Residual market, department to develop plan

287.896. Residual market, department to develop plan — insurers to participate, rates, procedures — duties of director. — 1. Within forty-five days of August 28, 1993, the director of the department of commerce and insurance shall approve a plan of operation for a new residual market that will guarantee insurance coverage and quality loss prevention and control services for employers seeking coverage through the plan. The new residual market shall begin operation January 1, 1994.

2. All insurers authorized to write workers' compensation and employers' liability insurance shall participate in such plan providing for the equitable apportionment among them of insurance which may be afforded applicants who are in good faith entitled to but who are unable to procure such insurance through ordinary methods, except that all employers that have expiring annual premiums greater than two hundred fifty thousand dollars must negotiate a retrospective rating plan with their insurer that is acceptable to the director of the department of commerce and insurance. The rates, supplementary rate information and policy forms to be used in such a plan and any future modification thereof must be submitted to the director for approval at least seventy-five days prior to their effective date. Such rates shall be set by the director after hearing so that the amount required in premiums, together with reasonable investment income earned on those premiums, is not excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory and is actuarially sufficient to apply claims and losses and reasonable operating expenses of the insurers. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the director from including a merit rating plan for nonexperienced rated employers within the residual market plan. The director shall adopt within the plan a system to distribute any residual market deficit through an assessment on insurance carriers authorized to write workers' compensation insurance in proportion to the respective share of voluntary market premium written by such carrier.

3. The director shall disapprove any filing that does not meet the requirements of this section. A filing shall be deemed to meet such requirements unless approved, disapproved or modified by the director within seventy-five days after the filing is made. In disapproving a filing made pursuant to this section, the director shall have the same authority and follow the same procedures as in disapproving a rate filing pursuant to the requirements for filings in the voluntary market. The designated advisory organization may make and file the plan of operation, rates, rating plans, rules and policy forms under this section.

4. The director shall establish by rule standards to assure that any employer insured through the plan shall receive the same quality of service in the areas of employee classification, safety engineering, loss control, claims handling and claim reserving practices as do employers which are voluntarily insured as provided in section 287.123. The standards established by the director pursuant to this subsection shall also specify the procedures and grounds under which an employer insured through the plan shall be assigned an insurer, and the method by which such employers shall be informed of such procedures and grounds. All insurers of the residual market shall process applications, conduct safety engineering or other loss control services and provide claims handling within the state of Missouri or adjoining states.