(a) A health care service plan shall file with the department all required rate information for grandfathered individual and grandfathered and nongrandfathered small group health care service plan contracts at least 120 days prior to implementing a rate change. A health care service plan shall file with the department all required rate information for nongrandfathered individual health care service plan contracts on the earlier of the following dates:

(1) One hundred days before October 15 of the preceding policy year.

(2) The date specified in the federal guidance issued pursuant to Section 154.220(b) of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(b) A plan shall disclose to the department all of the following for each individual and small group rate filing:

(1) Company name and contact information.

(2) Number of plan contract forms covered by the filing.

(3) Plan contract form numbers covered by the filing.

(4) Product type, such as a preferred provider organization or health maintenance organization.

(5) Segment type.

(6) Type of plan involved, such as for profit or not for profit.

(7) Whether the products are opened or closed.

(8) Enrollment in each plan contract and rating form.

(9) Enrollee months in each plan contract form.

(10) Annual rate.

(11) Total earned premiums in each plan contract form.

(12) Total incurred claims in each plan contract form.

(13) Average rate increase initially requested.

(14) Review category: initial filing for new product, filing for existing product, or resubmission.

(15) Average rate of increase.

(16) Effective date of rate increase.

(17) Number of subscribers or enrollees affected by each plan contract form.

(18) The plan’s overall annual medical trend factor assumptions in each rate filing for all benefits and by aggregate benefit category, including hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient, physician services, prescription drugs and other ancillary services, laboratory, and radiology. A plan may provide aggregated additional data that demonstrates or reasonably estimates year-to-year cost increases in specific benefit categories in the geographic regions listed in Sections 1357.512 and 1399.855.

(19) The amount of the projected trend attributable to the use of services, price inflation, or fees and risk for annual plan contract trends by aggregate benefit category, such as hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient, physician services, prescription drugs and other ancillary services, laboratory, and radiology.

(20) A comparison of claims cost and rate of changes over time.

(21) Any changes in enrollee cost sharing over the prior year associated with the submitted rate filing.

(22) Any changes in enrollee benefits over the prior year associated with the submitted rate filing.

(23) The certification described in subdivision (b) of Section 1385.06.

(24) Any changes in administrative costs.

(25) Any other information required for rate review under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

(c) A health care service plan subject to subdivision (a) shall also disclose the following aggregate data for all rate filings submitted under this section in the individual and small group health care service plan markets:

(1) Number and percentage of rate filings reviewed by the following:

(A) Plan year.

(B) Segment type.

(C) Product type.

(D) Number of subscribers.

(E) Number of covered lives affected.

(2) The plan’s average rate increase by the following categories:

(A) Plan year.

(B) Segment type.

(C) Product type.

(3) Any cost containment and quality improvement efforts since the plan’s last rate filing for the same category of health benefit plan. To the extent possible, the plan shall describe any significant new health care cost containment and quality improvement efforts and provide an estimate of potential savings together with an estimated cost or savings for the projection period.

(d) The department may require all health care service plans to submit all rate filings to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing (SERFF). Submission of the required rate filings to SERFF shall be deemed to be filing with the department for purposes of compliance with this section.

(e) A plan shall submit any other information required under PPACA. A plan shall also submit any other information required pursuant to any regulation adopted by the department to comply with this article.

(f) (1) A plan shall respond to the department’s request for any additional information necessary for the department to complete its review of the plan’s rate filing for individual and small group health care service plan contracts under this article within five business days of the department’s request or as otherwise required by the department.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the department shall determine whether a plan’s rate increase for individual and small group health care service plan contracts is unreasonable or not justified no later than 60 days following receipt of all the information the department requires to make its determination.

(3) For all nongrandfathered individual health care service plan contracts, the department shall issue a determination that the plan’s rate increase is unreasonable or not justified no later than 15 days before October 15 of the preceding policy year. If a health care service plan fails to provide all the information the department requires in order for the department to make its determination, the department may determine that a plan’s rate increase is unreasonable or not justified.

(g) If the department determines that a plan’s rate increase for individual or small group health care service plan contracts is unreasonable or not justified consistent with this article, the health care service plan shall provide notice of that determination to any individual or small group applicant. The notice provided to an individual applicant shall be consistent with the notice described in subdivision (c) of Section 1389.25. The notice provided to a small group applicant shall be consistent with the notice described in subdivision (c) of Section 1374.21.

(h) For purposes of this section, “policy year” has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 1399.845.

(i) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2020, and, as of January 1, 2021, is repealed.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 807, Sec. 4. (AB 731) Effective January 1, 2020. Inoperative July 1, 2020 Repealed as of January 1, 2021, by its own provisions. See later operative version added by Sec. 5 of Stats. 2019, Ch. 807.)