Section 1739.15. Liability of members

(A) A member of a multiple employer welfare arrangement operating a group self-insurance program is liable for all legal obligations of the arrangement, including any obligations of the arrangement to pay claims against it arising out of any occurrence, incident, or accident covered under sections 1739.01 to 1739.22 of the Revised Code, in proportion to the ratio of the total number of covered employees employed by the member on the first day of the month that the obligation arose to the total number of covered employees employed by all members of the arrangement at the time the obligation arose.

(B) Division (A) of this section applies only to the extent that the total legal obligations of the multiple employer welfare arrangement exceed the amount of any separate reserve fund that is established by the arrangement for payment of the legal obligations of the arrangement, provided the fund consists only of amounts in excess of the minimum reserves required under division (A) of section 1739.11 of the Revised Code.

(C) A multiple employer welfare arrangement operating a group self-insurance program may sue and be sued in its own name.

If the principal place of business of the arrangement is located in this state, service of process shall be perfected upon the arrangement by serving its registered agent in this state for service of process or by serving the arrangement in accordance with the laws of this state.

If the principal place of business of the arrangement is not located in this state, the arrangement shall agree and consent that a civil action may be commenced against it in the court of common pleas of the county of this state in which the cause of action arose or in which the plaintiff resides. Service of process in the action shall be perfected upon the arrangement by serving the superintendent of insurance in accordance with the laws of this state.

Effective Date: 04-09-1993