The following standards are applicable to all Medicare supplement policies or certificates delivered or issued for delivery in this state with an effective date on or after June 1, 2010. No policy or certificate may be advertised, solicited, delivered, or issued for delivery in this state as a Medicare supplement policy or certificate unless it complies with these benefit standards. No issuer may offer any 1990 standardized Medicare supplement benefit plan for sale with an effective date on or after June 1, 2010. Benefit standards applicable to Medicare supplement policies and certificates issued with an effective date prior to June 1, 2010, remain subject to the requirements of Section 10192.8.

(a) The following general standards apply to Medicare supplement policies and certificates and are in addition to all other requirements of this article:

(1) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall not exclude or limit benefits for losses incurred more than six months from the effective date of coverage because it involved a preexisting condition. The policy or certificate shall not define a preexisting condition more restrictively than a condition for which medical advice was given or treatment was recommended by or received from a physician within six months before the effective date of coverage.

(2) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall not indemnify against losses resulting from sickness on a different basis than losses resulting from accidents.

(3) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall provide that benefits designed to cover cost-sharing amounts under Medicare will be changed automatically to coincide with any changes in the applicable Medicare deductible, copayment, or coinsurance amounts. Premiums may be modified to correspond with those changes.

(4) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall not provide for termination of coverage of a spouse solely because of the occurrence of an event specified for termination of coverage of the insured, other than the nonpayment of premium.

(5) Each Medicare supplement policy shall be guaranteed renewable.

(A) The issuer shall not cancel or nonrenew the policy solely on the ground of health status of the individual.

(B) The issuer shall not cancel or nonrenew the policy for any reason other than nonpayment of premium or material misrepresentation which is shown by the issuer to be material to the acceptance for coverage. The contestability period for Medicare supplement insurance shall be two years, pursuant to Section 10350.2.

(C) If the Medicare supplement policy is terminated by the master policyholder and is not replaced as provided under subparagraph (E), the issuer shall offer certificate holders an individual Medicare supplement policy which, at the option of the certificate holder, does one of the following:

(i) Provides for continuation of the benefits contained in the group policy.

(ii) Provides for benefits that otherwise meet the requirements of one of the standardized policies defined in this article.

(D) If an individual is a certificate holder in a group Medicare supplement policy and the individual terminates membership in the group, the issuer shall do one of the following:

(i) Offer the certificate holder the conversion opportunity described in subparagraph (C).

(ii) At the option of the group policyholder, offer the certificate holder continuation of coverage under the group policy.

(E) (i) If a group Medicare supplement policy is replaced by another group Medicare supplement policy purchased by the same policyholder, the issuer of the replacement policy shall offer coverage to all persons covered under the old group policy on its date of termination. Coverage under the new policy shall not result in any exclusion for preexisting conditions that would have been covered under the group policy being replaced.

(ii) If a Medicare supplement policy or certificate replaces another Medicare supplement policy or certificate that has been in force for six months or more, the replacing issuer shall not impose an exclusion or limitation based on a preexisting condition. If the original coverage has been in force for less than six months, the replacing issuer shall waive any time period applicable to preexisting conditions, waiting periods, elimination periods, or probationary periods in the new policy or certificate to the extent the time was spent under the original coverage.

(6) Termination of a Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall be without prejudice to any continuous loss that commenced while the policy was in force, but the extension of benefits beyond the period during which the policy was in force may be predicated upon the continuous total disability of the insured, limited to the duration of the policy benefit period, if any, or payment of the maximum benefits. Receipt of Medicare Part D benefits shall not be considered in determining a continuous loss.

(7) (A) (i) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall provide that benefits and premiums under the policy or certificate shall be suspended at the request of the policyholder or certificate holder for the period, not to exceed 24 months, in which the policyholder or certificate holder has applied for and is determined to be entitled to medical assistance under Medi-Cal, but only if the policyholder or certificate holder notifies the issuer of the policy or certificate within 90 days after the date the individual becomes entitled to assistance. Upon receipt of timely notice, the insurer shall return directly to the insured that portion of the premium attributable to the period of Medi-Cal eligibility, subject to adjustment for paid claims.

(ii) If suspension occurs and if the policyholder or certificate holder loses entitlement to medical assistance under Medi-Cal, the policy or certificate shall be automatically reinstituted (effective as of the date of termination of entitlement) as of the termination of entitlement if the policyholder or certificate holder provides notice of loss of entitlement within 90 days after the date of loss and pays the premium attributable to the period, effective as of the date of termination of entitlement or equivalent coverage shall be provided if the prior form is no longer available.

