Chap. 373.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 4258-h, as amended,of the
Code of Virginia, defining group life insurance. [S 140]

Approved March 31, 1944

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That section forty-two hundred fifty-eight-h of the Code of Vir-
ginia, as amended, be amended and re-enacted, as follows:

Section 4258-h. Definition of group life insurance.—Group life in-
surance is hereby declared to be that form of life insurance covering not
less than twenty-five employees with or without medical examination,
written under a policy issued to the employer, the premium on which ts
to be paid by the employees, employer, or by the employer and employees
jointly, and insuring only all of his employees, or all of any class or
classes thereof determined by conditions pertaining to the employment,
for amounts of insurance based upon some plan which will preclude 1n-
dividual selection, for the benefit of persons other than the employer ;
provided, that when the premium is to be paid by the employees or by
the employer and employee jointly and the benefits of the policy are of-
fered to all eligible employees, not less than seventy-five per centum of
such employees may be so insured. ,

The following forms of life insurance are hereby declared to be group
life insurance within the meaning of this section: (a) life insurance
covering the members of one or more companies, batteries, troops. or
other units of the national guard, of any state or the District of Columbia,
written under a policy issued to the commanding general of the national
guard, who shall be deemed to be the employer for the purposes of this
section, the premium on which is to be paid by the members of such
units for the benefits of persons other than the employer ; provided, how-
ever, that when the benefits of the policy are offered to all eligible mem-
bers of a unit of the national guard, not less than seventy-five per centum
of the members of such a unit may be so insured; (b) life insurance
covering the members of one or more troops or other units of Federal,
State, or municipal troopers or Federal, State, or municipal police of any
state, written under a policy issued to the commanding officer of the
Federal, State, or municipal troopers or Federal, State or municipal po-
lice, who shall be deemed to be the employer for the purposes of this sec-
tion, the premium on which is to be paid by the members of such units
for the benefit of persons other than the employer; provided, however,
that when the benefits of the policy are offered to all eligible members
of a unit of the Federal, State, or municipal troopers or Federal, State, or
municipal police not less than seventy-five per centum of the members of
such unit may be so insured; (c) life insurance covering not less than
fifty employees of the Federal, State or a municipal government or of
any department thereof, or of any Federal, State, or municipal bureau,
board, commission or institution, with or without medical examination.
written under a policy issued to the Governor of the State, or to the head
of any Federal, State, or municipal department, bureau, board, commis-
sion, or institution, as the case may be, the premium on which is to be
paid by the employees and insuring only all employees, or all of any class
or classes thereof determined by conditions pertaining to the employment,
for amounts of insurance based upon some plan which will preclude in-
dividual selection, for the benefit of persons other than the employer ;
provided, that when the benefits of the policy are offered to all eligible
employees, not less than seventy-five per centum of such employees may
be so insured; (d) life insurance covering the members of any labor
union, written under a policy issued to such union which shall be deemed
to be the emplover for the purpose of this section, the premium on which
is to be paid by the union or by the union and its members, jointly, and
insuring only all of its members who are actively engaged in the same
occupation, for amounts of insurance based upon some plan which will
preclude individual selection, for the benefit of persons other than the
union or its officials; provided, that when the premium is to be paid by
the union and its members jointly and the benefits are offered to all
eligible members, not less than seventy-five per centum of such members
may be so insured; provided further that when members apply and pay
for additional amounts of insurance a smaller percentage of members may
be insured for such additional amounts if they pass satisfactory medical
examinations; (e) life insurance covering the members of any voluntary
association of employees of one employer, written under a policy issued
to such association which shall be deemed to be the employer for the pur-
pose of this section, the premium on which shall be paid by the associa-
tion, and insuring a portion or all of its members for amounts of insur-
ance based upon some plan which shall preclude individual selection, for
the benef of persons other than the employer; provided, however, such
members may obtain additional insurance through such association if
they furnish evidence of insurability satisfactory to the life insurance
company ; (f) life insurance issued to a creditor or vendor, who or which
shall be deemed to be the policy-holder and for the purpose of this section
the employer. insuring only all of the members, or only all of the mem-
bers except those as to whom the evidence of insurability submitted is
not satisfactory to the insurer, of a group of debtors or vendees, defined
as follows: all of the borrowers, or borrowers and guarantors of bor-
rowers, from one financial or other institution or from such institution
and its subsidiary or affiliated companies, or all of the purchasers of
securities, merchandise or other property from one vendor, or all of any
class or classes of such debtors or purchasers determined by conditions
pertaining to the type of indebtedness or purchase, under agreements by
such debtors or such purchasers for the payment of the sum borrowed
or the balance of the purchase price, as the case may be, in instalments
over a period of not more than ten years; when the premium, or any part
thereof, for such insurance is to be paid, either directly or indirectly, by
the insured debtors, guarantors or debtors or vendees and the benefits
of the policy are offered to all eligible debtors, guarantors of debtors or
vendees, not less than seventy-five per centum of such debtors. guarantors
of debtors or vendees may be so insured; no such group shall be eligible
for insurance hereunder unless the new entrants to such group number
at least one hundred persons annually; such policy may be issued to an
assignee to whom such creditor or vendor has transferred or agreed to
transfer all of its right, title, and interest to the unpaid indebtedness, or
to the unpaid purchase price, under all such agreements made by it; the
amount of insurance thereunder on any person insured shall not at any
time exceed the amount of unpaid indebtedness due from such person
or the amount of the purchase price unpaid by such person, nor the sum
of ten thousand dollars, whichever is less; the premiums on such insur-
ance shall be remitted by the policyholder to the insurer; the benefits
thereof shall be payable to the policyholder, and the receipt of such
benefits by the policyholder shall release the insurer from all obligations
under the policy to the extent of the benefits so paid; the amount of any
death benefit received by the policyholder thereunder shall be applied
by the policyholder to the discharge of any obligation of the person in-
sured, or his personal representatives, to the policyholder: (g) life in-
surance covering the employees of two or more employers, referred to
in this clause (g) as “individual employers”, who are bona fide members
of an incorporated association, formed for purposes other than obtaining
insurance, of employers engaged in the same or a similar kind or class
of business. written under a policy issued to such association which shall
be deemed to be the employer for the purpose of this section and section
forty-two hundred fifty-eight-i, the premium to be paid by the individual
employers or by the individual employers and employees jointly, and
insuring, with or without medical examination, all employees, or all of any
class or classes thereof determined in accordance with a uniform plan
by conditions pertaining to the employment, of those individual emplover
members of the association who, under a plan establishing an eligible
class or classes of individual employers according to some condition not
pertaining to the insurance, elect for their employees to be insured, for
amounts based upon some uniform plan which will preclude individual
selection, for the benefit of persons other than the association or the in-
dividual employer ; provided, either (a) the total insured employees must
not be less than one thousand, and not less than seventy-five per centum
of the total insured employees must be employees of one or more in-
dividual employers with at least twenty insured employees each, and not
more than ten per centum of the total insured employees may be em-
ployees of individual employers with less than ten insured emplovees
each, or (b) the total insured employees must not be less than two hun-
dred fifty, nor less than seventy-five per centum of the total number in
the eligible classes of employees of all individual employers who are
eligible to elect for their employees to be insured; each individual em-
ployer, in so far as applicable to his own employees, may select the method
of apportionment of the premium payment between himself and his em-
ployees, and such method may be varied as among the individual em-
ployer members; when the premium is to be paid by the individual
employer and employees jointly, not less than seventy-five per centum
of the eligible employees of each covered individual employer may be
so insured; individuals constituting an individual employer may be in-
sured hereunder as employees.