Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1992 NO. 8 >

RCW 41.04.190 provides that insurance benefits are not additional compensation for county elected officials.  RCW 41.04.190 does not apply to insurance benefits provided to water district commissioners pursuant to RCW 57.08.100.

AGO 1973 NO. 9 >

(1) An agreement by a school district in reducing its force of certificated teachers for financial reasons to grant those teachers whose contracts are not to be renewed an unpaid leave of absence coupled with a right to return at some future date, if and when future teaching vacancies occur within the district for which they are qualified, will be enforceable by a separated teacher only if it is supported by an adequate legal consideration. (2) Such an agreement must be in writing in order to satisfy the requirements of RCW 28A.67.070, and of RCW 19.36.020 as well if the rights thereby granted are intended to be enforceable for more than one year beyond the date of its execution. (3) Considerable doubt must be expressed as to the enforceability of such a leave of absence coupled with a right of return if the term of leave exceeds one year in duration. (4) During the period of an unpaid leave of absence a teacher will not be eligible for active participation in the state teachers' retirement system as an employee of the district granting the leave. (5) Whether during the period of an unpaid leave of absence a teacher will be eligible to continue participating at his own expense in a medical insurance program provided for by the school district under RCW 28A.58.420 or RCW 41.04.180 will depend upon the terms of the particular insurance contract involved.

AGO 1994 NO. 9 >

1.   RCW 48.21.200, as amended, does not require a secondary insurer to pay the full policy amount to an insured who has dual or multiple coverage, whether the policies in question are individual or group policies.   2.   In enacting amendments to RCW 48.21.200, the Legislature intended to allow insurers to reduce overall health insurance cost by coordinating benefits in cases of dual or multiple coverage, subject to implementing regulations to be adopted by the insurance commissioner.

AGLO 1982 NO. 9 >

A health care service contractor registered under chapter 48.44 RCW may offer to provide or to pay reimbursement for the services of a licensed dispensing optician.

AGO 2006 NO. 10 >

1.  Employers have a statutory right to exclude coverage of specific procedures or services when they provide health insurance to employees, but this right is limited by other state statutes and federal laws if the exercise of the right results in discrimination on the basis of gender.   2.  WAC 284-43-822 does not supersede the “conscience” rights of employers under RCW 48.43.065 but may (along with the statutes it implements) limit the ways in which the “conscience” rights are exercised. 

AGO 1986 NO. 11 >

It is not a violation of RCW 41.05.025(2) for the State Employees' Insurance Board (SEIB) to provide employees covered by SEIB plans the option of coverage by a health maintenance organization (HMO) which restricts the availability of the services of licensed podiatrists, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, osteopaths, physical therapists, psychologists, or registered nurses to those provided either directly through the HMO or upon referral by a primary care physician employed by the HMO.

AGO 1981 NO. 13 >

(1) Except to the extent necessary to prevent a duplicative recovery, an insurer may not reduce the payments made to its insured under "underinsured motorist" coverage offered pursuant to chapter 48.22 RCW on the basis of payments made by the tortfeasor's liability insurer; an insurer who has made a payment under "underinsured motorist" coverage, however, has a statutory right of reimbursement from any judgment or settlement which its injured insured collects from the tortfeasor directly but it may not include a subrogation or "consent to settle" clause in its "underinsured motorist" coverage.(2) An insurer may reduce the payments made under such "underinsured motorist" coverage of a policy by the amount of any payments made under the liability coverage of the same policy, or it may reduce payments under the liability coverage by the amount of payments under the "underinsured motorist" coverage.(3) An insurer may not reduce payments made under the "underinsured motorist" coverage of a policy by the amount of benefits received under a workers' compensation law or similar disability benefits law; but, just as in the case of payments from the tortfeasor's liability insurer, the UIM carrier may take such amounts into account in the computation of the actual payment to be made under its UIM coverage.

AGLO 1975 NO. 13 >

An organization may not be registered as a "health care service contractor" under chapter 48.44 RCW for the purpose of providing veterinary services for family pets or other animals.

AGO 1991 NO. 14 >

The state Supervisor of Banking acted within his authority in adopting WAC 50-12-310 through [50-12]-370 which relate to insurance activities by state‑chartered banks and trust companies.

AGLO 1976 NO. 17 >

Criteria for determining whether an "extended vehicle warranty" contract issued in connection with the sale of a new or used car constitutes "insurance" for the purposes of the Washington state insurance code.