TITLE 41

INSURANCE

CHAPTER 47

SMALL EMPLOYER HEALTH INSURANCE AVAILABILITY ACT

41-4711.  Small employer carrier reinsurance program. (1) All carriers shall be subject to the provisions of this section.

(2)  There is hereby created an independent public body corporate and politic to be known as the Idaho small employer health reinsurance program. The program will perform an essential governmental function in the exercise of powers conferred upon it in this act and any assessments imposed or collected pursuant to the operation of the program shall at all times be free from taxation of every kind.

(3)  The program shall operate subject to the supervision and control of the board established in section 41-5502, Idaho Code.

(4)  Each carrier shall make a filing with the director containing the carrier’s earned health insurance premium derived from health benefit plans delivered or issued for delivery to small employers in this state in the previous calendar year.

(5)  The board shall submit to the director a plan of operation and thereafter any amendments thereto necessary or suitable to assure the fair, reasonable and equitable administration of the program. The director may, after notice and hearing, approve the plan of operation if the director determines it to be suitable to assure the fair, reasonable and equitable administration of the program, and to provide for the sharing of program gains or losses on an equitable and proportionate basis in accordance with the provisions of this section. The plan of operation shall become effective upon written approval by the director.

(6)  If the board fails to submit a suitable plan of operation, the director shall, after notice and hearing, adopt and promulgate a temporary plan of operation. The director shall approve the plan of operation submitted by the board, or adopt a temporary plan of operation if the board fails to submit a suitable plan. The director shall amend or rescind any plan adopted under the provisions of this subsection at the time a plan of operation is submitted by the board and approved by the director.

(7)  The plan of operation shall:

(a)  Establish procedures for handling and accounting of program assets and moneys and for an annual fiscal reporting to the director;

(b)  Establish procedures for selecting an administrator, which shall be properly licensed in this state, and setting forth the powers and duties of the administrator;

(c)  Establish procedures for reinsuring risks in accordance with the provisions of this section;

(d)  Establish procedures for collecting assessments from carriers to fund claims and administrative expenses incurred or estimated to be incurred by the program; and

(e)  Provide for any additional matters necessary for the implementation and administration of the program.

(8)  The program shall have the general powers and authority granted under the laws of this state to insurance companies and health maintenance organizations licensed to transact business, except the power to issue health benefit plans directly to either groups or individuals. In addition thereto, the program shall have the specific authority to:

(a)  Enter into contracts as are necessary or proper to carry out the provisions and purposes of this chapter, including the authority, with the approval of the director, to enter into contracts with similar programs of other states for the joint performance of common functions or with persons or other organizations for the performance of administrative functions;

(b)  Sue or be sued, including taking any legal actions necessary or proper to recover any assessments and penalties for, on behalf of, or against the program or any carrier;

(c)  Take any legal action necessary to avoid the payment of improper claims against the program;

(d)  Define the health benefit plans, which plans shall allow coordination of benefits, for which reinsurance will be provided, and to issue reinsurance policies, in accordance with the requirements of this chapter;

(e)  Establish rules, conditions and procedures for reinsuring risks under the program, including broad discretion to operate the small employer reinsurance program;

(f)  Establish actuarial functions as appropriate for the operation of the program;

(g)  Assess carriers in accordance with the provisions of subsection (12) of this section, and to make advance interim assessments of carriers as may be reasonable and necessary for organizational and interim operating expenses. Any interim assessments shall be credited as offsets against any regular assessments due following the close of the fiscal year;

(h)  Appoint appropriate legal, actuarial and other committees as necessary to provide technical assistance in the operation of the program, policy and other contract design, and any other function within the authority of the program;

(i)  Borrow money to effect the purposes of the program. Any notes or other evidence of indebtedness of the program not in default shall be legal investments for carriers and may be carried as admitted assets.

(9)  A carrier may reinsure with the program as provided for in this subsection:

(a)  With respect to a small employer basic, standard or catastrophic health benefit plan, the program shall reinsure the level of coverage provided and, with respect to other plans, the program shall reinsure up to the level of coverage provided in a small employer basic, standard or catastrophic health benefit plan.

(b)  A small employer carrier may reinsure an entire employer group within sixty (60) days of the commencement of the group’s coverage under a health benefit plan.

(c)  A small employer carrier may reinsure an eligible employee or dependent within a period of sixty (60) days following the commencement of the coverage with the small employer. A newly eligible employee or dependent of the reinsured small employer may be reinsured within sixty (60) days of the commencement of his coverage. Newborn dependents of insureds are not eligible for reinsurance unless a parent is already reinsured.

(d)  (i)   The program shall not reimburse a reinsuring carrier with respect to the claims of a reinsured employee or dependent until the carrier has incurred an initial level of claims for such employee or dependent of five thousand dollars ($5,000) in a calendar year for benefits covered by the program. In addition, the reinsuring carrier shall be responsible for ten percent (10%) of the next fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) of benefit payments during a calendar year and the program shall reinsure the remainder.

(ii)  The board annually may adjust the initial level of claims and the maximum limit to be retained by the carrier to reflect increases in costs and utilization within the standard market for health benefit plans within the state. The adjustment shall not be less than the annual change in the medical component of the "Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers" of the department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, unless the board proposes and the director approves a lower adjustment factor.

(e)  A reinsuring carrier may terminate reinsurance with the program for one (1) or more of the reinsured employees or dependents on any anniversary of the health benefit plan.

