North Carolina Department of Insurance, Jim Long Commissioner North Carolina Department of Insurance, Jim Long Commissioner North Carolina Department of Insurance, Jim Long Commissioner North Carolina Department of Insurance, Jim Long Commissioner
 
Life & Health Division
FORM & RATE FILINGS - CONTRACTS
 
 
NC NoPaPER Electronic Filing Instructions
 
Filing Forms and/or Rates with the Life & Health Division
 
We are pleased to announce North Carolina's New Paperless Process of Electronic Review, i.e., NC NoPaPER, as a new option for making filings electronically. Thanks to advances in technology a paperless Email process has been developed that supports the review and storage protocol of the Life & Health Division (Life & Health). This new filing process is being introduced to meet internal speed to market goals as well as the NAIC's goals for time to approval established by its Improvements to State-Based Systems (IS3) Working Group which become effective December 1, 2002.
 
North Carolina will now accept electronic submissions delivered both via SERFF or NC NoPaPER. During this paperless transition, printed-paper Form and Rate submissions will continue to be accepted. However, communications between Life & Health and the Industry will take the form of electronic e-mail rather than printed-paper mailings. Each filer must provide a valid e-mail address with their filing, whether paper or electronic, or their submission will be rejected.
 
Public Record Submissions - Please Follow These Steps:
 
Convert all of your paper transmittal documents including forms, actuarial materials, transmittal header and/or cover letter to Adobe 6.0 (PDF). Attach all components of the filing to an e-mail message and address to landhdivision@ncdoi.net.
 
L&H does not accept multi company filings under a single cover letter or email submission. Each company must file in its own name. Please do not mix unrelated forms in the same submission.
 
Complete the body of your Email in this order:
 
  1. List the Company Name
  2. Identify the Product Type
  3. State the Total Number of New Forms and Total Number of Pages
  4. Identify Filing (New Form; Rate Revision; Provider Agreement; Initial Operations; Intermediately; Network Addition; etc)
  5. Code Type of Insurance - Use L&H Product Coding Link at: North Carolina - Adopts NAIC Uniformed Product Codes
  6. List Filer's Initials, Name and E-mail Address.
  7. Label and Attach PDF Documents to Your Email as Follows:

    • Transmittal Header or Cover Letter
    • Actuarial Demonstration
    • Provider Agreement
    • Credentialing
    • Utilization Review
    • Grievances
    • Supplemental documents
    • Other (Specify)

  8. Resubmissions shall include a red-lined comparison reflecting the changes you have made to the form(s) in response to a communication of disapproval from this Division pursuant to T11 NCAC 12.0329(3)(h), Please also include in your cover letter or separately a statement that affirms no other changes have been made to the form(s) other than those reflected in the red-line copy, unless such is not true. Should other changes have been made, the cover letter shall outline the changes and indicate where the changes were made in the form(s).
Utilize Acrobat Adobe version 6.0 or earlier to create your Initial Operations submission. Adobe provides the tools to create Bookmarks / Tabs / Index Pages / Table of Contents / Text Highlights / Comments.
 
Life & Health will create a work unit and assign your filing to appropriate staff for review. Each submitted document will be attached to the work unit which is accessible to you on-line. An electronic e-mail notification will be generated and sent to you identifying the Life & Health tracking file number and Reviewer when the work unit is created. Staff will communicate to you through email prompts that will link you to your work unit.
 
Life & Health communications (notes to filer; approval or disapproval letters), are attached to the work unit and accessible to you on-line.
 
To expedite the review of your submission, we encourage you to complete and submit along with your filing, the appropriate Life & Health checklist.
 
To check the status of your file or to read correspondence generated by the Reviewer go to: Search Company Filings and enter the L&H Tracking Number and select "retrieve".
 
If your submission exceeds the document size afforded e-mail transmittals, we will accept your filing on Compact Disc or Diskette.
 
In regard to product coding, the NAIC Uniform Product Coding Matrix (LA&H Matrix) adopted at the December 2002 Conference will also be adopted by the L&H Division and should be used by the filer to code their submission.
 
Non-Public Records - Only confidential materials properly prepared and submitted will be accepted for review. Please review our filing instructions before making your submission at: Filing Instructions
 
Follow the Public Record filing steps. Complete the transmittal reference line and body of your Email to CLEARLY designate that a portion of the filing is TRADE SECRET information. The failure to designate material as "confidential" or "trade secret" when it is initially filed is a patent failure to meet the criteria of NCGS 132-1.2.
 
A properly submitted electronic filing will be separated into two distinctly separate parts. Labeled and attached to a single transmittal Email:
 
  • Part 1: Trade Secret
  • Part 2: Public Record
An Email filing that is not in the prescribed filing format shall be rejected and returned to the filer.
 
Reminder
 
Life & Health Division ceased its practice of sending a printed-paper approval letter for approved filings and also discontinued the practice of affixing a stamp of approval on policy forms. It will be necessary to retain all L&H approval letters as evidence of form approval for your records. Also, should your company be scheduled for a market conduct examination you may be asked to produce the L&H approval letter as evidence of form approval.
 
If you have a question about this new process you may send your written inquiry to landhdivision@ncdoi.net. Due to budget restraints the Life & Health Division cannot return calls without a toll free telephone number.