HF 1875

1st Unofficial Engrossment - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

1.1A bill for an act

1.2relating to insurance; creating a statewide health insurance purchasing pool for
1.3school district employees; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes
1.42006, section 13.203; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
1.5chapter 179A.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7    Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 13.203, is amended to read:
1.813.203 SERVICE COOPERATIVE AND SCHOOL EMPLOYEE
1.9INSURANCE BOARD CLAIMS DATA.
1.10    (a) Claims experience and all related information received from carriers and claims
1.11administrators participating in a group health or dental plan, including any long-term
1.12disability plan, offered through the Minnesota service cooperatives to Minnesota school
1.13districts and other political subdivisions or through the Minnesota School Employee
1.14Insurance Pool created under section 179A.50, and survey information collected from
1.15employees and employers participating in these plans and programs, except when the
1.16executive director of a Minnesota service cooperative determines that release of the
1.17data will not be detrimental to the plan or program, are classified as nonpublic data not
1.18on individuals.
1.19    (b) Data that are classified as nonpublic data under paragraph (a) may be disclosed
1.20if the executive director of a Minnesota service cooperative or the Minnesota School
1.21Employee Insurance Pool determines that release of the data will not be detrimental to
1.22the plan or program.

1.23    Sec. 2. [179A.50] SCHOOL EMPLOYEE INSURANCE PLAN.
2.1    Subdivision 1. Definitions. For purposes of this section:
2.2    (1) "board" or "board of directors" means the board of directors of the Minnesota
2.3School Employee Insurance Pool;
2.4    (2) "eligible employee" means an individual who is insurance eligible under a
2.5collective bargaining agreement or under the personnel policy of an eligible employer;
2.6    (3) "eligible employer" means a school district as defined in section 120A.05, a
2.7service cooperative as defined in section 123A.21, an intermediate district as defined
2.8in section 136D.01, a cooperative center for vocational education as defined in section
2.9123A.22, a regional management information center as defined in section 123A.23, an
2.10education unit organized under section 471.59, or a charter school organized under section
2.11124D.10;
2.12    (4) "health plan" means a health plan as defined in section 62A.011; and
2.13    (5) "pool" or "Minnesota School Employee Insurance Pool" means the Minnesota
2.14School Employee Insurance Pool, a public corporation.
2.15    Subd. 2. Creation of pool. (a) The Minnesota School Employee Insurance Pool is
2.16created as a public corporation that is governed by and subject to the provisions of chapter
2.17317A, except as otherwise provided in this section. As provided in section 15.082, the
2.18state is not liable for obligations of this public corporation.
2.19    (b) The pool shall create and administer the Minnesota School Employee Insurance
2.20Plan as described in this section.
2.21    (c) Insurance plans and offerings must be effective no later than July 1, 2010.
2.22    Subd. 3. Board of directors. (a) The Minnesota School Employee Insurance Pool
2.23shall be governed by a board of directors that consists of:
2.24    (1) seven members representing statewide affiliates of exclusive representatives of
2.25eligible employees, appointed by exclusive representatives, as provided in paragraph
2.26(b); and
2.27    (2) seven members representing eligible employers, appointed by the Minnesota
2.28School Boards Association.
2.29    (b) The seven members of the board who represent statewide affiliates of exclusive
2.30representatives of eligible employees are appointed as follows: four members appointed
2.31by Education Minnesota and one member each appointed by the Service Employees
2.32International Union, the Minnesota School Employees Association, and the American
2.33Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
2.34    (c) Appointing authorities must make their initial appointments no later than August
2.351, 2008, by filing a notice of the appointment with the executive director of the Legislative
2.36Coordinating Commission. Notices of subsequent appointments must be filed with the
3.1board. An entity entitled to appoint a board member may replace the board member at
3.2any time.
3.3    (d) Board members are eligible for compensation and expense reimbursement from
3.4the pool under section 15.0575, subdivision 3.
3.5    (e) The board must arrange for one or more methods of dispute resolution so as
3.6to minimize the likelihood of deadlocks.
3.7    (f) The board shall establish governance requirements, which may include staggered
3.8terms, term limits, quorum, a plan of operation, and audit provisions.
3.9    Subd. 4. Design and nature of plan. (a) Health coverage offered through the
3.10Minnesota School Employee Insurance Pool shall be made available by the pool to all
3.11eligible employees of eligible employers, as defined in subdivision 1.
3.12    (b) If an eligible employer provides health coverage or money to purchase health
3.13coverage to eligible employees, the coverage must be provided or purchased only through
3.14the health plans offered by the pool.
3.15    (c) Nothing in this section affects the right of each eligible employer to determine,
3.16through collective bargaining under the Public Employment Labor Relations Act:
3.17    (1) the employer's eligibility requirements regarding the terms and conditions under
3.18which employees, dependents, retirees, and other persons are eligible for health coverage
3.19through the employer;
3.20    (2) how much of the premium charged for the health coverage will be paid by the
3.21employer and how much will be paid by the eligible person; and
