Amendment ID: H3452-26-R1

Redraft Amendment 26

REDUCING FINANCIAL BARRIERS TO EDUCATION AND HEALTH SERVICES

Mr. Montigny moves to amend the bill by inserting after section 4, the following section:-

“SECTION 4A.  Section 18 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Every full-time and part-time student enrolled in a public or independent institution of higher learning located in the commonwealth shall participate in a qualifying student health insurance program. For the purposes of this section, “part-time student” shall mean a student participating in at least 75 per cent of the full-time curriculum. Such an institution may allow students to waive participation in its student health insurance program or any part thereof; provided, however, that such an institution shall require students waiving participation to certify in writing prior to any academic year in which the student will not participate in the institution's plan that such student is a participant in a health insurance program providing comparable coverage; and provided further, that such institution shall allow students to waive participation in its student health insurance program if: the student is currently enrolled in MassHealth, the student continues to meet all relevant MassHealth eligibility criteria under state and federal law and: (i) the student has been enrolled in MassHealth for at least 1 year prior to becoming eligible for the institution’s student health insurance program or (ii) the student has been enrolled in MassHealth for at least 6 months and the student provides documentation, as required by the commonwealth health insurance connector in consultation with MassHealth, that participation in the qualifying student health insurance program would be financially prohibitive.”; and

By adding the following section:-

"SECTION 106.  Section 4A shall take effect on  July 1, 2014."