2006 Minnesota Statutes

61B.19 PURPOSE; SCOPE; LIMITATION OF COVERAGE; LIMITATION OF
BENEFITS; CONSTRUCTION.
    Subdivision 1. Purpose. (a) The purpose of sections 61B.18 to 61B.32 is to protect, subject
to certain limitations, the persons specified in subdivision 2 against failure in the performance of
contractual obligations, under life insurance policies, health insurance policies, annuity contracts,
and supplemental contracts specified in subdivision 2, because of the impairment or insolvency of
the member insurer that issued the policies or contracts.
(b) To provide this protection, an Association of Insurers has been created and exists to
pay benefits and to continue coverages, as limited in sections 61B.18 to 61B.32. Members of
the association are subject to assessment to provide funds to carry out the purpose of sections
61B.18 to 61B.32.
    Subd. 2. Scope. (a) Sections 61B.18 to 61B.32 provide coverage for the policies and
contracts specified in paragraph (b) to:
(1) persons who are owners of or certificate holders under these policies or contracts, or,
(i) in the case of unallocated annuity contracts, to the persons who are participants in a covered
retirement plan, or (ii) in the case of structured settlement annuities, to persons who are payees in
respect of their liability claims (or beneficiaries of such payees who are deceased) and who:
(A) are residents; or
(B) are not residents, but only under all of the following conditions: the insurers that issued
the policies or contracts are domiciled in the state of Minnesota; those insurers never held a
license or certificate of authority in the states in which those persons reside; those states have
associations similar to the association created by sections 61B.18 to 61B.32; and those persons
are not eligible for coverage by those associations; and
(2) persons who, regardless of where they reside, except for nonresident certificate holders
under group policies or contracts, are the beneficiaries, assignees, or payees of the persons
covered under clause (1).
(b) Sections 61B.18 to 61B.32 provide coverage to the persons specified in paragraph (a)
for direct, nongroup life, health, annuity, and supplemental policies or contracts, for subscriber
contracts issued by a nonprofit health service plan corporation operating under chapter 62C,
for certificates under direct group policies and contracts, and for unallocated annuity contracts
issued by member insurers, except as limited by sections 61B.18 to 61B.32. Except as expressly
excluded under subdivision 3, annuity contracts and certificates under group annuity contracts
include, but are not limited to, guaranteed investment contracts, deposit administration contracts,
unallocated funding agreements, allocated funding agreements, structured settlement annuities,
annuities issued to or in connection with government lotteries, and any immediate or deferred
annuity contracts. Covered unallocated annuity contracts include those that fund a qualified
defined contribution retirement plan under sections 401, 403(b), and 457 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended through December 31, 1992.
    Subd. 3. Limitation of coverage. Sections 61B.18 to 61B.32 do not provide coverage for:
(1) a portion of a policy or contract not guaranteed by the insurer, or under which the
investment risk is borne by the policy or contract holder;
(2) a policy or contract of reinsurance, unless assumption certificates have been issued and
the insured has consented to the assumption as provided under section 60A.09, subdivision 4a;
(3) a policy or contract issued by an assessment benefit association operating under section
61A.39, or a fraternal benefit society operating under chapter 64B;
(4) any obligation to nonresident participants of a covered retirement plan or to the plan
sponsor, employer, trustee, or other party who owns the contract; in these cases, the association is
obligated under this chapter only to participants in a covered plan who are residents of the state of
Minnesota on the date of impairment or insolvency;
(5) a structured settlement annuity in situations where a liability insurer remains liable to
the payee;
(6) a portion of an unallocated annuity contract which is not issued to or in connection with
a specific employee, union, or association of natural persons benefit plan or a governmental
lottery, including but not limited to, a contract issued to, or purchased at the direction of, any
governmental bonding authority, such as a municipal guaranteed investment contract;
(7) a portion of a policy or contract issued to a plan or program of an employer, association,
or similar entity to provide life, health, or annuity benefits to its employees or members to the
extent that the plan or program is self-funded or uninsured, including benefits payable by an
employer, association, or similar entity under:
(i) a multiple employer welfare arrangement as defined in the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974, United States Code, title 29, section 1002(40)(A), as amended;
(ii) a minimum premium group insurance plan;
(iii) a stop-loss group insurance plan; or
(iv) an administrative services only contract;
(8) any policy or contract issued by an insurer at a time when it was not licensed or did not
have a certificate of authority to issue the policy or contract in this state;
(9) an unallocated annuity contract issued to or in connection with a benefit plan protected
under the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, regardless of whether the federal
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation has yet become liable to make any payments with respect
to the benefit plan;
(10) a portion of a policy or contract to the extent that it provides for (i) dividends or
experience rating credits except to the extent the dividends or experience rating credits have
actually become due and payable or have been credited to the policy or contract before the date of
impairment or insolvency, (ii) voting rights, or (iii) payment of any fees or allowances to any
person, including the policy or contract holder, in connection with the service to, or administration
of, the policy or contract;
(11) a contractual agreement that establishes the member insurer's obligations to provide a