(f)  A reinsuring carrier shall apply all managed care and claims handling techniques, including utilization review, individual case management, preferred provider provisions, and other managed care provisions or methods of operation consistently with respect to reinsured and nonreinsured business.

(10) (a) The board, as part of the plan of operation, shall establish a methodology for determining premium rates to be charged by the program for reinsuring small employers pursuant to this section. The methodology shall include a system for classification of small employers that reflects the types of case characteristics commonly used by small employer carriers in the state. The methodology shall provide for the development of base reinsurance premium rates, subject to the approval of the director, and shall be set at levels which reasonably approximate gross premiums charged to small employers by small employer carriers for health benefit plans with benefits similar to the standard health benefit plan, adjusted to reflect retention levels required under the provisions of this chapter.

(b)  Premiums for the program shall be as established by the board.

(c)  The board periodically shall review the methodology established under the provisions of paragraph (10)(a) of this section, including the system of classification and any rating factors, to assure that it reasonably reflects the claims experience of the program. The board may propose changes to the methodology which shall be subject to the approval of the director.

(d)  The board may consider adjustments to the premium rates charged by the program to reflect the use of effective cost containment and managed care arrangements.

(11) If a health benefit plan for a small employer is entirely or partially reinsured with the program, the premium charged to the small employer for any rating period for the coverage issued shall meet the requirements relating to premium rates set forth in section 41-4706, Idaho Code.

(12) (a) Prior to March 1 of each year, the board shall determine and report to the director the program net loss for the previous calendar year, including administrative expenses and incurred losses for the year, taking into account investment income and other appropriate gains and losses.

(b)  Any net loss for the year shall be recouped by assessments of carriers.

(c)  (i)   For the assessment of March 1, 1995, and prior to March 1 of each succeeding year, the board shall determine and file with the director an estimate of the assessments needed to fund the losses incurred by the program in the previous calendar year.

(ii)  The assessments shall be determined by multiplying net losses, if net earnings are negative, as defined by subsection (12)(a) of this section, by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the carrier’s total premiums earned in the preceding calendar year from all health benefit plans and policies or certificates of insurance for specific disease, and hospital confinement indemnity in this state as reported in the carrier’s annual report pursuant to subsection (16) of this section, and the denominator of which shall be the total premiums earned in the preceding calendar year from all health benefit plans and policies or certificates of insurance for specific disease and hospital confinement indemnity in this state.

(d)  If assessments exceed net losses of the program, the excess shall be held at interest and used by the board to offset future losses or to reduce program premiums. As used in this paragraph, "future losses" includes reserves for incurred but not reported claims.

(e)  Each carrier’s proportion of the assessment shall be determined annually by the board based on annual statements and other reports deemed necessary by the board and filed by the carriers with the board or with the director.

(f)  The plan of operation shall provide for the imposition of an interest penalty for late payment of assessments.

(g)  A carrier may seek from the director a deferment from all or part of an assessment imposed by the board. The director may defer all or part of the assessment of a carrier if the director determines that the payment of the assessment would place the carrier in a financially impaired condition. If all or part of an assessment against a carrier is deferred the amount deferred shall be assessed against the other carriers in a manner consistent with the basis for assessment set forth in this subsection. The carrier receiving the deferment shall remain liable to the program for the amount deferred and shall be prohibited from reinsuring any groups with the program until such time as it pays the assessments.

(13) (a) Neither the participation in the program as reinsuring carriers, the establishment of rates, forms or procedures, nor any other joint or collective action required under the provisions of this chapter shall be the basis of any legal action, criminal or civil liability, or penalty against the program or any of its reinsuring carriers either jointly or separately.

(b)  Neither the board nor its employees shall be liable for any obligations of the program. No member or employee of the board shall be liable, and no cause of action of any nature may arise against them, for any act or omission related to the performance of their powers and duties under this chapter, unless such act or omission constitutes willful or wanton misconduct. The board may provide for indemnification of, and legal representation for, its members and employees.

(14) The board, as part of the plan of operation, shall develop standards setting forth the manner and levels of compensation to be paid to agents for the sale of small employer basic, standard and catastrophic health benefit plans. In establishing such standards, the board shall take into consideration the need to assure the broad availability of coverages, the objectives of the program, the time and effort expended in placing the coverage, the need to provide ongoing service to the small employer, the levels of compensation currently used in the industry and the overall costs of coverage to small employers selecting these plans.

(15) The program shall be exempt from any and all taxes.

(16) Each carrier shall file with the director, in a form and manner to be prescribed by the director, an annual report. The report shall state the number of resident persons insured under the carrier’s health benefit plan.

(17) If a reinsuring small employer carrier attempts to reinsure or reinsures an entire employer group, an employee, or a dependent of such employee that, immediately prior to the commencement of such coverage, it covered under a health benefit plan, the board shall assess all costs and losses incurred by the program for claims and administrative expenses relating to such group, employee or dependent of such employee only to the said reinsuring small employer carrier.

(18) Subsection (17) of this section shall apply to assessments made for the 1994 calendar year and each year thereafter.

History:

[41-4711, added 1993, ch. 176, sec. 1, p. 447; am. 1994, ch. 427, sec. 7, p. 1360; am. 1995, ch. 360, sec. 6, p. 1247; am. 1997, ch. 321, sec. 15, p. 972; am. 2000, ch. 472, sec. 6, p. 1615; am. 2002, ch. 197, sec. 1, p. 557; am. 2003, ch. 267, sec. 2, p. 710.]