(iii) Each Medicare supplement policy shall provide that benefits and premiums under the policy shall be suspended (for any period that may be provided by federal regulation) at the request of the policyholder if the policyholder is entitled to benefits under Section 226(b) of the federal Social Security Act and is covered under a group health plan (as defined in Section 1862(b)(1)(A)(v) of the federal Social Security Act). If suspension occurs and if the policyholder or certificate holder loses coverage under the group health plan, the policy shall be automatically reinstituted (effective as of the date of loss of coverage) if the policyholder provides notice of loss of coverage within 90 days after the date of the loss and pays the applicable premium.

(B) Reinstitution of coverages shall comply with all of the following requirements:

(i) Not provide for any waiting period with respect to treatment of preexisting conditions.

(ii) Provide for resumption of coverage that is substantially equivalent to coverage in effect before the date of suspension.

(iii) Provide for classification of premiums on terms at least as favorable to the policyholder or certificate holder as the premium classification terms that would have applied to the policyholder or certificate holder had the coverage not been suspended.

(8) A Medicare supplement policy shall not limit coverage exclusively to a single disease or affliction.

(9) A Medicare supplement policy shall provide an examination period of 30 days after the receipt of the policy by the applicant for purposes of review, during which time the applicant may return the policy as described in subdivision (e) of Section 10192.17.

(b) With respect to the standards for basic (core) benefits for benefit plans A, B, C, D, F, high deductible F, G, M, and N, every issuer of Medicare supplement insurance benefit plans shall make available a policy or certificate including only the following basic “core” package of benefits to each prospective insured. An issuer may make available to prospective insureds any of the other Medicare Supplement Insurance Benefit Plans in addition to the basic (core) package, but not in lieu of it. However, the benefits described in paragraphs (7) and (8) shall not be offered so long as California is required to disallow these benefits for Medicare beneficiaries by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or other agent of the federal government under Section 1395ss of Title 42 of the United States Code.

(1) Coverage of Part A Medicare eligible expenses for hospitalization to the extent not covered by Medicare from the 61st day through the 90th day, inclusive, in any Medicare benefit period.

(2) Coverage of Part A Medicare eligible expenses incurred for hospitalization to the extent not covered by Medicare for each Medicare lifetime inpatient reserve day used.

(3) Upon exhaustion of the Medicare hospital inpatient coverage, including the lifetime reserve days, coverage of 100 percent of the Medicare Part A eligible expenses for hospitalization paid at the applicable prospective payment system (PPS) rate, or other appropriate Medicare standard of payment, subject to a lifetime maximum benefit of an additional 365 days. The provider shall accept the issuer’s payment as payment in full and may not bill the insured for any balance.

(4) Coverage under Medicare Parts A and B for the reasonable cost of the first three pints of blood, or equivalent quantities of packed red blood cells, as defined under federal regulations, unless replaced in accordance with federal regulations.

(5) Coverage for the coinsurance amount, or in the case of hospital outpatient department services paid under a prospective payment system, the copayment amount, of Medicare eligible expenses under Part B regardless of hospital confinement, subject to the Medicare Part B deductible.

(6) Coverage of cost sharing for all Part A Medicare eligible hospice care and respite care expenses.

(7) Coverage of the actual cost, up to the legally billed amount, of an annual mammogram as provided in Section 10123.81, to the extent not paid by Medicare.

(8) Coverage of the actual cost, up to the legally billed amount, of an annual cervical cancer screening test as provided in Section 10123.18, to the extent not paid by Medicare.

(c) The following additional benefits shall be included in Medicare supplement benefit plans B, C, D, F, high deductible F, G, M, and N, consistent with the plan type and benefits for each plan as provided in Section 10192.91:

(1) With respect to the Medicare Part A deductible, coverage for 100 percent of the Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible amount per benefit period.

(2) With respect to the Medicare Part A deductible, coverage for 50 percent of the Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible amount per benefit period.

(3) With respect to skilled nursing facility care, coverage for the actual billed charges up to the coinsurance amount from the 21st day through the 100th day in a Medicare benefit period for posthospital skilled nursing facility care eligible under Medicare Part A.

(4) With respect to the Medicare Part B deductible, coverage for 100 percent of the Medicare Part B deductible amount per calendar year regardless of hospital confinement.

(5) With respect to 100 percent of the Medicare Part B excess charges, coverage for all of the difference between the actual Medicare Part B charges as billed, not to exceed any charge limitation established by the Medicare Program or state law, and the Medicare-approved Part B charge.

(6) With respect to medically necessary emergency care in a foreign country, coverage to the extent not covered by Medicare for 80 percent of the billed charges for Medicare-eligible expenses for medically necessary emergency hospital, physician, and medical care received in a foreign country, which care would have been covered by Medicare if provided in the United States and which care began during the first 60 consecutive days of each trip outside the United States, subject to a calendar year deductible of two hundred fifty dollars ($250), and a lifetime maximum benefit of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). For purposes of this benefit, “emergency care” shall mean care needed immediately because of an injury or an illness of sudden and unexpected onset.

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 328, Sec. 146. (SB 1330) Effective January 1, 2011.)