56-7-2211 - Risk-assuming carriers.
56-7-2211. Risk-assuming carriers.
(a) Any small employer carrier may elect to become a risk-assuming carrier upon application to and approval by the commissioner. A small employer carrier shall not be approved as a risk-assuming carrier if the commissioner finds that the carrier is not capable of assuming that status under the criteria set forth in subsection (b). The carrier shall provide public notice of its application to become a risk-assuming carrier. A small employer carrier's application to be a risk-assuming carrier shall be approved unless disapproved by the commissioner within sixty (60) days after the carrier's application. A small employer carrier that has had its application to be a risk-assuming carrier disapproved may request and shall be granted a public hearing within sixty (60) days after the disapproval.
(b) In determining whether or not to approve an application by a small employer carrier to become a risk-assuming carrier, the commissioner shall consider the carrier's financial condition and the financial condition of its parent or guaranteeing corporation, if any, its history of assuming and managing risk, its ability to assume and manage the risk of enrolling small employers without the protection of the reinsurance provided in § 56-7-2221, and its commitment to market fairly to all small employers in its service area.
(c) The department may, at the discretion of the commissioner, conduct audits of risk-assuming carriers to determine whether:
(1) The risk-assuming carrier has assumed its proportional share of high risk individuals and small employers; or
(2) The carrier's continued status as a risk-assuming carrier would result in the risk-assuming carrier being declared an impaired insurer.
[Acts 1992, ch. 808, § 11.]