No policy, contract, or plan of accident and health protection issued by an insurer, nonprofit health service plan corporation, or health maintenance organization, providing coverage of hospital or medical expense on either an expense incurred basis or other than an expense incurred basis which in addition to coverage of the insured, subscriber, or enrollee, also provides coverage to dependents, shall, except upon the written consent of the survivor or survivors of the deceased insured, subscriber, or enrollee, terminate, suspend, or otherwise restrict the participation in or the receipt of benefits otherwise payable under the policy, contract, or plan to the survivor or survivors until the earlier of the following dates:

(a) the date the surviving spouse becomes covered under another group health plan; or

(b) the date coverage would have terminated under the policy, contract, or plan had the insured, subscriber, or enrollee lived.

The survivor or survivors, in order to have the coverage and benefits extended, may be required to pay the entire cost of the protection on a monthly basis. The policy, contract, or plan must require the group policyholder or contract holder to, upon request, provide the insured, subscriber, or enrollee with written verification from the insurer of the cost of this coverage promptly at the time of eligibility for this coverage and at any time during the continuation period. In no event shall the amount of premium or fee contributions charged exceed 102 percent of the cost to the plan for such period of coverage for other similarly situated spouses and dependent children who are not the survivors of a deceased insured, without regard to whether such cost is paid by the employer or employee. Failure of the survivor to make premium or fee payments within 90 days after notice of the requirement to pay the premiums or fees shall be a basis for the termination of the coverage without written consent. In event of termination by reason of the survivor's failure to make required premium or fee contributions, written notice of cancellation must be mailed to the survivor's last known address at least 30 days before the cancellation. If the coverage is provided under a group policy, contract, or plan, any required premium or fee contributions for the coverage shall be paid by the survivor to the group policyholder or contract holder for remittance to the insurer, nonprofit health service plan corporation, or health maintenance organization.

History: 1973 c 339 s 2; 1982 c 555 s 6; 1Sp1985 c 10 s 59; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 337 s 48; 1992 c 564 art 4 s 5