(1) Upon receipt of an application for issuance of a certificate of authority, the Director of Insurance shall forthwith transmit copies of such application and accompanying documents to the Department of Health and Human Services.

(2) The Department of Health and Human Services shall determine whether the applicant has complied with sections 44-32,126 to 44-32,128 with respect to health care services to be furnished.

(3) Within forty-five days of receipt of the application for issuance of a certificate of authority, the Department of Health and Human Services shall certify to the Director of Insurance that the proposed health maintenance organization meets the requirements of such sections or notify the Director of Insurance that the health maintenance organization does not meet such requirements and specify in what respects it is deficient.

(4) This section shall not apply to an application from an applicant that only provides health care benefits pursuant to Title 42, Chapter 7, Subchapter XVIII, Part C or D, of the United States Code, commonly known as Medicare Parts C and D. If a certificate of authority was originally issued to a health maintenance organization only authorizing the provision of health care benefits through Medicare Part C or D and such health maintenance organization expands its operations after receiving such certificate of authority, the expansion shall be treated as a new application to the Department of Insurance and transmitted to the Department of Health and Human Services for review pursuant to this section.