(a) A health insurer that issues, sells, renews, or offers a policy covering dental services shall file a report with the department, by July 31 of each year, which shall be known as the MLR annual report. The MLR annual report shall be organized by market and product type and contains the same information required in the 2013 federal Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) Annual Reporting Form (CMS-10418). The department shall post a health insurer’s MLR annual report on its Internet Web site within 45 days after receiving the report.

(b) The MLR reporting year shall be for the calendar year during which dental coverage is provided by the plan. As applicable, all terms used in the MLR annual report shall have the same meaning as used in the federal Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300gg-18) and Part 158 (commencing with Section 158.101) of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(c) If the commissioner decides to conduct an examination, as described in Section 730, because the commissioner finds it necessary to verify the health insurer’s representations in the MLR annual report, the department shall provide the health insurer with a notification 30 days before the commencement of the examination.

(d) The health insurer shall have 30 days from the date of notification to electronically submit to the department all requested records, books, and papers specified in subdivision (a) of Section 733. The commissioner may extend the time for a health insurer to comply with this subdivision upon a finding of good cause.

(e) The department shall make available to the public all of the data provided to the department pursuant to this section.

(f) This section does not apply to an insurance policy issued, sold, renewed, or offered for health care services or coverage provided in the Medi-Cal program (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) and Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 14200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), the Medi-Cal Access Program (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 15810) of Part 3.3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), or the California Major Risk Medical Insurance Program (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 15870) of Part 3.3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), to the extent consistent with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148).

(g) This section does not apply to disability insurance for covered benefits in the single specialized area of dental-only health care that pays benefits on a fixed benefit, cash payment only basis.

(h) The department may issue guidance to health insurers of specialized health insurance policies subject to this section regarding compliance with this section. The guidance shall not be subject to the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), and shall be effective only until the department adopts regulations pursuant to that act. The department shall consult with the Department of Managed Health Care in issuing the guidance specified in this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 933, Sec. 4. (SB 1008) Effective January 1, 2019.)