Restrictions upon expulsion or refusal to issue or renew contract.

(1) A health maintenance organization that offers individual health maintenance contracts in this state may not decline to offer coverage to an eligible individual as required in s. 627.6487.

(2) A health maintenance organization shall not expel or refuse to renew the coverage of, or refuse to enroll, any individual member of a subscriber group on the basis of the race, color, creed, marital status, sex, or national origin of the subscriber or individual. A health maintenance organization shall not expel or refuse to renew the coverage of any individual member of a subscriber group on the basis of the age, health status, health care needs, or prospective costs of health care services of the subscriber or individual. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a health maintenance organization from requiring that, as a condition of continued eligibility for membership, dependents of a subscriber, upon reaching a specified age, convert to a converted contract or that individuals entitled to have payments for health costs made under Title XVIII of the United States Social Security Act, as amended, be issued a health maintenance contract for Medicare beneficiaries so long as the health maintenance organization is authorized to issue health maintenance contracts for Medicare beneficiaries.