2016 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 59A - Insurance Code
Article 16B - Domestic Abuse Insurance Protection
Section 59A-16B-4 - Unfair discrimination on the basis of a person's abuse status prohibited.

59A-16B-4. Unfair discrimination on the basis of a person's abuse status prohibited.

A. An insurer or any person employed by or contracting with an insurer shall not engage in an unfair discriminatory act or practice against a person on the basis of a person's abuse status, including:

(1) denying, refusing to issue, renew or reissue or canceling or otherwise terminating a policy, restricting or excluding coverage or benefits of a policy or charging a higher premium for a policy on the basis of a person's abuse status;

(2) terminating group health coverage for a victim of domestic abuse because coverage was originally issued in the name of an alleged abuser who has divorced, separated from or lost custody of a victim of domestic abuse or because the alleged abuser's coverage has terminated voluntarily or involuntarily. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits an insurer from requiring a victim of domestic abuse to pay the full premium for health insurance coverage or from requiring as a condition of coverage that a victim of domestic abuse reside or work within the insurer's service area, if the requirements are applied to all insureds. The insurer may terminate group health coverage for a victim of domestic abuse after the continuation coverage required by this subsection has been in force for eighteen months if the insurer offers conversion to an equivalent individual plan. The continuation coverage required in this subsection may be satisfied by coverage that is provided under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to a victim of domestic abuse and is not intended to be in addition to coverage provided under that act;

(3) disclosing or transferring confidential abuse information when the insurer or its employee or contractor has information in its possession that clearly indicates that the applicant or insured is a subject of domestic abuse. The provisions of this paragraph do not prohibit disclosure of information:

(a) to a victim of domestic abuse or an individual specifically designated in writing by the victim, and nothing in this section prohibits a victim of domestic abuse from obtaining the victim's own insurance records;

(b) to a health care provider for the direct provision of health care services;

(c) to a licensed physician identified and designated by the victim of domestic abuse;

(d) pursuant to an order of the superintendent or a court of competent jurisdiction, or as otherwise required by law;

(e) when necessary for a valid business purpose to transfer information that includes confidential abuse information that cannot reasonably be segregated without undue hardship or that is relevant to processing a claim, provided the recipient has agreed to be bound by the provisions of the Domestic Abuse Insurance Protection Act in all respects and to be subject to enforcement of that act in the courts of this state, and the information is disclosed or transferred only: 1) to a reinsurer that seeks to indemnify or indemnifies all or part of a policy covering a victim of domestic abuse and that cannot underwrite or satisfy its obligations under the reinsurance agreement without the information; 2) to a party to a proposed or consummated sale, transfer, merger or consolidation of all or part of the business of the insurer; 3) to medical or claims personnel contracting with the insurer, its parent or affiliated companies that have service agreements with the insurer, but only when necessary to process an application or claim, perform the insurer's duties under the policy or protect the safety or privacy of a victim of domestic abuse; or 4) with respect to address and telephone number, to entities with which the insurer transacts business when the business cannot be transacted without the address or telephone number;

(f) to an attorney who needs the information to represent the insurer effectively, provided the insurer notifies the attorney of its obligations under the Domestic Abuse Insurance Protection Act and requires that the attorney exercise due diligence to protect confidential abuse information consistent with the attorney's obligation to represent the insurer;

(g) to the policy owner or assignee, in the course of delivery of the policy, if the policy contains information about abuse status; or

(h) to any other entities deemed appropriate by the superintendent; or

(4) requesting information about an applicant's or insured's abuse status, or making use of this information, however obtained, except:

(a) for the limited purpose of complying with legal obligations;

(b) when verifying a person's claim to be a victim of domestic abuse or to be suffering from an abuse-related medical condition; or

(c) when cooperating with a victim of domestic abuse in seeking protection from abuse or facilitating the treatment of an abuse-related medical condition.

B. An insurer may deny a claim when the damage or loss is the result of intentional conduct by a named insured who commits an act of domestic abuse, except that the insurer shall make a payment on such a claim to an innocent insured victim of domestic abuse to the extent of that insured's interest in the property and within the limits of coverage where the damage was proximately related to and in furtherance of domestic abuse. An insurer paying such a claim for property damage shall be subrogated to the rights of the innocent insured claimant to recover for any damages paid by the insurance.

C. The provisions of this section apply to and protect the following applicants for insurance or insured persons, excluding a person who commits an act of domestic abuse, from an unfair discriminatory act or practice on the basis of any person's abuse status:

(1) a victim of domestic abuse;

(2) a person that provides shelter, counseling or protection to victims of domestic abuse;

(3) a person who employs or is employed by a victim of domestic abuse;

(4) a person with whom an applicant or insured is known to have a direct, close personal, family or abuse-related counseling relationship;

(5) a beneficiary of an insurance contract; or

(6) a participant in an insurance plan.

D. Nothing in the Domestic Abuse Insurance Protection Act prohibits a life insurer from declining to issue a life insurance policy if the applicant or prospective owner of the policy is or would be designated as a beneficiary of the policy and if:

(1) the applicant or prospective owner of the policy lacks an insurable interest in the insured;

(2) the applicant or prospective owner of the policy is known, on the basis of medical, police or court records, to have committed an act of domestic abuse against the proposed insured; or

(3) the insured or prospective insured is a victim of domestic abuse, and that person, or a person who has assumed the care of that person if a minor or incapacitated, has objected to the issuance of the policy on the ground that the policy would be issued to or for the direct or indirect benefit of the abuser.

E. An insurer shall not be civilly or criminally liable for the death of or injury to an insured resulting from an action taken in a good faith effort to comply with the requirements of the Domestic Abuse Insurance Protection Act. The provisions of this subsection do not, however, prevent an action by the superintendent to investigate a violation of that act or to assert any other claims authorized by law.

F. Nothing in the Domestic Abuse Insurance Protection Act prohibits an insurer from asking about a medical condition, claims history or other underwriting information or from using that information to underwrite or to carry out its duties under the policy, even if the information is related to a condition or event that the insurer knows or has reason to know is abuse-related.

G. An insurer shall not be liable for a violation of the Domestic Abuse Insurance Protection Act by a person who is a contractor with the insurer unless the insurer directed the act or omission that constitutes the violation.

History: Laws 1997, ch. 141, 4.