Health care coverage: solicitation.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975 (Knox-Keene Act) , provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law specifies that certain persons who assist applicants in submitting an application to a health care service plan or health insurer have a duty to assist those applicants in providing answers to health questions accurately and completely and requires those persons to make a specified attestation on the written application. This bill would instead impose that requirement on certain persons who assist applicants in completing an application for an individual health care service plan contract or individual health insurance policy. Under existing law, a person who willfully makes a false statement on the attestation described above is subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000. Under the Knox-Keene Act, these penalties are deposited in the Managed Care Fund. This bill would instead require that the penalties be deposited in the Managed Care Administrative Fines and Penalties Fund.