Substitute Senate Bill 273 Summary

• Amends laws governing the Ohio Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association to expand and clarify coverage requirements, assessment procedures, and operational duties related to impaired and insolvent member insurers

• Modifies alternative retirement plan distribution rules to specify that benefit payments cannot be made to employees before death, employment termination, disability (if plan permits), or when required to begin distributions under IRC Section 401(a)(9)

• Updates definitions in the guaranty association law including "authorized assessment," "called assessment," and various insurance coverage categories while excluding certain types of coverage from guaranty protection

• Increases premium thresholds for unallocated annuity contracts from $1 million to $5 million in calculating assessable premiums for guaranty association funding purposes

• Establishes procedural protections for member insurer protests of assessments, allows assessment deferrals under specified conditions, and permits tax offsets of 20% of certain assessments over five years