book value accounting guaranty for defined contribution benefit plan participants by reference
to a portfolio of assets that is owned by the benefit plan or its trustee, which in each case is not
an affiliate of the member insurer;
(12) a portion of a policy or contract to the extent that the rate of interest on which it is based,
or the interest rate, crediting rate, or similar factor determined by use of an index or other external
reference stated in the policy or contract, employed in calculating returns or changes in value:
(i) averaged over the period of four years prior to the date on which the member insurer
becomes an impaired or insolvent insurer under sections 61B.18 to 61B.32, whichever is earlier,
exceeds the rate of interest determined by subtracting two percentage points from Moody's
Corporate Bond Yield Average averaged for that same four-year period or for the lesser period
if the policy or contract was issued less than four years before the member insurer becomes an
impaired or insolvent insurer under sections 61B.18 to 61B.32, whichever is earlier; and
(ii) on and after the date on which the member insurer becomes an impaired or insolvent
insurer under this chapter, whichever is earlier, exceeds the rate of interest determined by
subtracting three percentage points from Moody's Corporate Bond Yield Average as most recently
available;
(13) a portion of a policy or contract to the extent it provides for interest or other changes in
value to be determined by the use of an index or other external reference stated in the policy or
contract, but which have not been credited to the policy or contract, or as to which the policy or
contract owner's rights are subject to forfeiture, as of the date the member insurer becomes an
impaired or insolvent insurer under sections 61B.18 to 61B.32, whichever is earlier. If a policy's
or contract's interest or changes in value are credited less frequently than annually, then for
purposes of determining the values that have been credited and not subject to forfeiture under this
clause, the interest or changes in value determined by using the procedures defined in the policy or
contract will be credited as if the contractual date of crediting interest or changing values was the
date of impairment or insolvency, whichever is earlier, and will not be subject to forfeiture; and
(14) a portion of a policy or contract to the extent that the assessments required by section
61B.24 with respect to the policy or contract are preempted by federal or state law.
    Subd. 4. Limitation of benefits. The benefits for which the association may become liable
shall in no event exceed the lesser of:
(1) the contractual obligations for which the insurer is liable or would have been liable if it
were not an impaired or insolvent insurer; or
(2) subject to the limitation in clause (5), with respect to any one life, regardless of the
number of policies or contracts:
(i) $300,000 in life insurance death benefits, but not more than $100,000 in net cash
surrender and net cash withdrawal values for life insurance;
(ii) $300,000 in health insurance benefits, including any net cash surrender and net cash
withdrawal values;
(iii) $100,000 in annuity net cash surrender and net cash withdrawal values;
(iv) $300,000 in present value of annuity benefits for structured settlement annuities or for
annuities in regard to which periodic annuity benefits, for a period of not less than the annuitant's
lifetime or for a period certain of not less than ten years, have begun to be paid, on or before the
date of impairment or insolvency; or
(3) subject to the limitations in clauses (5) and (6), with respect to each individual resident
participating in a retirement plan, except a defined benefit plan, established under section 401,
403(b), or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended through December 31, 1992,
covered by an unallocated annuity contract, or the beneficiaries of each such individual if
deceased, in the aggregate, $100,000 in net cash surrender and net cash withdrawal values;
(4) where no coverage limit has been specified for a covered policy or benefit, the coverage
limit shall be $300,000 in present value;
(5) in no event shall the association be liable to expend more than $300,000 in the aggregate
with respect to any one life under clause (2), items (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), and clause (4), and any one
individual under clause (3);
(6) in no event shall the association be liable to expend more than $7,500,000 with respect to
all unallocated annuities of a retirement plan, except a defined benefit plan, established under
section 401, 403(b), or 457 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended through December
31, 1992. If total claims from a plan exceed $7,500,000, the $7,500,000 shall be prorated among
the claimants;
(7) for purposes of applying clause (2)(ii) and clause (5), with respect only to health insurance
benefits, the term "any one life" applies to each individual covered by a health insurance policy;
(8) where covered contractual obligations are equal to or less than the limits stated in this
subdivision, the association will pay the difference between the covered contractual obligations
and the amount credited by the estate of the insolvent or impaired insurer, if that amount has
been determined or, if it has not, the covered contractual limit, subject to the association's right
of subrogation;
(9) where covered contractual obligations exceed the limits stated in this subdivision,
the amount payable by the association will be determined as though the covered contractual
obligations were equal to those limits. In making the determination, the estate shall be deemed to
have credited the covered person the same amount as the estate would credit a covered person
with contractual obligations equal to those limits; or
(10) the following illustrates how the principles stated in clauses (8) and (9) apply. The
example illustrated concerns hypothetical claims subject to the limit stated in clause (2)(iii). The
principles stated in clauses (8) and (9), and illustrated in this clause, apply to claims subject to
any limits stated in this subdivision.

