HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 475        FILED ON: 1/12/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1071

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to the insurance partnership..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Subsection (1) 9C of chapter 118E of the General Laws as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by deleting the definition of “Eligible Employer” and inserting in place thereof the following;- “Eligible employer”, (i) an individual or an unincorporated business that employees one or more residents of the commonwealth, (ii) a corporation, including a foreign corporation, other than a governmental entity, that employs at least one or more residents of the commonwealth or (iii) a corporation or an unincorporated entity that is exempt from taxation under the provisions of section 501 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States, as amended and in effect for the taxable year;  provided, further,  that the method of determining the number of employees an employer has and the amount and types subsidies available to an eligible employer based upon employee family status shall be determined by the division; and further provided, that participating employers will not receive an employer subsidy for employees who are currently insured at the time of their application to the Insurance Partnership.  Employer groups newly applying to the Insurance Partnership will not be eligible for the employer subsidy.

SECTION 2.  Subsection (1) 9C of chapter 118E of the General Laws as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by deleting the definition “Eligible employee”, and inserting in place thereof the following; - “Eligible employee”, an employee: (i) who is employed by an eligible employer; (ii) who resides in the commonwealth; (iii) who has not attained age 65; (iv) who meets the financial and other eligibility standards set forth in regulations promulgated by the division, if the gross family income standard does not exceed 250% of the federal poverty level during their qualifying employer’s 2009 open enrollment date if they are currently insured in their employer’s plan; or if the gross family income standard does not exceed 300% of the federal poverty level during their qualifying employer’s 2010 open enrollment date if they are currently insured in their employer’s plan.