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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7238
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4900
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC
EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING AD MINISTRATIVE CHANGES TO THE
MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH INSURANCE PRO GRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (i) of section 5-259 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2019): 3
(i) The Comptroller may provide for coverage of employees of 4
municipalities, nonprofit corporations, community action agencies and 5
small employers and individuals eligible for a health coverage tax 6
credit, retired members or members of an association for personal care 7
assistants under the plan or plans procured under subsection (a) of this 8
section, provided: (1) Participation by each municipality, nonprofit 9
corporation, community action agency, small employer, eligible 10
individual, retired member or association for personal care assistants 11
shall be on a voluntary basis; (2) where an employee organization 12
represents employees of a municipality, nonprofit corporation, 13
community action agency or small employer, participation in a plan or 14
plans to be procured under subsection (a) of this section shall be by 15 Raised Bill No. 7238
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mutual agreement of the municipality, nonprofit corporation, 16
community action agency or small employer and the employee 17
organization only and neither party may submit the issue of 18
participation to binding arbitration except by mutual agreement if 19
such binding arbitration is available; (3) no group of employees shall 20
be refused entry into the plan by reason of past or future health care 21
costs or claim experience; (4) rates paid by the state for its employees 22
under subsection (a) of this section are not adversely affected by this 23
subsection; (5) administrative costs to the plan or plans provided 24
under this subsection shall [not be paid by the state] be paid by the 25
participating entities; (6) participation in the plan or plans in an 26
amount determined by the state shall be for the duration of the period 27
of the plan or plans, or for such other period as mutually agreed by the 28
municipality, nonprofit corporation, community action agency, small 29
employer, retired member or association for personal care assistants 30
and the Comptroller; (7) the General Assembly may allocate funds to 31
offset any financial cost or risk associated with administering the plan 32
or plans; (8) the Comptroller shall administer the plan or plans within 33
available appropriations; (9) the Comptroller shall establish 34
procedures to determine (A) eligibility requirements, (B) enrollment 35
procedures, for the plan or plans, (C) the duration of requirements 36
regarding payment, and (D) procedures regarding withdrawal from 37
and termination of the plan or plans; and [(7)] (10) nothing in this 38
section or section 12-202a, 38a-551 or 38a-556 shall be construed as 39
requiring a participating insurer or health care center to issue 40
individual policies to individuals eligible for a health coverage tax 41
credit. The coverage provided under this section may be referred to as 42
the "Municipal Employee Health Insurance Plan". The Comptroller 43
may arrange and procure for the employees and eligible individuals 44
under this subsection health benefit plans that vary from the plan or 45
plans procured under subsection (a) of this section. Notwithstanding 46
any provision of part V of chapter 700c, the coverage provided under 47
this subsection may be offered on either a fully underwritten or risk-48
pooled basis at the discretion of the Comptroller. For the purposes of 49
this subsection, (A) "municipality" means any town, city, borough, 50 Raised Bill No. 7238
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school district, taxing district, fire district, district department of 51
health, probate district, housing authority, regional work force 52
development board established under section 31 -3k, regional 53
emergency telecommunications center, tourism district established 54
under section 32-302, flood commission or authority established by 55
special act, regional council of governments, transit district formed 56
under chapter 103a, or the Children's Center established by number 57
571 of the public acts of 1969; (B) "nonprofit corporation" means (i) a 58
nonprofit corporation organized under 26 USC 501 that has a contract 59
with the state or receives a portion of its funding from a municipality, 60
the state or the federal government, or (ii) an organization that is tax 61
exempt pursuant to 26 USC 501(c)(5); (C) "community action agency" 62
means a community action agency, as defined in section 17b-885; (D) 63
"small employer" means a small employer, as defined in section 38a-64
564; (E) "eligible individuals" or "individuals eligible for a health 65
coverage tax credit" means individuals who are eligible for the credit 66
for health insurance costs under Section 35 of the Internal Revenue 67
Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code 68
of the United States, as from time to time amended, in accordance with 69
the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; (F) "association for personal 70
care assistants" means an organization composed of personal care 71
attendants who are employed by recipients of service (i) under the 72
home-care program for the elderly under section 17b-342, (ii) under the 73
personal care assistance program under section 17b-605a, (iii) in an 74
independent living center pursuant to sections 17b-613 to 17b-615, 75
inclusive, or (iv) under the program for individuals with acquired 76
brain injury as described in section 17b-260a; and (G) "retired 77
members" means individuals eligible for a retirement benefit from the 78
Connecticut municipal employees' retirement system. 79
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 5-259(i)
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LAB Joint Favorable