Section 3223. Group annuity contracts; standard provisions as to contractual rights and responsibilities of contract holders, certificate holders and annuitants, and insurers

Except as otherwise provided in section four  thousand two hundred forty of this chapter, every group annuity contract
  delivered or issued for delivery in this  state  and  every  certificate
  used  in  connection  therewith,  other  than  a  certificate  to  which
  subsection (a) of section three thousand two hundred  nineteen  of  this
  article  applies, shall contain in substance the following provisions to
  the extent that such provisions are applicable or provisions  which  the
  superintendent  deems  to  be  more favorable to annuitants, or not less
  favorable to annuitants and more favorable to the contract holders:
    (a) in any such contract requiring payments to be made to the insurer,
  that, after the  first  payment,  there  shall  be  a  grace  period  of
  thirty-one  days following the due date of any subsequent payment within
  which the payment to be remitted to the insurer may  be  made.    During
  such grace period, the contract shall continue in full force;
    (b)  specifying  the  document  or  documents, which shall include the
  contract and, if a copy is attached  thereto,  the  application  of  the
  contract holder, constituting the entire contract between the parties;
    (c)  that if the age or sex of any person, or any other fact affecting
  the amount or date of any  payment  by  or  to  the  insurer,  has  been
  misstated,  there  will  be  an equitable adjustment, as provided in the
  contract, of the benefits payable thereunder or of the  payments  to  be
  made  to  the  insurer. Each certificate issued under the contract shall
  contain  an  appropriate  reference  to  such  provision  for  equitable
  adjustment;
    (d)  in any such contract providing for the maintenance by the insurer
  of  one  or  more  accounts  for  each  annuitant  and  providing   that
  withdrawals  may  be  made  from such accounts only with the annuitant's
  consent or upon termination of  the  annuitant's  employment,  that  the
  insurer  shall  issue  a  certificate for delivery to each annuitant who
  contributes  to  the  contract,  specifying  the  nature  and  basis  of
  ascertainment  of benefits, which are deemed by the superintendent to be
  equitable to the annuitant and the contract  holder,  in  the  event  of
  either  the  termination of the annuitant's employment, except by death,
  or the discontinuance of payments under the contract. The  contract  and
  certificate  shall  provide  that  if  the  annuitant  dies  before  the
  commencement date of the annuity, the insurer shall pay a death  benefit
  at  least  equal  to  the accumulated amount in the annuitant's accounts
  arising from the annuitant's contributions.   Nothing  herein  shall  be
  construed  to  require that the contract or certificate contain the same
  provisions required for contracts or  certificates  subject  to  section
  four thousand two hundred twenty-three of this chapter;
    (e)  that  the insurer shall issue for delivery to each person to whom
  annuity benefits are being paid thereunder a certificate setting forth a
  statement in substance of the benefits to which such person is  entitled
  under such contract.