1.Created; purpose.
There is created the Maine Self-Insurance Guarantee Association, a nonprofit unincorporated legal entity referred to in this section as the "association," to provide mechanisms for the payment of covered claims under self-insurance coverage, to avoid excessive delay in payment, to avoid financial loss to claimants because of the insolvency of a self-insurer and to assist, when called upon to do so by the Superintendent of Insurance, in the detection of self-insurer insolvencies. It is declared that the Maine Self-Insurance Guarantee Association is an instrumentality of the State, but the debts and liabilities of the association do not constitute debts and liabilities of the State.
2.Membership required.
All self-insurers, under this Title, must be members of the assoc
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1.
Created; purpose.
There is created the Maine Self-Insurance Guarantee Association, a nonprofit unincorporated legal entity referred to in this section as the "association," to provide mechanisms for the payment of covered claims under self-insurance coverage, to avoid excessive delay in payment, to avoid financial loss to claimants because of the insolvency of a self-insurer and to assist, when called upon to do so by the Superintendent of Insurance, in the detection of self-insurer insolvencies. It is declared that the Maine Self-Insurance Guarantee Association is an instrumentality of the State, but the debts and liabilities of the association do not constitute debts and liabilities of the State.
2.
Membership required.
All self-insurers, under this Title, must be members of the association as a condition of authority to self-insure in this State, except public employers that are individual self-insurers and qualify for the alternative security requirements of section 403, subsection 3, paragraph D and group self-insurers whose membership consists exclusively of public employers and whose members have in the aggregate a state-assessed valuation equal to or in excess of $5,000,000,000. The association shall perform its functions under a plan of operation established or amended, or both, and approved by the superintendent and shall exercise its powers through the board of directors established in this section.
3.
Board of directors.
The board of directors of the association consists of at least 7 persons serving terms as established in the plan of operation pursuant to subsection 5. The members of the board must be selected by the member self-insurers, subject to the approval of the Superintendent of Insurance. Vacancies on the board must be filled for the remaining period of the term in the same manner as initial appointments, except that vacancies may be filled by majority vote of the remaining directors, subject to the approval of the superintendent, until the next annual meeting of the members.
4.
Powers and duties of association.
The powers and duties of the association are as follows.
5.
Plan of operation.
The plan of operation is as follows.
6.
Insolvency.
A self-insurer is insolvent for the purposes of this section under the following circumstances:
7.
Powers and duties of superintendent.
The powers and duties of the Superintendent of Insurance are as follows.
8.
Examination of association.
The association is subject to examination and regulation by the Superintendent of Insurance. The board of directors shall submit, by March 30th of each year, a financial report for the preceding calendar year in a form approved by the superintendent.
9.
Tax exemption.
The association is exempt from payment of all fees and all taxes levied by this State or any of its subdivisions, except taxes levied on real or personal property.
10.
Immunity.
There is no liability on the part of, and a cause of action of any nature does not arise against, any member self-insurer, the association or its agents or employees, the board of directors or its individual members, or the Superintendent of Insurance or the superintendent's representatives for any acts or omissions taken by them in the performance of their powers and duties under this chapter. The immunity established by this subsection does not extend to willful neglect or malfeasance that would otherwise be actionable.
11.
Nonduplication of recovery.
Any person having a covered claim that may be recovered under more than one insurance or self-insurance guarantee association or its equivalent shall seek recovery first from the association of the place of residence of the claimant. Any recovery under this section must be reduced by the amount of recovery from any other insurance guarantee association or its equivalent.
12.
Stay of proceedings.
All proceedings under this Act to which the insolvent insurer is a party either before the board or a court in this State and the running of all time periods against either the insolvent self-insurer or the association under this Act are stayed for 60 days from the date of notice to the association of the insolvency in order to permit the association to investigate, prosecute or defend properly any petition, claim or appeal under this Act. The payment of weekly compensation for incapacity under former Title 39, section 54, 54-A, 54-B, 55, 55-A, 55-B, 56, 56-A, or 56-B or under section 212 or 213 must be made during the time periods in which proceedings affecting the payment of weekly compensation are stayed.
13.
Disposition of assets upon dissolution.
In the event of dissolution of the association, all assets remaining after provision for satisfaction of all outstanding claims must be distributed to the Treasurer of State for establishment of a reserve to satisfy potential claims against the association and, when all claims are satisfied, for inclusion in the general assets of the State.
14.
Statistical advisory organization.