The bill amends the Medicare Supplement Act to establish an annual open enrollment period for all eligible policyholders of Medicare supplement policies. It defines "eligible policyholder" as a beneficiary of Medicare who is 65 years of age or older and mandates that each eligible policyholder's open enrollment period begins on the first day of their birthday month and lasts for at least sixty days. During this period, eligible policyholders can purchase any Medicare supplement policy of equal or lesser value to their current policy, and issuers are required to guarantee issuance without discrimination based on health status or medical conditions. Additionally, any new policy obtained during this period cannot impose coverage exclusions for preexisting conditions that were covered under the previous policy.

The bill also requires issuers to notify eligible policyholders at least thirty days before the open enrollment period about the dates of the enrollment, their rights under the new provisions, and any changes to their current policy or premium adjustments. This notification must be approved by the superintendent of insurance before distribution. The bill includes several definitions related to Medicare supplement policies, such as "issuer," "medicare," and "medicare supplement policy," while updating existing definitions to align with the new provisions.

Statutes affected:
introduced version: 59A-24A-3