House Bill 0905

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 905

        By Representative Bainter






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to health insurance; providing

  3         a short title; providing legislative findings;

  4         creating the Premium Assistance Program within

  5         the Agency for Health Care Administration to

  6         assist small businesses in purchasing health

  7         insurance coverage for employees; providing

  8         eligibility requirements; providing

  9         applicability to specified health benefit

10         plans; specifying the subsidies that a small

11         business may receive under the program;

12         requiring that specified moneys be used to fund

13         the Premium Assistance Program; providing for

14         distribution of funds; providing an

15         appropriation; providing an effective date.

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17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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19         Section 1.  (1)  This section may be cited as the

20  "Premium Assistance Program."

21         (2)  The Legislature recognizes that 212,000 of the

22  over 310,000 small businesses in this state have four or fewer

23  employees, that health care for uninsured employees of these

24  small businesses represents a significant portion of the

25  uncompensated costs of health care providers, and that these

26  employees have impaired access to health care services and a

27  correspondingly lower health status. The Legislature finds

28  that the most difficult obstacle for a small business to

29  overcome is the initial expense of instituting the benefit of

30  health coverage for its employees because the premium expense

31  represents a substantial increase in overhead expense for the

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 905

    143-246-99






  1  business. Once accustomed to this expense, a small business is

  2  more likely to be able to tolerate modest year-to-year

  3  increases in premium costs.

  4         (3)  The Premium Assistance Program is created within

  5  the Agency for Health Care Administration to assist small

  6  businesses in purchasing health insurance coverage for their

  7  employees.

  8         (4)(a)  To be eligible for the Premium Assistance

  9  Program a small business must have four or fewer employees and

10  must not have offered health insurance coverage to its

11  employees or paid the health insurance premiums of its

12  employees for the previous 6 months or longer. A small

13  business is ineligible for the Premium Assistance Program if

14  the business discontinues health insurance coverage for its

15  employees in an attempt to qualify for the program.

16         (b)  The premium subsidy authorized by this section

17  shall be provided for standard and basic health benefit plans,

18  as defined in section 627.6699, Florida Statutes.

19         (c)  The small business shall receive the following

20  subsidies for single-parent or two-parent family contract

21  coverage:

22         1.  Seventy-five percent of the health insurance

23  premiums for the first year.

24         2.  Fifty percent of the cost of health insurance

25  premiums for the second year.

26         3.  Twenty-five percent of the cost of health insurance

27  premiums for the third year.

28         (5)  Moneys that the state receives in the settlement

29  of the court action that was filed in the Fifteenth Judicial

30  Circuit, Palm Beach County, and styled "The State of Florida,

31  et al., v. The American Tobacco Company, et al.," shall be

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 905

    143-246-99






  1  used to fund the Premium Assistance Program and shall be

  2  distributed by the Agency for Health Care Administration

  3  according to the estimated number of small businesses in each

  4  community health purchasing alliance district which do not

  5  offer health insurance for their employees. Funds shall be

  6  distributed quarterly and monitored by the Agency for Health

  7  Care Administration.

  8         Section 2.  The sum of $10 million is appropriated to

  9  the Agency for Health Care Administration from the moneys that

10  the state receives in the settlement of the legal action that

11  was filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach

12  County, and styled "The State of Florida, et al., v. The

13  American Tobacco Company, et al.," for the purpose of carrying

14  out the provisions of this act during fiscal year 1999-2000.

15         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

16  law.

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18            *****************************************

19                       LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY

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      Creates the Premium Assistance Program within the Agency
21    for Health Care Administration to assist small businesses
      in paying the cost of health insurance premiums for
22    employees. Requires that to be eligible for the program,
      a business must have four or fewer employees and must not
23    have offered health insurance for its employees for the
      previous 6 months. Provides that the premium subsidy
24    applies to standard and basic health benefit plans.
      Provides for a small business to receive 75 percent of
25    health insurance premiums for the first year, 50 percent
      of the cost of health insurance premiums for the second
26    year, and 25 percent of the cost of health insurance
      premiums for the third year. Provides for the program to
27    be funded from moneys that the state receives in
      settlement of "The State of Florida, et al., v. The
28    American Tobacco Company, et al."

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