 c 339 s 2; 1982 c 555 s 6; 1Sp1985 c 10 s 59; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 337 s 48;
1992 c 564 art 4 s 5