A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, a person is eligible for a pool policy only if on the effective date of coverage or renewal of coverage the person is a New Mexico resident, and:

1. (1) is not eligible as an insured or covered dependent for a health plan that provides coverage for comprehensive major medical or comprehensive physician and hospital services;
2. (2) is currently paying a rate for a health plan that is higher than one hundred twenty-five percent of the pool's standard rate;
3. (3) has a mental health diagnosis and has individual health insurance coverage that does not include coverage for mental health services;
4. (4) has been rejected for coverage for comprehensive major medical or comprehensive physician and hospital services;
5. (5) is only eligible for a health plan with a rider, waiver or restrictive provision for that particular individual based on a specific condition;
6. (6) has a medical condition that is listed on the pool's prequalifying conditions;
7. (7) has as of the date the individual seeks coverage from the pool an aggregate of eighteen or more months of creditable coverage, the most recent of which was under a group health plan, governmental plan or church plan as defined in Subsections P, N and D, respectively, of Section 59A-23E-2 NMSA 1978, except, for the purposes of aggregating creditable coverage, a period of creditable coverage shall not be counted with respect to enrollment of an individual for coverage under the pool if, after that period and before the enrollment date, there was a ninety-five day or longer period during all of which the individual was not covered under any creditable coverage; or

8. (8) is entitled to continuation coverage pursuant to Section 59A-23E-19 NMSA 1978.

   B. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section:

9. (1) a person's eligibility for a policy issued under the Health Insurance Alliance Act [repealed] shall not preclude a person from remaining on or purchasing a pool policy; provided that a self-employed person who qualifies for an approved health plan under the Health Insurance Alliance Act [repealed] by using a dependent as the second employee may choose a pool policy in lieu of the health plan under that act; and

10. (2) if a pool policyholder becomes eligible for any group health plan, the policyholder's pool coverage shall not be involuntarily terminated until any preexisting condition period imposed on the policyholder by the plan has been exhausted.

    C. Coverage under a pool policy is in excess of and shall not duplicate coverage under any other form of health insurance.

    D. A policyholder's newborn child or newly adopted child is automatically eligible for thirty-one consecutive calendar days of coverage for an additional premium.

    E. Except for a person eligible as provided in Paragraph (7) of Subsection A of this section, a pool policy may contain provisions under which coverage is excluded during a six-month period following the effective date of coverage as to a given individual for preexisting conditions.

    F. The preexisting condition exclusions described in Subsection E of this section shall be waived to the extent to which similar exclusions have been satisfied under any prior health insurance coverage that was involuntarily terminated, if the application for pool coverage is made not later than ninety-five days following the involuntary termination. In that case, coverage in the pool shall be effective from the date on which the prior coverage was terminated. This subsection does not prohibit preexisting conditions coverage in a pool policy that is more favorable to the insured than that specified in this subsection.

    G. An individual is not eligible for coverage by the pool if:

11. (1) except as provided in Subsection I of this section, the individual is, at the time of application, eligible for medicare or medicaid that would provide coverage for amounts in excess of limited policies such as dread disease, cancer policies or hospital indemnity policies;
12. (2) the individual has voluntarily terminated coverage by the pool within the past twelve months and did not have other continuous coverage during that time, except that this paragraph shall not apply to an applicant who is a federally defined eligible individual;
13. (3) the individual is an inmate of a public institution or is eligible for public programs for which medical care is provided;
14. (4) the individual is eligible for coverage under a group health plan;
15. (5) the individual has health insurance coverage as defined in Subsection R of Section 59A-23E-2 NMSA 1978;
16. (6) the most recent coverages within the coverage period described in Paragraph (7) of Subsection A of this section were terminated as a result of nonpayment of premium or fraud; or

17. (7) the individual has been offered the option of continuation coverage under a federal COBRA continuation provision as defined in Subsection F of Section 59A-23E-2 NMSA 1978 or under a similar state program and the individual has elected the coverage and did not exhaust the continuation coverage under the provision or program, provided, however, that an unemployed former employee who has not exhausted COBRA coverage shall be eligible.

    H. A person whose health insurance coverage from a qualified state high risk pool health policy is terminated because of nonresidency in another state may apply for coverage under the pool. If the coverage is applied for within ninety-five days after that termination and if premiums are paid for the entire coverage period, the effective date of the coverage shall be the date of termination of the previous coverage.

    I. The board may issue a pool policy for individuals who:

18. (1) are enrolled in both Part A and Part B of medicare because of a disability; and
19. (2) except for the eligibility for medicare, would otherwise be eligible for coverage pursuant to the criteria of this section.

History: 1978 Comp., § 59A-54-12, enacted by Laws 1987, ch. 154, § 12; 1991, ch. 200, § 9; 1997, ch. 243, § 33; 1998, ch. 41, § 26; 2001, ch. 352, § 7; 2003, ch. 395, § 4; 2005, ch. 301, § 6; 2005, ch. 305, § 6 2007, ch. 211, § 1; 2008, ch. 88, § 2.

ANNOTATIONS

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Laws 2013, ch. 54, § 15 repealed the Health Insurance Alliance Act, §§ 59A-56-1 to 59A-56-25, effective January 1, 2015.

The 2008 amendment, effective May 14, 2008, in Paragraph (7) of Subsection A, changed the period of time from sixty-three days to ninety-five days and in Subsections F and H, changed the time period from thirty-one days to ninety-five days.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, added Paragraph (3) of Subsection A to include mental health services.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, deleted former Subsection B(2), which provided that a pool policyholder shall be eligible for renewal of pool coverage even though the policyholder became eligible for medicare or medicaid coverage while covered under a pool policy and provided in Subsection G(7) that an unemployed former employee who has not exhausted COBRA coverage shall be eligible. Laws 2005, ch. 301, § 6 enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2005, ch. 305, § 3. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, rewrote the section.

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, in Subsection H, substituted "except as provided in Subsection J of this section the individual" for "he" in Paragraph (1), substituted "the individual has voluntarily" for "he has" in Paragraph (2), substituted "the individual" for "he" in Paragraphs (3), (4), (5) and (7); and added Subsection J.

The 1998 amendment, effective March 6, 1998, in Subsection A, substituted "P, N" for "Q, O" and "59A-23E-2 NMSA 1978" for "2 of the Health Insurance Portability Act" near the middle of Paragraph A(5), and added Paragraph A(6); inserted "that" near the middle of Subsection B; substituted "Paragraph" for "Paragraphs" near the beginning of Subsection F; and in Subsection H, rewrote Paragraph H(5), substituted "were" for "was" near the middle of Paragraph H(6), and substituted "59A-23E-2 NMSA 1978" for "2 of the Health Insurance Portability Act" in Paragraph H(7).

The 1997 amendment, effective April 11, 1997, inserted the exceptions at the beginning of Subsections A and F, added Paragraph A(5) and Subsection B, redesignated the existing subsections accordingly, substituted "developmental disability" for "mental retardation" in Subsection D(1), added Paragraphs H(4) through H(7), and made minor stylistic changes.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, deleted former Subsections A and B; added present Subsections A and B; in Subsection G, added the language beginning "which would provide coverage" at the end of Paragraph (1), deleted former Paragraph (4), which read "he has or is eligible for, on the day of issue of coverage by the pool, substantially equivalent coverage under health insurance or another insurance plan", and made related stylistic changes; and deleted the former last sentence in Subsection H, which read "Waiting periods for persons with pre-existing conditions applying for coverage under this section shall be waived if the waiting periods were satisfied under a similar plan from another state and benefit limitations were not reached".