2022 California Code
Health and Safety Code - HSC
DIVISION 2 - LICENSING PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 2.2 - Health Care Service Plans
ARTICLE 7.5 - Underwriting Practices
Section 1389.8.

1389.8. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an agent, broker, solicitor, solicitor firm, or representative who assists an applicant in submitting an application to a health care service plan has the duty to assist the applicant in providing answers to health questions accurately and completely.

(b) An agent, broker, solicitor, solicitor firm, or representative who assists an applicant in submitting an application to a health care service plan shall attest on the written application to both of the following:

(1) That to the best of their knowledge, the information on the application is complete and accurate.

(2) That they explained to the applicant, in easy-to-understand language, the risk to the applicant of providing inaccurate information and that the applicant understood the explanation.

(c) If, in an attestation required by subdivision (b), a declarant willfully states as true any material fact the declarant knows to be false, that person shall, in addition to any applicable penalties or remedies available under current law, be subject to a civil penalty of up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). Any public prosecutor may bring a civil action to impose that civil penalty. These penalties shall be paid to the Managed Care Fund.

(d) A health care service plan application shall include a statement advising declarants of the civil penalty authorized under this section.

(e) Commencing January 1, 2028, and every five years thereafter, the penalty amount specified in this section shall be adjusted based on the average rate of change in premium rates for the individual and small group markets, and weighted by enrollment, since the previous adjustment.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 985, Sec. 6. (SB 858) Effective January 1, 2023.)