WSR 01-24-073
ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE
[
Filed December 3, 2001,
10:51 a.m.
]
NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OPINION WASHINGTON ATTORNEY GENERAL
The Washington Attorney General issues formal published
opinions in response to requests by the heads of state agencies,
state legislators, and county prosecuting attorneys. When it
appears that individuals outside the Attorney General's Office
have information or expertise that will assist in the preparation
of a particular opinion, a summary of that opinion request will
be published in the state register. If you are interested in
commenting on a request listed in this volume of the register,
you should notify the Attorney General's Office of your interest
by December 26, 2001. This is not the due date by which comments
must be received. However, if you do not notify the Attorney
General's Office of your interest in commenting on an opinion
request by this date, the opinion may be issued before your
comments have been received. You may notify the Attorney
General's Office of your intention to comment by calling (360)
664-3027, or by writing to the Solicitor General, Office of the
Attorney General, P.O. Box 40100, Olympia, WA 98504-0100. When
you notify the office of your intention to comment, you will be
provided with a copy of the opinion request in which you are
interested; information about the Attorney General's Opinion
process; information on how to submit your comments; and a due
date by which your comments must be received to ensure that they
are fully considered. The Attorney General's Office seeks public input on the
following opinion request(s).
| 01-11-01 |
Request by Mike Kreidler, |
|
State Insurance Commissioner |
1. Does OIC (office of insurance commissioner) have
authority to regulate whether a carrier may charge the
enrollee/employee who desires prescription contraceptive coverage
for the coverage and the authority to regulate the amount of such
charge? 2. May OIC require that a carrier recover the cost of a
conscientiously objecting employer's enrollee/employees'
prescription contraceptive coverage by including that cost as an
administrative expense component in its rate setting actuarial
analysis rather than charging a separate amount to each
enrollee/employee who desires the coverage? Or does the carrier
have the right to charge each enrollee/employee who desires the
coverage for the cost of that coverage? 3. If carriers have the
right to charge each enrollee/employee for the cost of their
prescription contraceptive coverage, can OIC prohibit any such
charge until and unless the carrier establishes that the total
revenue from its charges to individual enrollees for such
coverage exceeds its total costs from imposing and collecting
such individual sums? 4. If carriers have the right to charge
each enrollee/employee the cost of their prescription
contraceptive coverage, does OIC have the authority to: (a)
disapprove a charge to enrollee/employees unless it is supported
by appropriate and sufficient actuarial data and analysis
establishing the need for and amount of such charge? (b)
disapprove a charge to enrollee/employees unless it reaches the
actuarial level of certainty necessary to support and justify a
rate increase by the charging health carrier? (c) where the cost
to a carrier of providing coverage of prescription contraceptives
to the enrollee/employees of its conscientiously objecting
employer/purchasers is sufficiently de minimis as to not justify
a rate increase for that carrier, may OIC prohibit the carrier
from charging each enrollee/employee the cost of their
prescription contraceptive coverage?
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