(a) A small employer carrier may elect to refuse to renew all small employer health benefit plans delivered or issued for delivery by the small employer carrier in this state or in a geographic service area. The small employer carrier must notify the commissioner and each affected covered small employer of the election as provided in Insurance Code §1501.109 (concerning Refusal to Renew; Discontinuation of Coverage).
(b) The small employer carrier may not write a new small employer health benefit plan in this state or in the geographic service area, as applicable, for five years after notice to the commissioner of the election to refuse to renew. A small employer carrier that elects not to renew may not resume offering health benefit plans to small employers in this state or in the geographic area for which the election was made until it has filed a petition with the commissioner to be reinstated as a small employer carrier and the petition has been approved. In reviewing the petition, the commissioner may ask for information and assurances as the commissioner finds reasonable and appropriate.
(c) A small employer carrier may elect to discontinue a particular type of small employer coverage only if the small employer carrier:
  (1) before the 90th day preceding the date of the discontinuation of the coverage:
    (A) provides notice of the discontinuation to each employer and TDI; and
    (B) offers to each employer the option to purchase other small employer coverage offered by the small employer carrier at the time of the discontinuation; and
  (2) acts uniformly without regard to the claims experience of the employer or any health-status-related factors of employees or dependents or new employees or dependents who may become eligible for the coverage.

Source Note: The provisions of this §26.16 adopted to be effective April 9, 1996, 21 TexReg 2648; amended to be effective March 5, 1998, 23 TexReg 2297; amended to be effective April 6, 2005, 30 TexReg 1931; amended to be effective May 17, 2017, 42 TexReg 2539