SB 275: "An Act amending the definition of group health insurance, and allowing the Department of Administration to obtain a policy or policies of group health care insurance for employers that are small businesses, nonprofit organizations, special services organizations, or small associations for insurance purposes; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 275 01 "An Act amending the definition of group health insurance, and allowing the 02 Department of Administration to obtain a policy or policies of group health care 03 insurance for employers that are small businesses, nonprofit organizations, special 04 services organizations, or small associations for insurance purposes; and providing for 05 an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 21.54.060 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 08 (8) under a policy or policies issued under AS 39.30.097. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 39.30 is amended by adding a new section to article 2 to read: 10 Sec. 39.30.097. Procurement of group health care insurance policies for 11 qualified entities. (a) The department may obtain a health care insurance policy or 12 policies to cover a group of qualified entities. 13 (b) In procuring a health care insurance policy or policies under this section,
01 the commissioner of administration shall comply with the procedure for obtaining 02 policies of insurance under AS 39.30.090(a)(4) and (5). 03 (c) A qualified entity is eligible for coverage under (a) of this section if the 04 qualified entity 05 (1) submits a written request for registration to the department; and 06 (2) receives written confirmation from the commissioner of 07 administration that the qualified entity is registered to participate. 08 (d) The request for registration submitted by a qualified entity under (c) of this 09 section must contain a statement certifying that the entity meets the definition of a 10 qualified entity under this section and that the entity agrees to pay the required 11 premiums to the insurance company. The owner, a principal, or another legally 12 qualified representative of the entity shall sign the statement under penalty of unsworn 13 falsification and fraud. The department shall register an entity that submits a request 14 for registration and meets the requirements of this subsection. The department shall 15 maintain a list of entities registered to participate under this section and shall make the 16 list available for public inspection. 17 (e) The department may not procure benefits under this section by means of 18 self-insurance. 19 (f) In this section, 20 (1) "association for insurance purposes" means an association 21 (A) composed of businesses or nonprofit organizations or both; 22 and 23 (B) organized and operating in this state; 24 (2) "business" means a business 25 (A) located in this state; 26 (B) organized under the relevant provisions of the Alaska 27 Statutes; if the form of business is not required to be organized under a statute, 28 then the sole proprietor or joint venturers who own the business must be 29 Alaska residents; and 30 (C) that employed an average of at least two but not more than 31 50 eligible employees on the business days during the preceding calendar year
01 and employs at least two eligible employees on the first day of a health benefit 02 plan; 03 (3) "department" means the Department of Administration; 04 (4) "employee" has the meaning given in AS 21.54.500; 05 (5) "health care insurance" has the meaning given in AS 21.12.050; 06 (6) "nonprofit organization" means a nonprofit corporation, 07 association, club, or society organized and operating in this state exclusively for 08 charitable, religious, scientific, or educational purposes or for the promotion of social 09 welfare and that has received an exemption from the payment of federal income tax; 10 (7) "policy" has the meaning given in AS 21.90.900; 11 (8) "qualified entity" means a business, nonprofit organization, 12 association for insurance purposes, or special services organization; 13 (9) "special services organization" means an entity, corporation, or 14 nonprofit organization organized and operating in this state that is 15 (A) an entity, including a sole proprietorship and a corporation 16 solely owned by one person, 17 (i) operating a child care facility that is licensed under 18 AS 14.37; 19 (ii) operating a residential child care facility, child 20 placement agency, foster home, or maternity home that is licensed 21 under AS 47.35; 22 (iii) operating an assisted living home that is licensed 23 under AS 47.33; 24 (iv) operating a community-based center for adult day 25 care as that term is defined in AS 47.65.290; or 26 (v) providing home care services as defined in 27 AS 47.65.290; 28 (B) a corporation incorporated under AS 10.20 that 29 (i) receives state grants to provide services; or 30 (ii) makes grants to other corporations incorporated 31 under AS 10.20 that receive state grants to provide services; or
01 (C) a nonprofit organization, regardless of whether 02 incorporated, whose primary purpose is to provide assistance to disadvantaged 03 classes or groups. 04 * Sec. 3. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 05 read: 06 INITIAL COST RECOVERY. The commissioner of administration shall recover the 07 initial administrative costs of procuring group health care insurance policies as provided in 08 AS 39.30.097, added by sec. 2 of this Act, over a period of five years. The commissioner 09 shall fairly allocate the administrative costs among the qualified entities seeking coverage 10 under AS 39.30.097 based on the numbers of persons covered. The commissioner shall 11 distribute the administrative costs recovered pro rata to the funds from which initial funding 12 was made. 13 * Sec. 4. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).