SB162 — Version 100

5/13/99 1194s

5jan00.....2182h

2000 SESSION

99-0601

01/09

SENATE BILL 162

COMMITTEE: Insurance

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill authorizes the insurance department to set standards for the licensure and regulatory oversight of voluntary small employer purchasing alliances.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

5/13/99 1194s

5jan00.....2182h

99-0601

01/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

2:1 New Paragraph; Definition Added; Purchasing Alliance. Amend RSA 420-G:2 by inserting after paragraph XIV the following new paragraph:

XIV-a. "Purchasing alliance" means a non-risk bearing corporation or other entity licensed pursuant to RSA 420-G:10-a that provides, on a voluntary basis, health insurance coverage through multiple unaffiliated participating carriers to member small employers and their employees within a defined service area authorized by the commissioner.

2:2 New Section; Voluntary Small Employer Health Insurance Purchasing Alliances. Amend  RSA 420-G by inserting after section 10 the following new section:

420-G:10-a Voluntary Small Employer Health Insurance Purchasing Alliances; Rulemaking.

I. The commissioner shall have the regulatory oversight authority to set standards for the licensure and conduct of purchasing alliances authorized under this section and to enforce such standards.

II. Each applicant and each duly licensed purchasing alliance shall file with the commissioner such information or documents as the commissioner shall adopt by rule as necessary to perform oversight function.

III. A purchasing alliance shall offer health benefit plans and establish conditions of participation for small employers, employees, and participating carriers that conform to the requirements of this chapter.

IV. Nothing in this section shall require 2 or more small employers to join a purchasing alliance as a condition of jointly purchasing health insurance coverage. Any such coverage jointly purchased by 2 or more small employers who do not join a purchasing alliance shall conform to the requirements of this chapter.

V. The commissioner shall adopt such rules, under RSA 541-A, and issue such orders as may be necessary to carry out the commissioner's oversight responsibilities under this section.

2:3 Repeal. The following are repealed:

I. RSA 420-G:2, XIV-a, relative to a definition of "purchasing alliance".

II. RSA 420-G:10-a, relative to voluntary small employer health insurance purchasing alliances.

2:4 Contingency. If during the month of January, 2006, the commissioner of insurance certifies to the secretary of state that no entity has been licensed as an alliance pursuant to the provisions of this act and is actively offering coverage and enrolling employees of member small employers, then section 3 of this act shall take effect on the date of certification. If no such certification occurs during the month of January, 2006, section 3 of this act shall not take effect.

2:5 Effective Date.

I. Section 3 of this act shall take effect as provided in section 4 of this act.

(Approved: February 2, 2000)

(Effective Date: I. Section 3 shall take effect as provided in section 4.