Extends certain provisions of law relating to catastrophic or reinsurance coverage issued to certain small groups

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

• Democratic1
• Republican1

This bill has cosponsors from more than one party.

Shown in neutral colors by design; Agora is non-partisan.

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Jamaal Bailey says this is needed

Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), New York State and federal law permitted employers with fifty or more eligible individ- uals to join together in various forms to purchase experience-rated health insurance coverage for their employees and participate in Health Insurance Consortiums or Trusts. Upon passage of the ACA, each state was required, for a time, to redefine a "small group employer" to 1-100 from the current definition of 150. In 2015, New York State changed its defi- nition of a "small group employer" to mean 1-100 employees. As a result, any employer falling below one hundred employees would no longer be permitted to participate in an experience-rated health insurance plan and would instead be required to participate in a community-rated plan, thereby forcing them out of their consortium or trusts. It is estimated that at least 100 school districts have between 51-100 members. If these districts were forced out of their health care consor- tiums, they would have to go to the small group market which would significantly increase their health care costs. Not only would the districts with 51-100 members be impacted, but so would all those remaining in their consortiums because there would be few members in their consortium and less buying power. Moreover, many of these small districts have many retirees on their health insurance plans who are not counted in the employee count but would also enter the community-rated market. Because of the significant financial and operational impact this change would cause for affected districts, the state has provided several temporary extensions since 2015 to permit districts to remain in their health care consortiums. This bill extends this provision another three years.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.