1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to insurance; creating a statewide health 
  1.3             insurance pool for school district employees; 
  1.4             requiring a report; appropriating money; proposing 
  1.5             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 62A. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [62A.662] [SCHOOL EMPLOYEE INSURANCE PLAN.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this section:
  1.9      (1) "eligible employee" means a person who is insurance 
  1.10  eligible and is employed by an eligible employer or is insurance 
  1.11  eligible through an eligible employer on some other basis; and 
  1.12     (2) "eligible employer" means a school district as defined 
  1.13  in section 120A.05; a service cooperative as defined in section 
  1.14  123A.21; an intermediate district as defined in section 136D.01; 
  1.15  a cooperative center for vocational education as defined in 
  1.16  section 123A.22; a regional management information center as 
  1.17  defined in section 123A.23; an education unit organized under 
  1.18  section 471.59; or a charter school organized under section 
  1.19  124D.10. 
  1.20     Subd. 2.  [CREATION OF BOARD.] (a) The Minnesota School 
  1.21  Employee Insurance Board is created as a public corporation. 
  1.22     (b) The board shall create and administer the Minnesota 
  1.23  School Employee Insurance Pool as described in this section.  
  1.24     (c) The board has all powers necessary or appropriate to 
  1.25  carry out that function.  The board may maintain an office, hire 
  2.1   staff, and contract to obtain actuarial and other services.  
  2.2      Subd. 3.  [BOARD OF DIRECTORS.] (a) The School Employee 
  2.3   Insurance Board consists of: 
  2.4      (1) seven members representing exclusive representatives of 
  2.5   eligible employees, appointed by exclusive representatives, as 
  2.6   provided in paragraph (b); and 
  2.7      (2) seven members representing eligible employers, 
  2.8   appointed by the Minnesota School Boards Association. 
  2.9      (b) The seven members of the board who represent statewide 
  2.10  affiliates of exclusive representatives of eligible employees 
  2.11  are appointed as follows:  four members appointed by Education 
  2.12  Minnesota and one member each appointed by the Service Employees 
  2.13  International Union, the Minnesota School Employees Association, 
  2.14  and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal 
  2.15  Employees. 
  2.16     (c) Appointing authorities must make their initial 
  2.17  appointments no later than August 1, 2004, by filing a notice of 
  2.18  the appointment with the commissioner of commerce.  Notices of 
  2.19  subsequent appointments must be filed with the board.  An entity 
  2.20  entitled to appoint a board member may replace the board member 
  2.21  at any time. 
  2.22     (d) Board members are eligible for compensation and expense 
  2.23  reimbursement under section 15.0575, subdivision 3. 
  2.24     (e) The board must arrange for one or more methods of 
  2.25  dispute resolution so as to minimize the possibility of 
  2.26  deadlocks. 
  2.27     Subd. 4.  [NATURE OF THE PLAN.] (a) The Minnesota School 
  2.28  Employee Insurance Pool made available by the board must be 
  2.29  available to the eligible employees of eligible employers, as 
  2.30  defined in subdivision 1. 
  2.31     (b) All eligible employers must provide health coverage to 
  2.32  their eligible employees only through the pool. 
  2.33     (c) The board must design the pool to provide the optimal 
  2.34  combination of coverage, cost, choice, and stability, in the 
  2.35  judgment of the board. 
  2.36     (d) The pool provided by the board may include more than 
  3.1   one health plan and more than one tier of premium rates for any 
  3.2   specific plan.  Plans and premium rates may vary across 
  3.3   geographic regions established by the board. 
  3.4      (e) The pool must include claims reserves, stabilization 
  3.5   reserves, reinsurance, and other features that in the judgment 
  3.6   of the board will result in long-term stability and solvency of 
  3.7   the pool. 
  3.8      (f) The board may determine whether the pool should be 
  3.9   fully insured through a health carrier licensed in this state, 
  3.10  self insured, or a combination of those two alternatives. 
  3.11     (g) The pool must include consumer education, including 
  3.12  wellness programs and measures encouraging the wise use of 
  3.13  health coverage, to the extent determined to be appropriate by 
  3.14  the board. 
  3.15     (h) The pool may provide one or more separate plans for 
  3.16  retirees, which may be coordinated with Medicare.  
  3.17     Subd. 5.  [STARTING DATE OF THE POOL; TRANSITION.] (a) The 
  3.18  pool must begin providing coverage beginning July 1, 2005.  The 
  3.19  details of the coverage available must be made known to eligible 
  3.20  employers no later than March 1, 2005. 
  3.21     (b) Eligible employers must provide coverage through the 
  3.22  pool no later than July 1, 2005, or the earliest date permitted 
  3.23  by then-existing collective bargaining agreements, whichever is 
  3.24  later. 
  3.25     Subd. 6.  [PERIODIC EVALUATION.] (a) The board must submit 
  3.26  a written report to the legislature, in compliance with sections 
  3.27  3.195 and 3.197, on or before December 15, 2008, summarizing and 
  3.28  evaluating the performance of the pool during its first three 
  3.29  years of operation. 
  3.30     (b) The board must submit a report described in paragraph 
  3.31  (a) to the legislature on or before December 15 of each 
  3.32  even-numbered year beginning in 2010, covering the pool's 
  3.33  experience in the preceding two fiscal years. 
  3.34     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION; LOAN.] 
  3.35     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.36  commissioner of commerce as a loan for start-up costs to the 
  4.1   Minnesota School Employee Insurance Board.  The Minnesota School 
  4.2   Employee Insurance Board must repay the loan to the general fund 
  4.3   in ten equal installments paid at the end of each fiscal year, 
  4.4   beginning with the 2006 fiscal year.