Chapter 176C

Section 1. In this chapter the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings: ''Medical service plan'', any plan or arrangement whereby members of the public pay regular subscription amounts and are entitled in return therefor to medical services. ''Medical servic…

Section 10. The commissioner of insurance or any deputy or other person whom the said commissioner shall designate shall, at least once in three years and whenever he deems it to be prudent, visit any such medical service corporation and examine into its affairs, shall have free …

Section 11. The funds of any corporation subject to this chapter shall be kept only in banks in which funds of the commonwealth are authorized to be deposited, or by depositing on paid-up shares and accounts of and in co-operative banks, or by investing in share accounts of feder…

Section 12. Any dispute arising between a medical service corporation and any medical organization with which such corporation has an agreement as provided by this chapter may be submitted to the department of public health for its decision with respect thereto. All decisions and…

Section 13. If the department of public health is satisfied as to any corporation subject to this chapter that: 1. It has failed to comply with the provisions of its charter, or 2. It is being operated for profit, or 3. It is fraudulently conducted, or 4. Its condition is such as…

Section 14. Every corporation subject to this chapter is hereby declared to be a charitable and benevolent corporation and, except as hereinafter provided, its property shall be exempt from state, county, district and municipal taxes. No such corporation nor any medical organizat…

Section 15. Every corporation subject to this chapter shall annually on or before March first, make a return to the commissioner of revenue, signed and sworn to by a majority of its board of directors, of the total amount of subscription dues paid by subscribing members during th…

Section 16. No corporation subject to this chapter shall pay any salary, compensation or emolument to any officer, trustee or director thereof, nor shall any such corporation pay any salary, compensation or emolument, amounting in any year to more than five thousand dollars, to a…

Section 16A. The pertinent provisions of section one hundred and thirty-eight A of chapter one hundred and seventy-five shall apply to deductions on pay-roll schedules from the salary of any state, county or municipal employee for the payment of the amount payable by such an empl…

Section 17. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the providing of medical services by an educational or other charitable institution to the persons whom it serves, nor to prohibit any business organization from providing medical services for its employees, nor to prohibi…

Section 2. Any medical service plan, and any medical service corporation or medical organization operating in connection with a medical service plan, under the laws of the commonwealth, shall be governed by this chapter and shall, except as otherwise provided by this chapter, be …

Section 3. Persons desiring to form a medical service corporation shall incorporate as provided in section three of chapter one hundred and eighty. Every certificate of organization of a medical service corporation formed under this chapter, before being filed under chapter one h…

Section 4. No medical service corporation shall, through its own agents or employees, provide any medical services, but any such corporation may enter into an agreement with one or more medical organizations whereby said medical organization or organizations agree to provide spec…

Section 5. Any medical organization shall consist of not less than five physicians who are duly registered to practice in the commonwealth and who are members of the Massachusetts Medical Society or other recognized association of physicians, or are members of the staff of any ho…

Section 6. Every registered physician who complies with the qualifications, rules and regulations of a medical organization doing business in the community where such physician resides or practices, approved by the department of public health, shall have the right to become an as…

Section 7. Any person residing in the commonwealth who meets the qualifications specified in the by-laws of a medical service corporation shall have the right to become a subscribing member of the corporation. No officer, agent or employee of a medical service corporation shall i…

Section 8. A subscription agreement in a form approved by the department of public health shall be issued to each subscribing member of a medical service corporation. In addition to any other requirements such a form must meet the minimum readability standards required by section…

Section 9. Every medical service corporation shall annually on or before the first day of March file in the office of the commissioner of insurance a statement verified by at least two of the principal officers of said corporation showing its condition as of the thirty-first day …