                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 38.2-1701)

As used in this chapter:		&#8220;Account&#8221; means any one of the two
accounts created under § 38.2-1702.		&#8220;Association&#8221; means the
Virginia Life, Accident and Sickness Insurance Guaranty Association created
under § 38.2-1702.		&#8220;Authorized assessment&#8221; or the term
&#8220;authorized&#8221; when used in the context of assessments means that a
resolution by the board of directors has been passed whereby an assessment will
be called immediately or in the future from member insurers for a specified
amount. An assessment is authorized when the resolution is
passed.		&#8220;Benefit plan&#8221; means a specific employee, union, or
association of natural persons benefit plan.		&#8220;Called assessment&#8221; or
the term &#8220;called&#8221; when used in the context of assessments means that
a notice has been issued by the Association to member insurers requiring that an
authorized assessment be paid within the time frame set forth within the notice.
An authorized assessment becomes a called assessment when notice is mailed by
the Association to member insurers.		&#8220;Contractual obligation&#8221; means
an obligation under a policy or contract or certificate under a group policy or
contract, or portion thereof for which coverage is provided under §
38.2-1700.		&#8220;Covered contract&#8221; or &#8220;covered policy&#8221; means
a policy or contract or portion of a policy or contract for which coverage is
provided under § 38.2-1700.		&#8220;Extra-contractual claims&#8221; shall
include, for example, claims relating to bad faith in the payment of claims,
punitive damages, or attorney fees and costs.		&#8220;Health benefit plan&#8221;
means any hospital or medical expense policy or certificate, or health
maintenance organization subscriber contract or any other similar health
contract. &#8220;Health benefit plan&#8221; does not include:

