Section Ins 1103.02 - Confidentiality and Disclosure of Test Results(a) All information in the possession of or available to an insurer regarding the results of any test for the human immunodeficiency virus shall be maintained as confidential information and shall be protected against inadvertent or unwarranted intrusion. The insurer shall take all necessary measures to maintain and assure the confidentiality and privacy of an individual applicant's test results.(b) Insurers shall establish written policies and procedures to govern the internal dissemination of test results among their officers, employees, and producers. These policies and procedures shall be designed to assure compliance with the duties imposed by (a) above. Such policies and procedures shall also be designed to assure that only those officers, employees, or producers of the company whose official duties establish a definite, operational need for information regarding test results shall have access to such information.(c) With respect to positive test results, each insurer's policies and procedures established in order to comply with (b) above shall:(1) State that laboratory reports shall be routinely received from the laboratory only by the company physician(s) and/or designated underwriting executive(s) retained or employed by the company;(2) State that the company physician(s) and/or designated underwriting executives(s) authorized to initially receive the report shall designate who shall see each report on a strict "need-to-know" basis;(3) State that each referral of a file shall be documented;(4) Be distributed to all persons with access to positive test results: a. Upon adoption of the policy; andb. If an employee is hired after the date of adoption, at the time such employee is hired; and(5) Contain a statement about specific penalties to be enforced for willful or negligent abuse of its requirements.(d) Each insurer currently engaged in the business of life insurance or health insurance shall submit a copy of its written policies and/or procedures designed to safeguard the confidentiality of human immunodeficiency virus test results to the insurance commissioner for review. Filings shall be made each time the insurer makes a change to such policies or procedures. Insurers authorized to do life or health insurance business but who are not currently engaged in either shall submit a statement to that effect.(e) An insurer may disclose any test result, other than a positive test result, to its reinsurers, contractually retained medical personnel, laboratories and insurance affiliates. However, such disclosure shall only be made if, and to the extent that, it is necessary to the making of underwriting decisions regarding the particular individual's application. Under no circumstances shall any such disclosure be made to the producers of the insurer.(f) The insurer shall not submit positive test results to the MIB in any way that would identify a particular individual applicant as having had a positive test result for the human immunodeficiency virus. If an individual has a positive test result, the insurer may disclose to the MIB that the individual had an abnormal laboratory test, but shall not disclose the type of test, which was abnormal.(g) Each insurer shall maintain data enabling it to report the number of New Hampshire applicants for insurance tested for antibodies or antigens to the human immunodeficiency virus and the number of such applicants denied insurance as a result of such test results. This information shall be made available to the insurance commissioner upon request.(h) In the event of a positive test result, an insurer shall disclose the positive test result only to the individual tested or to such other person or entity as authorized in the approved consent form by the individual tested.(i) Disclosure to the individual tested shall include the following language prominently displayed: "A positive test result means that HIV is present in your body fluids (such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions) and that you could infect other people through sexual contact, by sharing intravenous needles, by having a baby, or by donating blood, semen or body organs. Persons who have a positive HIV antibody test should see a physician as soon as possible and refrain from close personal contact with other persons."
(j) Test result information obtained by subpoena or any other method of discovery shall not be released or made public outside of the proceedings for which the information was obtained.N.H. Admin. Code § Ins 1103.02
#6953, eff 3-1-99 (formerly Ins 1101.05); ss by #8826, eff 3-1-07
Amended by Volume XXXV Number 27, Filed July 9, 2015 , Proposed by #10866, Effective 7/1/2015, Expires7/1/2025.