sb 0115

CHAPTER 224

SB 115 – FINAL VERSION

AN ACT relative to eligibility for the healthy kids program.

SPONSORS: Sen. Sgambati, Dist 4; Sen. Cilley, Dist 6; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. DeVries, Dist 18; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 24; Sen. Gilmour, Dist 12; Sen. Hassan, Dist 23; Sen. Houde, Dist 5; Sen. Janeway, Dist 7; Sen. Kelly, Dist 10; Sen. Larsen, Dist 15; Sen. Lasky, Dist 13; Sen. Merrill, Dist 21; Sen. Reynolds, Dist 2; Rep. Arsenault, Belk 4; Rep. Nordgren, Graf 9; Rep. Donovan, Sull 4; Rep. Batula, Hills 19; Rep. Pilliod, Belk 5

This bill authorizes the healthy kids corporation to establish a young adult buy-in program for insurance coverage. The bill directs the corporation to adopt rules relative to program administration and to submit a status report to the general court. The bill also requires the insurance commissioner to approve premium rates offered through the program.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

224:1 Health Kids Program; Scope of Premium Tax Exemption. Amend RSA 126-H:2 to read as follows:

126-H:2 Corporation Established. There is hereby created a body politic and corporate having a distinct legal existence separate from the state and not constituting a department of state government, to be known as the New Hampshire healthy kids corporation to carry out the provisions of this chapter. The corporation is hereby deemed to be a public instrumentality and the exercise by the authority of the powers conferred by this chapter shall be deemed and held to be the performance of public and essential governmental functions of the state. The corporation shall be the program administrator for the state children’s health insurance program under Title XXI of the Social Security Act. The corporation shall be a private nonprofit corporation and shall have all the powers necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the power to receive and accept grants, loans, or advances of funds from any public or private agency and to receive and accept from any source, contributions of money, property, labor, or any other thing of value, to be held, used, and applied for the purposes of this chapter. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any payments made by the corporation for insurance coverage [~~for children~~] under this chapter, either directly or indirectly, shall be exempt from the premium tax under RSA 400-A:32.

224:2 New Paragraph; Healthy Kids Program; Powers and Duties. Amend RSA 126-H:5 by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:

I-a. The corporation may establish a young adult buy-in program, with appropriate safeguards to prevent adverse risk selection, by which individuals under 26 years of age, who cannot be included in their family’s insurance plan, and whose incomes are at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, may purchase health insurance through the healthy kids corporation. The corporation shall not implement a young adult buy-in program until the insurance commissioner has reviewed a description of the proposed benefit structure, marketing plan, underwriting standards, enrollment procedures and eligibility criteria and has determined that the program is not likely to have an adverse impact on the commercial health insurance market. The commissioner shall make the determination within 30 days from the submission of the plan design. Within 2 years of the initiation of this buy-in option, the corporation shall submit a report to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the standing committees of the house of representatives and senate responsible for health insurance policy on the status of the program, including summary information on enrollment, claims experience, pricing, trends, and any other information relevant to the goals of the program.