Initial Filing of Articles of Incorporation for Health Maintenance Organizations

Pursuant to La. R.S. 22:242 (7) a health maintenance organization must be a Louisiana domiciled corporation. The company must be incorporated pursuant to and the Articles of Incorporation must be compliant with the provisions of La. R.S. 22:243. The Articles of Incorporation must include all of the following:

• The Articles of Incorporation must be in the form of an authentic act under Louisiana law and signed by each incorporator.    

• There must be a minimum of three incorporators and a majority of those persons must be residents of Louisiana.    

• The Articles of Incorporation must contain all of the items required by La. R.S. 22:243.    

• The Articles may not contain any provision which is in violation of the Louisiana Insurance Code.

Once the Articles of Incorporation are properly prepared, the process is as follows:

1. Submission. The document must be submitted to the LDI for approval. The LDI encourages review and discussion of the proposed Articles of Incorporation prior to the official and final submission for approval. The documents submitted to the LDI for final approval may be executed or unexecuted.
2. Review. If the LDI finds the Articles of Incorporation are compliant with the applicable laws, the document will be approved for recordation and returned to the submitter for recordation with the Louisiana Secretary of State.
3. Secretary of State. Once the Articles of Incorporation are properly recorded with the Louisiana Secretary of State, the company exists as a corporation and may open bank accounts and otherwise carry on business as a corporation but may not transact business as a health maintenance organization until such time as it is granted a license to do so by the LDI.