Subdivision 1. Application of chapter. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to affect or apply to:

(1) grand or subordinate lodges of Masons, Odd Fellows, Elks, or Knights of Pythias, exclusive of the insurance branch of the supreme lodge of Knights of Pythias, or to similar orders which do not issue insurance certificates;

(2) to associations which admit to membership only persons engaged in one or more hazardous occupations, in the same or similar lines of business;

(3) to local lodges of an association which was doing business in this state at the time of the enactment of Laws 1907, chapter 345, that provide death benefits not exceeding $600 to any one person, or disability benefits not exceeding $600 in any one year to any one person, or both;

(4) to any contracts or reinsurance of or between such local lodges of such associations now doing business on such plan in this state;

(5) to domestic associations which limit their membership to the employees of a particular city or town, designated firm, business house, or corporation;

(6) to domestic lodges, orders, or associations of a purely religious, charitable, and benevolent description, which do not operate with a view to profit, and which do not provide for a death benefit of more than $100, or for disability benefits of more than $150 to any one person in any one year; or

(7) to any domestic lodge, order, or association which was incorporated under the laws of this state prior to 1917 and has been doing business in this state since incorporation and which now has less than $4,000 in cash or in securities acceptable to the commissioner and which has agreed in its constitution or bylaws to pay $300 as death benefits and $200 as funeral expenses, and which does not operate with a view to profit and which shall hereafter pay no funeral expenses and pay not more than $300 as death benefits, and shall hereafter collect from its members, at their then attained ages, regular payments or assessments not lower than those required by the National Fraternal Congress table of mortality, with interest at four percent per annum; and save and except as in this section otherwise specifically modified, limited, or qualified that any such domestic order or association which has more than 500 members, and provides for death or disability benefits, and any such domestic lodge, order, or association which issues to any person a certificate providing for the payment of benefits shall not be exempt by the provisions of this section, but shall comply with the requirements of this chapter. All foreign associations transacting business in this state shall comply with the provisions of section 64B.35.

Subd. 2. Aid associations. Any aid association confining its membership to one religious denomination, not operating for profit, and not charging stipulated premiums, which has been so operating in this state for more than 30 years and which pays death benefits not exceeding $2,000 in any one case, shall not be subject to the insurance laws of this state.

Subd. 3. Information furnished commissioner. The commissioner may require from any association such information as will enable the commissioner to determine whether the association is exempt from the provisions of this chapter. No association which is exempt by the provisions of this section from the requirements of this chapter shall give or allow, or promise to give or allow, to any person any compensation for procuring new members.

History: 1985 c 49 s 38; 1986 c 444