Connecticut 2019 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB07360 Latest Draft

Bill / Comm Sub Version Filed 05/15/2019

                             
 
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General Assembly  Substitute Bill No. 7360  
January Session, 2019  
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING NO NSTATE PUBLIC EMPLOY ER HEALTH 
CARE PLANS.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, of section 3-123sss of the 1 
general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2 
thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 3 
(a) Notwithstanding any provision of title 38a, the Comptroller shall 4 
offer to nonstate public employers and their nonstate public 5 
employees, and their retirees, if applicable, coverage under the state 6 
employee plan or any group hospitalization, medical, pharmacy or 7 
surgical insurance plan developed by the Comptroller. Such nonstate 8 
public employees, or retirees, if applicable, shall be pooled with the 9 
state employee plan, or group hospitalization, medical, pharmacy or 10 
surgical insurance plan provided the Comptroller receives an 11 
application from a nonstate public employer and the application is 12 
approved in accordance with this section or section 3-123ttt. Premium 13 
payments for such coverage shall be remitted by the nonstate public 14 
employer to the Comptroller and shall be the same as those paid by the 15 
state inclusive of any premiums paid by state employees, except (1) 16 
premium payments may be adjusted to reflect the cost of health care in 17 
the geographic region in which the majority of a nonstate public 18 
employer's employees work, (2) premium payments may be adjusted 19 
to reflect coverage, or (3) as otherwise provided in this section or 20  Substitute Bill No. 7360 
 
 
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section 3-123uuu, as amended by this act. The Comptroller may charge 21 
each nonstate public employer participating in the state employee plan 22 
an administrative fee calculated on a per member, per month basis. 23 
(b) (1) The Comptroller shall offer participation in any such plan for 24 
not less than three-year intervals. A nonstate public employer may 25 
apply for renewal prior to the expiration of each interval. 26 
(2) The Comptroller shall develop procedures by which nonstate 27 
public employers receiving coverage for nonstate public employees 28 
pursuant to the state employee plan or group hospitalization, medical, 29 
pharmacy or surgical insurance plan may (A) apply for renewal, or (B) 30 
withdraw from such coverage, including, but not limited to, the terms 31 
and conditions under which such nonstate public employers may 32 
withdraw prior to the expiration of the interval. [and the procedure by 33 
which any premium payments such nonstate public employers may be 34 
entitled to or premium equivalent payments made in excess of 35 
incurred claims shall be refunded to such nonstate public employer.] 36 
Any such procedures shall provide that nonstate public employees 37 
covered by collective bargaining shall withdraw from such coverage in 38 
accordance with chapters 68, 113 and 166. 39 
(c) Nothing in sections 3-123rrr to 3-123vvv, inclusive, shall (1) 40 
require the Comptroller to offer coverage to every nonstate public 41 
employer seeking coverage under the state employee plan, [or] (2) 42 
prevent the Comptroller from procuring coverage for nonstate public 43 
employees from vendors other than those providing coverage to state 44 
employees, or (3) prevent the Comptroller from offering plans other 45 
than those available to state employees, except the Comptroller shall 46 
not offer a plan that would qualify as a high deductible health plan, as 47 
defined in Section 220(c) or 223(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 48 
1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the 49 
United States, as amended from time to time, used to establish a 50 
medical savings account or an Archer MSA pursuant to Section 220 of 51 
said Internal Revenue Code or a health savings account pursuant to 52 
Section 223 of said Internal Revenue Code. 53  Substitute Bill No. 7360 
 
 
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Sec. 2. Section 3-123uuu of the general statutes is repealed and the 54 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 55 
(a) [There is established an account to be known as the "state 56 
employee plan premium account", which shall be a separate, 57 
nonlapsing account within the General Fund. All premiums paid by 58 
nonstate public employers and nonstate public employees pursuant to 59 
participation in the state employee plan shall be deposited into said 60 
account. The account shall be administered by the Comptroller, with 61 
the advice of the Health Care Cost Containment Committee, for 62 
payment of claims and administrative fees to entities providing 63 
coverage or services under the state employee plan.] The Comptroller 64 
shall establish an accounting procedure to track claims and premiums 65 
paid by nonstate public employers. 66 
[(b) Each nonstate public employer shall pay monthly the amount 67 
determined by the Comptroller for coverage of its nonstate public 68 
employees or its nonstate public employees and retirees, as 69 
appropriate, under the state employee plan. A nonstate public 70 
employer may require each nonstate public employee to contribute a 71 
portion of the cost of his or her coverage under the plan, subject to any 72 
collective bargaining obligation applicable to such nonstate public 73 
employer.] 74 
[(c)] (b) If any payment due by a nonstate public employer [under 75 
this subsection] pursuant to the procedure established under 76 
subsection (a) of this section is not paid after the date such payment is 77 
due, interest to be paid by such nonstate public employer shall be 78 
added, retroactive to the date such payment was due, at the prevailing 79 
rate of interest as determined by the Comptroller. 80 
[(d)] (c) If a nonstate public employer fails to make premium 81 
payments, the Comptroller may direct the State Treasurer, or any other 82 
officer of the state who is the custodian of any moneys made available 83 
by grant, allocation or appropriation payable to such nonstate public 84 
employer at any time subsequent to such failure, to withhold the 85  Substitute Bill No. 7360 
 
 
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payment of such moneys until the amount of the premium or interest 86 
due has been paid to the Comptroller, or until the State Treasurer or 87 
such custodial officer determines that arrangements have been made, 88 
to the satisfaction of the State Treasurer, for the payment of such 89 
premium and interest. Such moneys shall not be withheld if such 90 
withholding will adversely affect the receipt of any federal grant or aid 91 
in connection with such moneys. 92 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 July 1, 2019 3-123sss(a) to (c) 
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 3-123uuu 
 
 
PD Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO  
APP Joint Favorable