§ 56-12-203 — Part definitions

As used in this part: (1) "Account" means any of the accounts created under § 56-12-205 ; (2) "Association" means the Tennessee life and health insurance guaranty association created under § 56-12-205 ; (3) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of commerce and insurance; (4) "Contractual obligation" means an obligation under a policy or contract or certificate under a group policy or contract, or a portion thereof, for which coverage is provided under § 56-12-204 ; (5) "Covered contract" or "covered policy" means a contract or policy, or a portion of a contract or policy, for which coverage is provided under § 56-12-204 ; (6) "Extra-contractual claims" includes, for example, claims relating to bad faith in the payment of claims, punitive or exemplary damages, or attorneys' fees and costs; (7) "Health benefit plan" means any hospital or medical expense policy or certificate, or health maintenance organization subscriber contract or any other similar health contract. The term does not include accident only insurance, credit insurance, dental only insurance, vision only insurance, Medicare supplement insurance, disability income insurance, coverage for on-site medical clinics, benefits for long-term care, home health care, community-based care or any combination thereof, specified disease, hospital confinement indemnity, or limited benefit health insurance if the types of coverage do not provide coordination of benefits and are provided under separate policies or certificates, or other limited benefit or supplemental health insurance excluded from the definition of health insurance in § 56-1-105 ; (8) "Impaired insurer" means a member insurer which, after July 1, 1989, is not an insolvent insurer, and is placed under an order of rehabilitation or conservation by a court of competent jurisdiction; (9) "Insolvent insurer" means a member insurer which, after July 1, 1989, is placed under an order of liquidation by a court of competent jurisdiction with a finding of insolvency; (10) "Insurance" means life, annuity, and health benefits provided under a contract issued by a member insurer; (11) "Long-term care insurance" has the same meaning as set forth in § 56-42-103(5) ; (12) "Member insurer" means an insurer, health maintenance organization, or nonprofit hospital and medical service organization licensed or that holds a certificate of authority to transact in this state any kind of insurance or health maintenance organization business for which coverage is provided under § 56-12-204 , and includes an insurer or health maintenance organization whose license or certificate of authority in this state may have been suspended, revoked, not renewed, or voluntarily withdrawn, but does not include: (A) A fraternal benefit society; (B) A mandatory state pooling plan; (C) A mutual assessment company or other person that operates on an assessment basis; (D) An insurance exchange; (E) An organization that is authorized under the law of this state to issue charitable gift annuities; or (F) An entity similar to any of the above; (13) "Moody's Corporate Bond Yield Average" means the Monthly Average Corporates as published by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., or any successor thereto; (14) "Owner" of a policy or contract and "policyholder," "policy owner," and "contract owner" mean the person who is identified as the legal owner under the terms of the policy or contract or who is otherwise vested with legal title to the policy or contract through a valid assignment completed in accordance with the terms of the policy or contract and properly recorded as the owner on the books of the member insurer. "Owner", "policyholder", "policy owner", and "contract owner" does not include persons with a mere beneficial interest in a policy or contract; (15) "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, governmental body or entity, or voluntary organization; (16) "Premiums" means amounts or considerations, by whatever name called, received on covered policies or contracts less returned premiums, considerations, and deposits and less dividends and experience credits. "Premiums" does not include amounts or considerations received for policies or contracts, or for the portions of policies or contracts for which coverage is not provided under § 56-12-204(b) , except that assessable premium must not be reduced on account of § 56-12-204(b)(2)(C) relating to interest limitations or § 56-12-204(c)(2) relating to limitations with respect to one (1) individual, one (1) participant, and one (1) policy or contract owner. "Premiums" does not include: (A) Premiums on an unallocated annuity contract; or (B) With respect to multiple non-group policies of life insurance owned by one (1) owner, whether the policy or contract owner is an individual, firm, corporation, or other person, and whether the persons insured are officers, managers, employees, or other persons, premiums in excess of five million dollars ($5,000,000) with respect to these policies or contracts, regardless of the number of policies or contracts held by the owner; (17) "Principal place of business" of a person, other than a natural person, means the single state in which the natural person who establishes a policy for the direction, control, and coordination of the operations of the entity as a whole, primarily exercises that function as determined by the association in its reasonable judgment by considering the following factors: (A) The state in which the primary executive and administrative headquarters of the entity is located; (B) The state in which the principal office of the chief executive officer of the entity is located; (C) The state in which the board of directors or similar governing person or persons of the entity conducts the majority of its meetings; (D) The state in which the executive or management committee of the board of directors or similar governing person or persons of the entity conducts the majority of its meetings; and (E) The state from which the management of the overall operations of the entity is directed; (18) "Receivership court" means the court in the insolvent or impaired insurer's state having jurisdiction over the conservation, rehabilitation, or liquidation of the member insurer; (19) "Resident" means a person to whom a contractual obligation is owed and who resides in this state on the date of entry of a court order that determines a member insurer to be an impaired insurer or a court order that determines a member insurer to be an insolvent insurer. A person may be a resident of only one (1) state, which, in the case of a person other than a natural person, is its principal place of business. Citizens of the United States who are either residents of foreign countries or residents of United States possessions, territories, or protectorates that do not have an association similar to the association created by this part are deemed residents of the state of domicile of the member insurer that issued the policies or contracts; (20) "State" means a state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and a United States possession, territory, or protectorate; (21) "Structured settlement annuity" means an annuity purchased in order to fund periodic payments for a plaintiff or other claimant in payment for, or with respect to, personal injury suffered by the plaintiff or other claimant; (22) "Supplemental contract" means a written agreement entered into for the distribution of proceeds under a life, health, or annuity policy or contract; and (23) "Unallocated annuity contract" means an annuity contract or group annuity certificate which is not issued to and owned by an individual, except to the extent of any annuity benefits guaranteed to an individual by an insurer under the contract or certificate.

Legislative History

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 5,s 2, eff. 7/1/2019. Acts 1988, ch. 1032, § 4; 1995, ch. 110, § 1; 2000, ch. 895, § 12; 2010, ch. 713, § 1.