2019 California Code
Health and Safety Code - HSC
DIVISION 2 - LICENSING PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 2.2 - Health Care Service Plans
ARTICLE 3.15 - Preexisting Condition Provisions
Section 1357.51.

(a) A health benefit plan for group coverage shall not impose any preexisting condition provision or waivered condition provision upon any enrollee.

(b) (1) A nongrandfathered health benefit plan for individual coverage shall not impose any preexisting condition provision or waivered condition provision upon any enrollee.

(2) A grandfathered health benefit plan for individual coverage shall not exclude coverage on the basis of a waivered condition provision or preexisting condition provision for a period greater than 12 months following the enrollee’s effective date of coverage, nor limit or exclude coverage for a specific enrollee by type of illness, treatment, medical condition, or accident, except for satisfaction of a preexisting condition provision or waivered condition provision pursuant to this article. Waivered condition provisions or preexisting condition provisions contained in individual grandfathered health benefit plans may relate only to conditions for which medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment, including use of prescription drugs, was recommended or received from a licensed health practitioner during the 12 months immediately preceding the effective date of coverage.

(3) If Section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by Section 1501 of PPACA, is repealed or amended to no longer apply to the individual market, as defined in Section 2791 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300gg-91), paragraph (1) shall become inoperative 12 months after the date of that repeal or amendment and thereafter paragraph (2) shall apply also to nongrandfathered health benefit plans for individual coverage.

(4) In determining whether a preexisting condition provision or a waivered condition provision applies to an individual under this subdivision, a plan shall credit the time the individual was covered under creditable coverage, provided that the individual becomes eligible for coverage under the succeeding plan contract within 62 days of termination of prior coverage and applies for coverage under the succeeding plan within the applicable enrollment period.

(c) A health benefit plan for group or individual coverage shall not impose any waiting or affiliation period.

(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 195, Sec. 2. (SB 1034) Effective January 1, 2015. Section operative January 1, 2014, pursuant to Section 1357.55.)