HF 1558

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/20/2017 04:24pm

A bill for an act
relating to school district insurance; regulating coverage; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2016, sections 471.6161, subdivision 8; 471.617, subdivision 2.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 471.6161, subdivision 8, is amended to read:

Subd. 8.

School districts; group health insurance coverage.

(a) Any entity providing
group health insurance coverage to a school district must provide the school district with
school district-specific nonidentifiable aggregate claims records for the most recent 24
months within 30 days of the request.

(b) School districts shall request proposals for group health insurance coverage as
provided in subdivision 2 from a minimum of three potential sources of coverage. deleted text begin One of
these requests must go to an administrator governed by chapter 43A. deleted text end Entities referenced in
subdivision 1 must respond to requests for proposals received directly from a school district.
School districts that are self-insured must also follow these provisions, except as provided
in paragraph (f). School districts must make requests for proposals at least 150 days prior
to the expiration of the existing contract but not more frequently than once every 24 months.
The request for proposals must include the most recently available 24 months of
nonidentifiable aggregate claims data. The request for proposals must be publicly released
at or prior to its release to potential sources of coverage.

(c) School district contracts for group health insurance must not be longer than deleted text begin two deleted text end new text begin four new text end
years deleted text begin unless the exclusive representative of the largest employment group and the school
district agree otherwise deleted text end .

(d) All initial proposals shall be sealed upon receipt until they are all opened no less
than 90 days prior to the plan's renewal date in the presence of up to three representatives
selected by the exclusive representative of the largest group of employees. Section 13.591,
subdivision 3, paragraph (b), applies to data in the proposals. The representatives of the
exclusive representative must maintain the data according to this classification and are
subject to the remedies and penalties under sections 13.08 and 13.09 for a violation of this
requirement.

(e) A school district, in consultation with the same representatives referenced in paragraph
(d), may continue to negotiate with any entity that submitted a proposal under paragraph
(d) in order to reduce costs or improve services under the proposal. Following the negotiations
any entity that submitted an initial proposal may submit a final proposal incorporating the
negotiations, which is due no less than 75 days prior to the plan's renewal date. All the final
proposals submitted must be opened at the same time in the presence of up to three
representatives selected by the exclusive representative of the largest group of employees.
Notwithstanding section 13.591, subdivision 3, paragraph (b), following the opening of the
final proposals, all the proposals, including any made under paragraph (d), and other data
submitted in connection with the proposals are public data. The school district may choose
from any of the initial or final proposals without further negotiations and in accordance
with subdivision 5, but not sooner than 15 days after the proposals become public data.

(f) School districts that are self-insured shall follow all of the requirements of this section,
except that:

(1) their requests for proposals may be for third-party administrator services, where
applicable;

(2) these requests for proposals must be from a minimum of three different sources,
which may include both entities referenced in subdivision 1 and providers of third-party
administrator services;

deleted text begin (3) for purposes of fulfilling the requirement to request a proposal for group insurance
coverage from an administrator governed by chapter 43A, self-insured districts are not
required to include in the request for proposal the coverage to be provided;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (4) a district that is self-insured on or before the date of enactment, or that is self-insured
with more than 1,000 insured lives, or a district in which the school board adopted a motion
on or before May 14, 2014, to approve a self-insured health care plan to be effective July
1, 2014, may, but need not, request a proposal from an administrator governed by chapter
43A;
deleted text end

deleted text begin (5) deleted text end new text begin (3) new text end requests for proposals must be sent to providers no less than 90 days prior to the
expiration of the existing contract; and

deleted text begin (6) deleted text end new text begin (4) new text end proposals must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the plan's renewal date and
all proposals shall be opened at the same time and in the presence of the exclusive
representative, where applicable.

(g) Nothing in this section shall restrict the authority granted to school district boards
of education by section 471.59 deleted text begin , except that districts will not be considered self-insured for
purposes of this subdivision solely through participation in a joint powers arrangement deleted text end .

(h) An entity providing group health insurance to a school district under a multiyear
contract must give notice of any rate or plan design changes applicable under the contract
at least 90 days before the effective date of any change. The notice must be given to the
school district and to the exclusive representatives of employees.

new text begin (i) The exclusive representative of the largest group of employees shall comply with
this subdivision and must not exercise any of their abilities under section 43A.316,
subdivision 5, notwithstanding anything contained in that section, or any other law to the
contrary.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 471.617, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Jointly.

Any two or more statutory or home rule charter cities, counties, school
districts, or instrumentalities thereof which together have more than 100 employees may
jointly self-insure for any employee health benefits including long-term disability, but not
for employee life benefits, subject to the same requirements as an individual self-insurer
under subdivision 1. Self-insurance pools under this section are subject to section 62L.045.
A self-insurance pool established and operated by one or more service cooperatives governed
by section 123A.21 to provide coverage described in this subdivision qualifies under this
subdivision deleted text begin , but the individual school district members of such a pool shall not be considered
to be self-insured for purposes of section 471.6161, subdivision 8, paragraph (f) deleted text end . The
commissioner of commerce may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 14, providing standards or
guidelines for the operation and administration of self-insurance pools.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end