South Carolina § 37-17-40 - Registration and renewal; list of authorized representatives and marketers.

§ 37-17-40. Registration and renewal; list of authorized representatives and marketers.

(A) A discount medical plan organization applying for an initial or renewal registration must submit:

(1) a formal application in the form and detail the administrator requires;

(2) if a corporation:

(a) articles of incorporation; and

(b) proof of existence and good standing from the Secretary of State's office;

(3) a bond in a form to be prescribed by the department in the amount of fifty thousand dollars denoting the department as beneficiary;

(4) the most recent financial statement prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and certified by two principal officers of the applicant or, if the applicant is not a corporation, other persons the administrator requires; provided that an applicant that is a subsidiary of a parent entity that is publicly traded and that prepares audited financial statements reflecting the consolidated operations of the parent entity and the subsidiary may submit, in lieu of the certified financial statement of the applicant, the audited financial statement of the parent;

(5)(a) a filing fee of five hundred dollars if the list of representatives provided by the discount medical plan organization contains no more than a total of fifty representatives;

(b) a filing fee of seven hundred and fifty dollars if the list of representatives provided by the discount medical plan organization contains a total of fifty-one to one hundred representatives;

(c) a filing fee of one thousand dollars if the list of representatives provided by the discount medical plan organization contains more than one hundred representatives;

(6) a description of: (a) the offered plan, (b) advertising and solicitation brochures, (c) any cards or other purchasing mechanisms, and (d) customer enrollment materials, any of which the discount medical plan organization uses or intends to use; and

(7) other relevant material information required by the administrator.

(B) Registration is annually on a form prescribed by the department. An annual filing fee must accompany each filing and be retained by the department for purposes of administering the filings. The registration runs from February first until January thirty-first, and the annual renewal period begins January first and ends on January thirty-first. A discount medical plan organization who files its renewal on a timely basis may continue operating unless the registration is denied or revoked by the department.

(C) A discount medical plan organization shall provide annually to the department at the time of initial registration with a list of all representatives and marketers authorized to sell, market, promote, advertise, or distribute to customers a discount medical plan of the discount medical plan organization by January thirty-first of each year and the department may make inquiry on specific marketers or representatives on a case by case basis. With regard to a renewal or a subsequent registration, the discount medical plan organization shall provide annually to the department at the time of renewal or subsequent registration with a list of all representatives and marketers authorized to sell, market, promote, advertise, or distribute to customers a discount medical plan of the discount medical plan organization, whereas this list shall include any additional representatives and/or marketers since the last list provided by the discount medical plan organization to the department.

HISTORY: 2006 Act No. 377, SECTION 1, eff January 1, 2007.