§ 27-41-2. Definitions.

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RI Code › Title 27 › Chapter 27-41 › Section 27-41-2

This text was captured on Aug 14, 2026. It is a snapshot, not a live feed, so check the official code before relying on it.

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As used in this chapter:

(1) €œAdverse benefit determination€ means any of the following: a denial, reduction, or termination of, or a failure to provide or make payment (in whole or in part) for, a benefit, including any such denial, reduction, termination, or failure to provide or make payment that is based on a determination of an individual€™s eligibility to participate in a plan or to receive coverage under a plan, and including, with respect to group health plans, a denial, reduction, or termination of, or a failure to provide or make payment (in whole or in part) for, a benefit resulting from the application of any utilization review, as well as a failure to cover an item or service for which benefits are otherwise provided because it is determined to be experimental or investigational or not medically necessary or appropriate. The term also includes a rescission of coverage determination.

(2) €œAffordable Care Act€ means the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub. L. No. 111-152, 124 Stat. 1029, and federal regulations adopted thereunder.

(3) €œCommissioner€ or €œhealth insurance commissioner€ means that individual appointed pursuant to §€‚42-14.5-1.

(4) €œCovered health services€ means the services that a health maintenance organization contracts with enrollees and enrolled groups to provide or make available to an enrolled participant.

(5) €œDirector€ means the director of the department of business regulation or his or her duly appointed agents.

(6) €œEmployee€ means any person who has entered into the employment of or works under a contract of service or apprenticeship with any employer. It shall not include a person who has been employed for less than thirty (30) days by his or her employer, nor shall it include a person who works less than an average of thirty (30) hours per week. For the purposes of this chapter, the term €œemployee€ means a person employed by an €œemployer€ as defined in subsection (7) of this section. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the terms €œemployee€ and €œemployer€ are to be defined according to the rules and regulations of the department of labor and training.

(7) €œEmployer€ means any person, partnership, association, trust, estate, or corporation, whether foreign or domestic, or the legal representative, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, or trustee of a receiver, or the legal representative of a deceased person, including the state of Rhode Island and each city and town in the state, that has in its employ one or more individuals during any calendar year. For the purposes of this section, the term €œemployer€ refers only to an employer with persons employed within the state of Rhode Island.

(8) €œEnrollee€ means an individual who has been enrolled in a health maintenance organization.

(9) €œEssential health benefits€ shall have the meaning set forth in section 1302(b) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [42 U.S.C. §€‚18022(b)].

(10) €œEvidence of coverage€ means any certificate, agreement, or contract issued to an enrollee setting out the coverage to which the enrollee is entitled.

(11) €œGrandfathered health plan€ means any group health plan or health insurance coverage subject to 42 U.S.C. §€‚18011.

(12) €œGroup health insurance coverage€ means, in connection with a group health plan, health insurance coverage offered in connection with that plan.

(13) €œGroup health plan€ means an employee welfare benefit plan as defined in 29 U.S.C. §€‚1002(1), to the extent that the plan provides health benefits to employees or their dependents directly or through insurance, reimbursement, or otherwise.

(12) €œGroup health insurance coverage€ means, in connection with a group health plan, health insurance coverage offered in connection with that plan.

(13) €œGroup health plan€ means an employee welfare benefit plan as defined in 29 U.S.C. §€‚1002(1), to the extent that the plan provides health benefits to employees or their dependents directly or through insurance, reimbursement, or otherwise.

(14) €œHealth benefits€ or €œcovered benefits€ means coverage or benefits for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or amounts paid for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body including coverage or benefits for transportation primarily for and essential thereto, and including medical services as defined in §€‚27-19-17.

(15) €œHealthcare facility€ means an institution providing healthcare services or a healthcare setting, including, but not limited, to hospitals and other licensed inpatient centers, ambulatory surgical or treatment centers, skilled nursing centers, residential treatment centers, diagnostic, laboratory and imaging centers, and rehabilitation and other therapeutic health settings.

