State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title38a > Chap705 > Sec38a-981Sec. 38a-981. (Formerly Sec. 38-506). Content of disclosure authorization forms. Disclosure of health benefits to exclusive bargaining agent or subgroup of a multi-bargaining-unit group. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes to the contrary, no insurance institution, agent or insurance-support organization may utilize as its disclosure authorization form in connection with insurance transactions, a form or statement which authorizes the disclosure of personal or privileged information concerning an individual to an insurance institution, agent, or insurance-support organization unless the form or statement: (1) Is written in plain language substantially complying with the tests enumerated in subsection (b) of section 42-152; (2) is dated; (3) specifies the types of persons authorized to disclose information concerning the individual; (4) specifies the nature of the information authorized to be disclosed; (5) identifies the insurance institution or agent and the types of representatives of the insurance institution to whom the individual has authorized the information to be disclosed; (6) specifies the purposes for which the information is collected; (7) specifies the length of time such authorization shall remain valid, which shall be no longer than: (A) In the case of authorizations signed for the purpose of collecting information in connection with an application for an insurance policy, a policy reinstatement or a request for a change in policy benefits: (i) Thirty months from the date the authorization is signed if the application or request involves life, health or disability insurance, (ii) one year from the date the authorization is signed if the application or request involves property or casualty insurance, (B) in the case of authorizations signed for the purpose of collecting information in connection with a claim for benefits under an insurance policy: (i) The term of coverage of the policy if the claim involves a health insurance benefit, (ii) the duration of the claim if it involves an insurance benefit which is not a health insurance benefit; (8) advises the individual or a person authorized to act on his behalf that he is entitled to receive a copy of the authorization form.
(b) (1) An insurance institution or a third-party administrator providing insurance or administrative services with respect to an employer's employee benefit plan which provides its employees with health benefits shall, upon written request of an exclusive bargaining agent for such employees, provide such bargaining agent with information regarding description of health benefits available to such employees, claim experience regarding such benefits and the cost to the employer for such coverage or administrative services, as the case may be, for employees in the bargaining unit represented by such bargaining agent. If such employees constitute a subgroup of a multi-bargaining-unit group, the information provided by the insurance institution or administrator shall, upon written request of the exclusive bargaining agent for the subgroup, include a description of available health benefits, claim experience regarding such benefits and the cost to the employer for such coverage or administrative services, as the case may be, for the entire multi-bargaining-unit group or for subgroups within the multi-bargaining-unit group. A copy of such information shall be provided at the same time to the employer by the insurance institution or administrator. Such information shall be made available to the bargaining agent and the employer only if the bargaining agent agrees in writing to pay all reasonable costs, as determined by the insurance institution or administrator, that are incurred by the insurance institution or administrator in developing and distributing the information. The information provided to such agent shall relate to the group of employees as a whole and shall not include any information relating to specific individuals. No requests made pursuant to this subdivision may seek information which relates to a period of time more than twenty-four months prior to the date such request was made.
(2) Prior to providing any information pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, an insurance institution or third-party administrator may require the bargaining agent requesting such information to provide evidence in writing that such bargaining agent is currently designated or certified by the proper state or federal authority as the exclusive bargaining representative or agent of the employees who are the subject of the request.
(3) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to employees participating in an employee welfare benefit plan subject to the provisions of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), Public Law 93-406, as amended from time to time, or to the exclusive bargaining agents of such employees.
(P.A. 81-368, S. 7, 25; P.A. 82-21, S. 1; P.A. 92-104; P.A. 03-119, S. 3; P.A. 04-10, S. 13; 04-257, S. 65.)
History: P.A. 82-21 replaced the readable language standards of Sec. 38-68u with those of Sec. 42-152(b) and made several technical corrections; Sec. 38-506 transferred to Sec. 38a-981 in 1991; P.A. 92-104 divided the section into Subsecs., added a provision requiring an insurer who provides health benefits to provide bargaining agents with information re description of the health benefits being offered to employees, claim experience re such benefits and the employer's cost for the coverage provided such coverage relates to the group as a whole and not to specific individuals if bargaining agent agrees to compensate the insurer for reasonable costs of providing such information; (Revisor's note: In 2001 the internal alphabetic and numeric indicators in Subsec. (a) were changed editorially by the Revisors for consistency with customary statutory usage); P.A. 03-119 amended Subsec. (b)(1) to allow disclosure to a subgroup of a multi-bargaining-unit group; P.A. 04-10, effective October 1, 2004, and P.A. 04-257, effective June 14, 2004, both made identical technical change in Subsec. (b)(1) and (3).
