A health insurance issuer or health benefits plan offering group health insurance, blanket health insurance or individual health insurance shall not impose any preexisting condition exclusion with respect to that health insurance plan or coverage. A health insurance issuer or health insurance plan offering group health insurance, blanket health insurance or individual health insurance shall not impose a waiting period in excess of ninety days with respect to a health insurance plan or coverage.

History: Laws 1997, ch. 243, § 3; 1998, ch. 41, § 7; 2019, ch. 259, § 8.

The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, prohibited a health insurance issuer or health benefits plan offering group health insurance, blanket health insurance or individual health insurance from imposing any preexisting condition exclusion in the health insurance plan or coverage, and prohibited a health insurance issuer or health insurance plan offering group health insurance, blanket health insurance or individual health insurance from imposing a waiting period greater than ninety days; in the section heading, deleted "Group health plan; group health insurance"; deleted "Except as provided in Section 59A-23E-4 NMSA 1978, a group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage may, with respect to a participant or beneficiary, impose a preexisting condition exclusion only if"; and deleted former Subsections A through C and added new language to the section.

The 1998 amendment, effective March 6, 1998, substituted "Group health plan; group health insurance" for "Limitation on preexisting condition exclusion period; crediting for periods of previous coverage" in the section heading and "59A-23E-4 NMSA 1978" for "4 of the Health Insurance Portability Act" near the beginning of the introductory paragraph.