1. Accident only insurance;

2. Credit insurance;

3. Dental only insurance;

4. Vision only insurance;

5. Medicare Supplement insurance;

6. Benefits for long-term care, home health care, community-based care, or any
combination thereof;

7. Disability income insurance;

8. Coverage for on-site medical clinics; or

9. Specified disease, hospital confinement indemnity, or limited benefit health
insurance if the types of coverage do not provide coordination of benefits and
are provided under separate policies or certificates.
			&#8220;Impaired insurer&#8221; means a member insurer considered by the
Commission to be potentially unable to fulfill its contractual
obligations.			&#8220;Insolvent insurer&#8221; means a member insurer that is
placed under an order of liquidation by a court of competent jurisdiction with a
finding of insolvency.			&#8220;Member insurer&#8221; means an insurer or health
maintenance organization licensed to transact in the Commonwealth any class of
insurance or health maintenance organization business to which this chapter
applies under &#xA7; 38.2-1700, including an insurer or health maintenance
organization whose license to transact the business of insurance in the
Commonwealth has been suspended, revoked, not renewed, or voluntarily withdrawn,
but does not include cooperative nonprofit life benefit companies, mutual
assessment life, accident and sickness insurance companies, burial societies,
fraternal benefit societies, dental and optometric services plans, and health
services plans not subject to this chapter pursuant to &#xA7;
38.2-4213.			&#8220;Moody&#8217;s Corporate Bond Yield Average&#8221; means the
Monthly Average Corporates as published by Moody&#8217;s Investors Service,
Inc., or any successor thereto.			&#8220;Owner&#8221; of a policy or contract or
&#8220;policyholder,&#8221; &#8220;policy owner,&#8221; and &#8220;contract
owner&#8221; means the person who is identified as the legal owner under the
terms of the policy or contract or who is otherwise vested with legal title to
the policy or contract through a valid assignment completed in accordance with
the terms of the policy or contract and properly recorded as the owner on the
books of the member insurer. The terms &#8220;owner,&#8221; &#8220;contract
owner,&#8221; &#8220;policyholder,&#8221; and &#8220;policy owner&#8221; do not
include persons with a mere beneficial interest in a policy or
contract.			&#8220;Plan sponsor&#8221; means (i) the employer, in the case of a
benefit plan established or maintained by a single employer; (ii) the employee
organization in the case of a benefit plan established or maintained by an
employee organization; or (iii) in the case of a benefit plan established or
maintained by two or more employers or jointly by one or more employers and one
or more employee organizations, the association, committee, joint board of
trustees, or other similar group of representatives of the parties who establish
or maintain the benefit plan.			&#8220;Premiums&#8221; means amounts or
considerations, by whatever name called, received on covered policies or
contracts, less any returned premiums, considerations, and deposits and less
dividends and experience credits. &#8220;Premiums&#8221; does not include
amounts or considerations received for policies or contracts or for the portions
of policies or contracts for which coverage is not provided under subsection C
of &#xA7; 38.2-1700 except that assessable premium shall not be reduced on
account of subdivision C 2 of &#xA7; 38.2-1700 relating to interest limitations
and subdivision D 2 of &#xA7; 38.2-1700 relating to limitations with respect to
one individual, one participant, and one policy or contract owner.
&#8220;Premiums&#8221; shall not include (i) premiums for coverage in excess of
$5 million on an unallocated annuity contract covered under subdivisions D 2 d,
e, and f of &#xA7; 38.2-1700 or (ii) with respect to multiple nongroup policies
of life insurance owned by one owner, whether the policy or contract owner is an
individual, firm, corporation, or other person, and whether the persons insured
are officers, managers, employees or other persons, premiums for coverage in
excess of $5 million with respect to these policies or contracts, regardless of
the number of policies or contracts held by the owner.			&#8220;Principal place
of business&#8221; of a plan sponsor or a person other than a natural person
means the single state in which the natural persons who establish policy for the
direction, control, and coordination of the operations of the entity as a whole
primarily exercise that function, determined by the Association in its
reasonable judgment by considering the following factors: (i) the state in which
the primary executive and administrative headquarters of the entity is located;
(ii) the state in which the principal office of the chief executive officer of
the entity is located; (iii) the state in which the board of directors (or
similar governing person or persons) of the entity conducts the majority of its
meetings; (iv) the state from which the management of the overall operations of
the entity is directed; and in the case of a benefit plan sponsored by
affiliated companies comprising a consolidated corporation, the state in which
the holding company or controlling affiliate has its principal place of business
as determined using these factors. However, in the case of a plan sponsor, if
more than 50 percent of the participants in the benefit plan are employed in a
single state, that state shall be deemed to be the principal place of business
of the plan sponsor. The principal place of business of a plan sponsor described
in clause (iii) of the definition of plan sponsor in this section shall be
deemed to be the principal place of business of the association, committee,
joint board of trustees, or other similar group of representatives of the
parties who establish or maintain the benefit plan that, in lieu of a specific
or clear designation of a principal place of business, shall be deemed to be the
principal place of business of the employer or employee organization that has
the largest investment in the benefit plan in question.			&#8220;Receivership
court&#8221; means the court in the insolvent or impaired insurer&#8217;s state
having jurisdiction over the conservation, rehabilitation, or liquidation of the
member insurer.			&#8220;Resident&#8221; means a person to whom a contractual
obligation is owed and who resides in the Commonwealth on the date a member
insurer becomes an impaired insurer or a court order is entered that determines
a member insurer to be an insolvent insurer. A person may be a resident of only
one state, which in the case of a person other than a natural person shall be
its principal place of business. Citizens of the United States that are either
(i) residents of foreign countries, or (ii) residents of United States
possessions, territories, or protectorates that do not have an association
similar to the Association, shall be deemed residents of the state of domicile
of the member insurer that issued the policies or contracts.			&#8220;Structured
settlement annuity&#8221; means an annuity purchased in order to fund periodic
payments for a plaintiff or other claimant in payment for or with respect to
personal injury or sickness suffered by the plaintiff or other
claimant.			&#8220;Supplemental contract&#8221; means a written agreement
entered into for the distribution of proceeds under a life, health, or annuity
policy or contract.			&#8220;Unallocated annuity contract&#8221; means an
annuity contract or group annuity certificate that is not issued to and owned by
an individual or a trust created by an individual for the benefit of one or more
individuals, except to the extent of any annuity benefits guaranteed to an
individual or such a trust by an insurer under the contract or certificate.

HISTORY: 1976, c. 330, § 38.1-482.19; 1980, c. 186; 1986, c. 562; 2010, c. 510;
2015, c. 710; 2018, c. 706.