(16) €œHealthcare professional€ means a physician or other healthcare practitioner licensed, accredited, or certified to perform specified healthcare services consistent with state law.

(17) €œHealthcare provider€ or €œprovider€ means a healthcare professional or a healthcare facility.

(18) €œHealthcare services€ means any services included in the furnishing to any individual of medical, podiatric, or dental care, or hospitalization, or incident to the furnishing of that care or hospitalization, and the furnishing to any person of any and all other services for the purpose of preventing, alleviating, curing, or healing human illness, injury, or physical disability.

(19) €œHealth insurance carrier€ means a person, firm, corporation, or other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the commissioner under this chapter, and includes a health maintenance organization. Such term does not include a group health plan.

(20) €œHealth maintenance organization€ means a single public or private organization that:

(i) Provides or makes available to enrolled participants healthcare services, including at least the following basic healthcare services: usual physician services, hospitalization, laboratory, x-ray, emergency, and preventive services, and out-of-area coverage, and the services of licensed midwives;

(ii) Is compensated, except for copayments, for the provision of the basic healthcare services listed in subsection (20)(i) of this section to enrolled participants on a predetermined periodic rate basis;

(iii)(A) Provides physicians€™ services primarily:

(I) Directly through physicians who are either employees or partners of the organization; or

(II) Through arrangements with individual physicians or one or more groups of physicians organized on a group practice or individual practice basis;

(B) €œHealth maintenance organization€ does not include prepaid plans offered by entities regulated under chapter 1, 2, 19, or 20 of this title that do not meet the criteria above and do not purport to be health maintenance organizations; and

(iv) Provides the services of licensed midwives primarily:

(A) Directly through licensed midwives who are either employees or partners of the organization; or

(B) Through arrangements with individual licensed midwives or one or more groups of licensed midwives organized on a group practice or individual practice basis.

(21) €œLicensed midwife€ means any midwife licensed pursuant to §€‚23-13-9.

(22) €œMaterial modification€ means only systemic changes to the information filed under §€‚27-41-3.

(23) €œNet worth,€ for the purposes of this chapter, means the excess of total admitted assets over total liabilities.

(24) €œOffice of the health insurance commissioner€ means the agency established under §€‚42-14.5-1.

) €œLicensed midwife€ means any midwife licensed pursuant to §€‚23-13-9.

(22) €œMaterial modification€ means only systemic changes to the information filed under §€‚27-41-3.

(23) €œNet worth,€ for the purposes of this chapter, means the excess of total admitted assets over total liabilities.

(24) €œOffice of the health insurance commissioner€ means the agency established under §€‚42-14.5-1.

(25) €œPhysician€ includes a podiatrist as defined in chapter 29 of title 5.

(26) €œPrivate organization€ means a legal corporation with a policy-making and governing body.

(27) €œProvider€ means any physician, hospital, licensed midwife, or other person who or that is licensed or authorized in this state to furnish healthcare services.

(28) €œPublic organization€ means an instrumentality of government.

(29) €œRescission€ means a cancellation or discontinuance of coverage that has retroactive effect for reasons unrelated to timely payment of required premiums or contribution to costs of coverage.

(30) €œRisk-based capital (€˜RBC€™) instructions€ means the risk-based capital report including risk-based capital instructions adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (€œNAIC€), as these risk-based capital instructions are amended by the NAIC in accordance with the procedures adopted by the NAIC.

(31) €œTotal adjusted capital€ means the sum of:

(i) A health maintenance organization€™s statutory capital and surplus (i.e., net worth) as determined in accordance with the statutory accounting applicable to the annual financial statements required to be filed under §€‚27-41-9; and

(ii) Any other items, if any, that the RBC instructions provide.

(32) €œUncovered expenditures€ means the costs of healthcare services that are covered by a health maintenance organization, but that are not guaranteed, insured, or assumed by a person or organization other than the health maintenance organization. Expenditures to a provider who or that agrees not to bill enrollees under any circumstances are excluded from this definition.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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§ 27-41-2. Definitions. · R.I. Gen. Laws § 27-41-2 | Frix