                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ELECTRONIC DELIVERY (§ 38.2-325)

A. As used in this section, &#8220;plan sponsor&#8221; means a person, other
than the regulated entity, who establishes, adopts, or maintains a health
benefit plan, including a dental or vision benefit plan, that covers individuals
in the Commonwealth, including a plan established, adopted, or maintained by an
employer or jointly by an employer and one or more employee organizations, an
association, a committee, a joint board of trustees, or any similar group of
representatives who establish, adopt, or maintain a plan.

B. If parties have agreed to conduct business by electronic means, and the agent
of record, if applicable, has been so notified by the insurer, any information
that is required to be delivered in writing may be delivered by (i) placing such
information within the body of the electronic message; (ii) placing such
information as an attachment to the electronic message that may be opened
through the use of software that is readily available; (iii) displaying the
information, or a clear and conspicuous link to the information, as an essential
step to completing the transaction to which the information relates; or (iv)
placing such information on the insurer&#8217;s secured server and an electronic
message is provided advising that insurance information or, when appropriate,
time-sensitive insurance information has been placed on the insurer&#8217;s
secured server and is available for retrieval. This section should be construed
to be consistent with the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce
Act (15 U.S.C. &#xA7; 7001 et seq.).

C. If parties have agreed to conduct business by electronic means, and notice is
provided by the insurer to the named insured pursuant to &#xA7; 38.2-231,
38.2-2113, 38.2-2114, 38.2-2208, or 38.2-2212, an electronic notification shall
also be provided to the agent of record of the named insured, if the named
insured has an agent of record. Such electronic notification shall be
transmitted to the agent of record as soon as practicable, but in no case more
than 72 hours after electronic notice is transmitted to the named insured.

D. The insurer shall retain evidence of electronic notification to the agent of
record for at least one year from the date of transmittal. Failure to provide
such notice to the agent of record shall not be deemed to invalidate any
electronic notice otherwise properly provided to the named insured. For purposes
of this section, an electronic notification to the agent of record shall mean a
copy of the actual notice, as set forth herein, or in the alternative, shall
include the named insured&#8217;s name, policy number, and termination date.
Electronic notice need not be given to the agent of record if the agent (i) is
an employee of the insurer, (ii) is a non-employee exclusive agent of the
insurer, or (iii) has waived the receipt of such notices in writing.

E. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any property and casualty
insurance forms and endorsements that do not contain personally identifiable
information may be posted to the insurer&#8217;s publicly available website in
lieu of any other method of delivery, provided that:

   1. Such forms and endorsements are readily accessible on the insurer&#8217;s
   website and that once such forms or endorsements are no longer used in the
   Commonwealth they are stored in a readily accessible archive portion of the
   insurer&#8217;s website;

   2. Such forms and endorsements are posted in such a manner that they may be
   readily printed and downloaded without charge and without the use of any
   special program or application that is not readily available to the public
   without charge;

   3. The insurer provides written notice at time of the issuance of the initial
   policy forms and any renewal forms of a method by which policyholders may
   obtain, upon request and without charge, a paper or electronic copy of their
   policy or contract; and

   4. The insurer gives notice, in the manner it customarily communicates with a
   policyholder, of any changes to the forms or endorsements, and of the
   policyholder&#8217;s right to obtain, upon request and without charge, a paper
   or electronic copy of such forms or endorsements.

F. The notification to an insurer of any change of the electronic address for
the named insured shall be the sole responsibility of the named insured or the
plan sponsor, if applicable. The giving to the agent of record by any person of
notice of such change of the named insured&#8217;s electronic address shall not
be deemed to be notice to the insurer unless it is specifically identified as a
change and receipt has been accepted by the agent of record.

G. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any evidence of coverage or other
forms that do not contain personally identifiable information that a health
carrier is required to provide to a policyholder, subscriber, or enrollee may be
delivered electronically to the policyholder, subscriber, or enrollee or posted
to the health carrier&#8217;s publicly available website in lieu of any other
method of delivery, provided that:

   1. Such evidence of coverage and endorsements, riders, or amendments to it are
   readily accessible on the health carrier&#8217;s website and that once such
   evidence of coverage and endorsements, riders, or amendments to it are no
   longer used in the Commonwealth they will be made available electronically
   upon request;

   2. Such evidence of coverage and endorsements, riders, or amendments to it are
   posted in such a manner that they may be readily printed and downloaded
   without charge and without the use of any special program or application that
   is not readily available to the public without charge;

   3. The health carrier provides written notice at the time of the issuance of
   the initial evidence of coverage and any renewals of a method by which the
   policyholder, subscriber, or enrollee may obtain, upon request and without
   charge, a paper or electronic copy of such person&#8217;s evidence of coverage
   or endorsements, riders, or amendments to it; and

   4. The health carrier gives notice, in the manner in which it customarily
   communicates with a policyholder, subscriber, or enrollee, of any changes to
   the evidence of coverage or endorsements, riders, or amendments to it and of
   the right of such policyholder, subscriber, or enrollee to obtain a paper or
   electronic copy of such evidence of coverage or endorsements, riders, or
   amendments to it.

H. A plan sponsor may agree on behalf of a party enrolled in the sponsored
health benefit plan to conduct business by electronic means, provided that the
plan sponsor, prior to agreeing on behalf of the party, has confirmed that the
party routinely uses electronic communications during the normal course of
employment and has provided notice to the party regarding the ability to opt out
of using electronic means at any time. The insurer shall provide notice of the
procedures the party is required to follow to withdraw consent and to update the
person&#8217;s email address. Such notice shall include a statement of the right
of the party to have any notice or document delivered, upon request, in paper
form free of charge.

HISTORY: 2009, c. 215; 2012, c. 293; 2013, c. 257; 2016, c. 475; 2024, c. 197.