Chapter 560
AN ACT
HB 3484
Relating to life insurance; amending ORS
731.804 and 743.303; and declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1. ORS 731.804 is amended to read:
731.804. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each
authorized insurer doing business in this state shall pay assessments that the
Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services determines are
necessary to support the legislatively authorized budget of the Department of
Consumer and Business Services with respect to functions of the department
under the Insurance Code. The director shall determine the assessments
according to one or more percentage rates established by the director by rule.
The director shall specify in the rule when assessments shall be made and
payments shall be due. The premium-weighted average of the percentage rates [shall] may not exceed
nine-hundredths of one percent of the gross amount of premiums received by an
insurer or [its] the insurer’s
insurance producers from and under [its]
the insurer’s policies covering direct domestic risks, after deducting the
amount of return premiums paid and the amount of dividend payments made to
policyholders with respect to such policies. In the case of reciprocal
insurers, the amount of savings paid or credited to the accounts of subscribers
shall be deducted from the gross amount of premiums. In establishing the
percentage rate or rates, the director shall use the most recent premium data approved
by the director. In establishing the amounts to be collected under this
subsection, the director shall take into consideration
the expenses of the department for administering the Insurance Code and the
fees collected under subsection (2) of this section. When the director
establishes two or more percentage rates:
(a) Each rate shall be
based on such expenses of the department ascribed by the director to the line
of insurance for which the rate is established.
(b) Each rate shall be
applied to the gross amount of premium received by an insurer or its insurance
producers for the applicable line of insurance as provided in this subsection.
(2) The director may
collect fees for specific services provided by the department under the
Insurance Code according to a schedule of fees established by the director by
rule. The director may collect such fees in advance. In establishing the
schedule for fees, the director shall take into consideration the cost of each
service for which a fee is imposed.
(3) Establishment and
amendment of the schedule of fees under subsection (2) of this section are
subject to prior approval of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services
and a report to the Emergency Board prior to adopting the fees and shall be
within the budget authorized by the Legislative Assembly as that budget may be
modified by the Emergency Board.
(4) The director may not
collect an assessment under subsection (1) of this section from any of the
following persons:
(a) A fraternal benefit
society complying with ORS chapter 748.
(b) Any person or class
of persons designated by the director by rule.
(5) The director may not
collect an assessment under subsection (1) of this section with respect to
premiums received from any of the following policies:
(a) Workers’
compensation insurance policies.
[(b) Annuity policies, whether fixed or
variable in nature.]
[(c)] (b) Wet marine and
transportation insurance policies.
[(d)] (c) Any category of policies
designated by the director by rule.
SECTION 2. ORS 743.303 is amended to read:
743.303. Policies of
group life insurance are subject to the following requirements:
(1) The policy shall be
issued upon the lives of persons who are associated in a common group formed
for purposes other than the obtaining of insurance, except that either of the
following kinds of policies may be issued to persons other than those in a
common group:
(a) Group policies of
credit life insurance; or
(b) Group policies of
mortgage life insurance on first and second mortgages secured by real estate[;].
(2) [Not less than 75 percent of the eligible
members of the group or 10 lives, whichever is the greater,] No fewer
than two lives are insured at the date of issue of the policy[;].
(3) The amounts of
insurance under the policy shall be based on some plan precluding individual
selection, except that optional supplemental insurance may be available to
persons insured under the policy, if the amounts of such supplemental insurance
are based upon age, salary, rank or similar objective standards[;].
(4) [The person contracting for the group
coverage shall be responsible for the payment of premiums;] The premium
for the policy must be paid from the funds of the group policyholder or from
funds contributed by persons insured under the policy, or from both sources.
(5) For the purposes of
this section, the term “mortgage” includes trust deeds[; and].
(6) As used in this
section, “trust deed” has the meaning given in ORS 86.705.
SECTION 3. This 2007 Act being necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is
declared to exist, and this 2007 Act takes effect on its passage.
Approved by the Governor June 22, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 27, 2007
Effective date June 22, 2007
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