3.22    (3) which health plans offered by the pool will be made available by the eligible
3.23employer.
3.24    (d) The pool must initially offer at least six health plans. One plan must provide
3.25coverage without a deductible and without other enrollee cost-sharing other than
3.26reasonable co-payments for nonpreventive care. One plan must be a high-deductible
3.27health plan that qualifies under federal law for use with a health savings account. The
3.28other four plans must have levels of enrollee cost-sharing that are between the two plans
3.29just described. The pool may establish more than one tier of premium rates for any
3.30specific plan. Plans and premium rates may vary across geographic regions established by
3.31the pool. Any health plan purchased through the pool must comply with all applicable
3.32insurance laws, and must provide the optimal combination of coverage, cost, choice, and
3.33stability in the judgment of the pool. The pool shall investigate the feasibility of offering
3.34coverage through more than one health plan company.
3.35    (e) The pool must offer only health plans that are fully insured through a health
3.36carrier, as defined in section 62A.011, subdivision 2, licensed in this state.
4.1    (f) Any health plan offered through the pool must include disease management and
4.2consumer education, including wellness programs and measures encouraging the wise use
4.3of health coverage, to the extent determined to be appropriate by the pool.
4.4    (g) Upon request by the pool, entities that are providing or have provided coverage
4.5to employees of eligible employers within two years before the effective date of this
4.6section, shall provide to the pool at no charge nonidentifiable aggregate claims data for
4.7that coverage. The information must include data relating to employee group benefit sets,
4.8demographics, and claims experience. Notwithstanding section 13.203, Minnesota service
4.9cooperatives must also comply with this paragraph.
4.10    (h) Effective July 1, 2010, a contract entered into between an eligible employer and
4.11an eligible employee or the exclusive representative of an eligible employee may not
4.12contain provisions that establish cash payment in lieu of health coverage to an eligible
4.13employee, unless the employee has been receiving a cash-in-lieu payment on or before
4.14June 30, 2010. Nothing in this section prevents an eligible employee who otherwise
4.15qualifies for payment of cash in lieu of insurance on June 30, 2009, from continuing
4.16to receive the payment.
4.17    (i) All premiums paid for health coverage provided through the pool must be used
4.18by the pool solely for premiums for health plan coverage provided through the pool, the
4.19cost of operation of the pool, and the benefit of eligible employees and eligible employers
4.20in connection with the health coverage offered through the pool.
4.21    (j) The pool and the commissioner of finance may enter into an agreement whereby
4.22the pool's health plans would be based upon the plan offered by the commissioner under
4.23section 43A.316 or section 43A.23, included within its contracts, or administered by the
4.24commissioner. If an agreement is entered into, persons covered through the pool must be
4.25rated separately for premium purposes from other persons covered under section 43A.316
4.26or section 43A.23. The agreement may contain provisions that vary from those of
4.27paragraph (d) to conform to the terms of the plan under section 43A.316 or section 43A.23.
4.28An agreement under this paragraph must not result in the pool becoming self-insured.
4.29    Subd. 5. Report. The pool shall submit a written report to the legislature by January
4.3015, 2010, in compliance with sections 3.195 and 3.197, on a final design for the pool that
4.31complies with subdivision 4 and on governance requirements for the board, which may
4.32include staggered terms, term limits, quorum, a plan of operation, and audit provisions.
4.33The report must include any legislative changes necessary to ensure conformance with
4.34all applicable insurance and other laws.
4.35    Subd. 6. Periodic evaluation. (a) Beginning December 15, 2010, and for the next
4.36two years, the pool must submit an annual written report to the legislature, in compliance
5.1with sections 3.195 and 3.197, summarizing and evaluating the performance of the pool
5.2during the previous fiscal year of operation.
5.3    (b) Beginning in 2013 and in each odd-numbered year thereafter, the pool must
5.4submit to the legislature a biennial written report summarizing and evaluating the
5.5performance of the pool during the preceding two fiscal years.
5.6    Subd. 7. Applicability of data practices laws. The pool and its board are
5.7government entities that are subject to chapter 13.

5.8    Sec. 3. INITIAL MEETING; MINNESOTA SCHOOL EMPLOYEE
5.9INSURANCE POOL.
5.10    The executive director of the Legislative Coordinating Commission, or the executive
5.11director's designee, shall convene the first meeting of the board of directors of the
5.12Minnesota School Employee Insurance Pool no later than 30 days after all board members
5.13have been appointed. The board shall elect a chair or cochairs from among its members
5.14at its first meeting.

5.15    Sec. 4. APPROPRIATION.
5.16    $4,000,000 is appropriated for fiscal year 2009 from the general fund to the
5.17commissioner of finance to be disbursed as a loan for start-up costs to the Minnesota
5.18School Employee Insurance Pool. The pool must repay the loan to the general fund in ten
5.19equal installments paid at the end of each fiscal year, beginning with the 2011 fiscal year.
5.20On July 1, 2008, the commissioner of finance shall cancel $4,000,000 of the balance in the
5.21budget reserve account in Minnesota Statutes, section 16A.152, to the general fund.

5.22    Sec. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
5.23    This act is effective July 1, 2008.