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS OF:

					$50,000
						Guaranty
				Estate		Association
	0% recovery from estate			$ 0			$ 50,000
	25% recovery from estate			$ 12,500			$ 37,500
	50% recovery from estate			$ 25,000			$ 25,000
	75% recovery from estate			$ 37,500			$ 12,500
					$100,000
						Guaranty
				Estate		Association
	0% recovery from estate			$ 0			$ 100,000
	25% recovery from estate			$ 25,000			$ 75,000
	50% recovery from estate			$ 50,000			$ 50,000
	75% recovery from estate			$ 75,000			$ 25,000
					$200,000
						Guaranty
				Estate		Association
	0% recovery from estate			$ 0			$ 100,000
	25% recovery from estate			$ 50,000			$ 75,000
	50% recovery from estate			$ 100,000			$ 50,000
	75% recovery from estate			$ 150,000			$ 25,000

For purposes of this subdivision, the commissioner shall determine the discount rate to be
used in determining the present value of annuity benefits.
    Subd. 5. Limited liability. The liability of the association is strictly limited by the express
terms of the covered policies and contracts and by the provisions of sections 61B.18 to 61B.32
and is not affected by the contents of any brochures, illustrations, advertisements, or oral
statements by agents, brokers, or others used or made in connection with their sale. This limitation
on liability does not prevent an insured from proving liability that is greater than the express terms
of the covered policy or contract. The insured must bring an action to claim the greater liability
no later than one year after entry of an order of rehabilitation, conservation, or liquidation. The
association is not liable for any extra-contractual claims, such as claims relating to bad faith in
payment of claims and claims relating to marketing practices, exemplary, or punitive damages.
The association is not liable for attorney fees or interest other than as provided for by the terms of
the policies or contracts, subject to the other limits of sections 61B.18 to 61B.32.
    Subd. 6. Adjustment of liability limits. The dollar amounts stated in subdivision 4 shall
be adjusted for inflation based upon the implicit price deflator for the gross domestic product
compiled by the United States Department of Commerce and hereafter referred to as the index.
The dollar amounts stated in subdivision 4 are based upon the value of the index for the fourth
quarter of 1992, which is the reference base index for purposes of this subdivision. The dollar
amounts in subdivision 4 shall change on October 1 of each year after 1993 based upon the
percentage difference between the index for the fourth quarter of the preceding year and the
reference base index, calculated to the nearest whole percentage point. The commissioner shall
announce and publish, on or before April 30 of each year, the changes in the dollar amounts
required by this subdivision to take effect on October 1 of that year. The commissioner shall use
the most recent revision of the relevant gross domestic product implicit price deflators available
as of April 1. If the United States Department of Commerce changes the base year for the gross
domestic product implicit price deflator, the commissioner shall make the calculations necessary
to convert from the old to the new base year. Changes must be in increments of $10,000. No
adjustment may be made until the change in the index results in at least a $10,000 increase.
    Subd. 7. Construction. (a) Sections 61B.18 to 61B.32 shall be liberally construed to effect
the purpose of sections 61B.18 to 61B.32. Subdivision 1 is an aid and guide to interpretation.
(b) Participants in an employer-sponsored plan, which is funded in whole or in part by a
covered policy, as specified in subdivision 4, clause (3), shall only be required to verify their
status as residents and the amount of money in the unallocated annuity that represents their funds.
Both these matters may be verified by the employer sponsoring the plan from plan records.
Payments made to a plan shall be deemed to be made on behalf of the resident participant and are
not the funds of the plan, the plan trustee, or any nonresident plan participant, and to the extent of
such payments, discharge the association's obligation.
History: 1993 c 319 s 4; 1994 c 426 s 11; 1999 c 177 s 36; 2001 c 142 s 1-4