The following standards are applicable to all Medicare supplement policies or certificates advertised, solicited, or issued for delivery on or after January 1, 2001, and with an effective date prior to June 1, 2010. A policy or certificate shall not be advertised, solicited, or issued for delivery as a Medicare supplement policy or certificate unless it complies with these benefit standards. (a) The following general standards apply to Medicare supplement policies and certificates and are in addition to all other requirements of this article: (1) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall not exclude or limit benefits for losses incurred more than six months from the effective date of coverage because it involved a preexisting condition. The policy or certificate shall not define a preexisting condition more restrictively than a condition for which medical advice was given or treatment was recommended by or received from a physician within six months before the effective date of coverage. (2) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall not indemnify against losses resulting from sickness on a different basis than losses resulting from accidents. (3) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall provide that benefits designed to cover cost-sharing amounts under Medicare will be changed automatically to coincide with any changes in the applicable Medicare deductible, copayment, or coinsurance amounts. Premiums may be modified to correspond with those changes. (4) A Medicare supplement policy or certificate shall not provide for termination of coverage of a spouse solely because of the occurrence of an event specified for termination of coverage of the insured, other than the nonpayment of premium. (5) Each Medicare supplement policy shall be guaranteed renewable or noncancelable. (A) The issuer shall not cancel or nonrenew the policy solely on the ground of health status of the individual. (B) The issuer shall not cancel or nonrenew the policy for any reason other than nonpayment of premium or misrepresentation which is shown by the issuer to be material to the acceptance for coverage. The contestability period for Medicare supplement insurance shall be two years. (C) If the Medicare supplement policy is terminated by the master policyholder and is not replaced as provided under subparagraph (E), the issuer shall offer certificate holders an individual Medicare supplement policy that, at the option of the certificate holder, either provides for continuation of the benefits contained in the group policy or provides for benefits that otherwise meet the requirements of one of the standardized policies defined in this article. (D) If an individual is a certificate holder in a group Medicare supplement policy and membership in the group is terminated, the issuer shall either offer the certificate holder the conversion opportunity described in subparagraph (C) or, at the option of the group policyholder, shall offer the certificate holder continuation of coverage under the group policy. (E) (i) If a group Medicare supplement policy is replaced by another group Medicare supplement policy purchased by the same policyholder, the issuer of the replacement policy shall offer coverage to all persons covered under the old group policy on its date of termination. Coverage under the new policy shall not result in any exclusion for preexisting conditions that would have been covered under the group policy being replaced. (ii) If a Medicare supplement policy or certificate replaces another Medicare supplement policy or certificate that has been in force for six months or more, the replacing issuer shall not impose an exclusion or limitation based on a preexisting condition. If the original coverage has been in force for less than six months, the replacing issuer shall waive any time period applicable to preexisting conditions, waiting periods, elimination periods, or probationary periods in the new policy or certificate to the e
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