Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee Senate Bill SB0286 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
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2	2	HOUSE BILL 329
3	3	By Martin B
4	4
5	5	SENATE BILL 286
6	6	By Bailey
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8	8
9	9	SB0286
10	10	002028
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13	13	AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 56,
14	14	Chapter 26, relative to multiple employer welfare
15	15	arrangements.
16	16
17	17	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
18	18	SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 56-26-204(a), is amended by adding
19	19	the following as a new subdivision:
20	20	(5)
21	21	(A) As used in this subdivision (a)(5):
22	22	(i) "Bank":
23	23	(a) Means an entity chartered pursuant to the laws of this
24	24	state, the laws of a contiguous state, or the laws of the United
25	25	States, or in the process of organizing to seek a charter, and
26	26	authorized, or to be authorized, to conduct business as a savings
27	27	and loan, savings bank, trust company, commercial bank, or other
28	28	institution, and which is a member or affiliate member of a trade or
29	29	professional organization organized to provide advocacy,
30	30	leadership, and support for these entities; provided, that the
31	31	entity's participation is authorized under Internal Revenue Code §
32	32	501(c)(9) (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(9)); and
33	33	(b) Includes the entity's parent, affiliate, or subsidiary,
34	34	which is under common control within the meaning of Internal
35	35	Revenue Code § 414 (26 U.S.C. § 414);
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40	40	(ii) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of commerce and
41	41	insurance;
42	42	(iii) "Multiple employer welfare arrangement" has the same
43	43	meaning as defined in 29 U.S.C. § 1002(40); and
44	44	(iv) "Plan-sponsoring organization" means an association that:
45	45	(a) Sponsors a multiple employer welfare arrangement
46	46	comprised only of banks;
47	47	(b) Has been actively in existence for at least five (5)
48	48	years;
49	49	(c) Has at least one (1) substantial business purpose
50	50	unrelated to offering and providing health insurance coverage or
51	51	other employee benefits to its employer members and their
52	52	employees; provided, that offering and providing such coverage or
53	53	benefits may serve as the association's primary purpose;
54	54	(d) Does not condition membership in the association on
55	55	any health status-related factor relating to an individual, including
56	56	an employee of an employer or a dependent of an employee;
57	57	(e) Makes health insurance coverage offered through the
58	58	association available to all members regardless of any health
59	59	status-related factor relating to the members or individuals eligible
60	60	for coverage through a member; and
61	61	(f) Does not make health insurance coverage offered
62	62	through the association available other than in connection with a
63	63	member of the association.
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68	68	(B) A foreign multiple employer welfare arrangement is deemed a
69	69	domestic multiple employer welfare arrangement if the foreign multiple employer
70	70	welfare arrangement:
71	71	(i) Is comprised only of banks together with their plan-sponsoring
72	72	organization, and their respective employees;
73	73	(ii) Is duly licensed as a multiple employer welfare arrangement
74	74	by the regulatory agency having jurisdiction over the regulation of
75	75	insurance in a state physically contiguous to this state;
76	76	(iii) Has no more than two thousand five hundred (2,500)
77	77	residents of this state who are employees of its member banks enrolled in
78	78	or receiving health, sickness, and accident benefits as insureds,
79	79	members, enrollees, or subscribers of the multiple employer welfare
80	80	arrangement;
81	81	(iv) Is subject to adequate regulatory oversight by the contiguous
82	82	domiciliary state, including, but not limited to, solvency examination
83	83	authority and actuarially sound reserve-adequacy requirements, as
84	84	determined in the commissioner's sole discretion; and
85	85	(v) Applies for and receives a certificate of authority from the
86	86	commissioner to operate as a foreign multiple employer welfare
87	87	arrangement.
88	88	(C) The commissioner may, in the commissioner's sole discretion, waive
89	89	any portion of this chapter, and any portion of chapter 7 of this title, for a
90	90	qualifying multiple employer welfare arrangement upon a determination that the
91	91	multiple employer welfare arrangement is subject to reasonable and adequate
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96	96	oversight by the regulatory agency having jurisdiction over the regulation of
97	97	insurance in the multiple employer welfare arrangement's domicile.
98	98	SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 56-26-204, is amended by deleting
99	99	subsections (b) and (c) and substituting:
100	100	(b) The commissioner may promulgate rules in accordance with the Uniform
101	101	Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, as deemed necessary to
102	102	provide for the solvency, administration, examination, and enforcement of the pooling
103	103	agreements. However, the rules must not prohibit or deter any association lawfully
104	104	formed under the laws of this state or another state from offering health insurance
105	105	coverage to its members within this state, including through a multiple employer welfare
106	106	arrangement, if the health insurance coverage complies with federal law. To the extent
107	107	deemed necessary by the commissioner, each employer member of the approved group
108	108	must be classified as a self-insurer as otherwise provided in this chapter.
109	109	(c) A pool created or deemed domestic under this section is subject to taxation
110	110	under chapter 4 of this title, filing and approval under this chapter, and laws for
111	111	protection of policyholders under chapter 7 of this title.
112	112	SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.