A. Blanket health insurance is declared to be that form of health insurance covering special groups of not fewer than ten persons as enumerated in one of the following paragraphs:

1. (1) under a policy or contract issued to a common carrier, which shall be deemed the policyholder, covering a group defined as all persons who may become passengers on the common carrier;
2. (2) under a policy or contract issued to an employer that shall be deemed the policyholder, covering a group of employees defined by reference to exceptional hazards incident to employment;
3. (3) under a policy or contract issued to a college, school or other institution of learning or to the head or principal thereof, who or which shall be deemed the policyholder, covering students and teachers;
4. (4) under a policy or contract issued in the name of a volunteer fire department or first aid or other such volunteer group, which shall be deemed the policyholder, covering all of the members of the department or group; or

5. (5) under a policy or contract issued to any other substantially similar group that, in the discretion of the superintendent, may be subject to the issuance of a blanket health policy or contract.

   B. An individual application shall not be required from a person covered under a blanket sickness or accident policy or contract.

   C. All benefits under any blanket sickness and accident policy shall be payable to the person insured or the person's agent, or to the person's designated beneficiary or beneficiaries, or to the person's estate, except that if the person insured is a minor, such benefits may be made payable to the minor's parent, guardian or other person actually supporting the minor.

   D. A blanket sickness or accident policy or contract issued to a college, school or other institution of learning or to the head or principal thereof shall not be identified or sold as a student health plan.

History: Laws 1984, ch. 127, § 461; 2017, ch. 130, § 15.

ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For existing forms and filings, see notes following 59A-5-21 NMSA 1978.

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, prohibited certain blanket sickness or accident policies from being sold as student health plans; in Subsection A, in the introductory language, after "groups of not", deleted "less" and added "fewer", after "ten", deleted "(10)", and after "the following paragraphs", deleted "(1) to (5) inclusive"; and added Subsection D.