Senate Bill sb1660

    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1660

    By Senators Fasano, Lawson and Baker





    11-826A-05

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to employee health care access;

  3         amending s. 627.6699, F.S.; revising standards

  4         for determining applicability of the Employee

  5         Health Care Access Act; prescribing acts that

  6         may be performed by an employer without being

  7         considered contributing to premiums or

  8         facilitating administration of a policy;

  9         providing an effective date.

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

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13         Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section

14  627.6699, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

15         627.6699  Employee Health Care Access Act.--

16         (4)  APPLICABILITY AND SCOPE.--

17         (a)1.  This section applies to a health benefit plan

18  that provides coverage to employees of a small employer in

19  this state, unless the coverage policy is marketed directly to

20  the individual employee, and the employer does not contribute

21  directly or indirectly to participate in the collection or

22  distribution of premiums or facilitate the administration of

23  the coverage policy in any manner.

24         2.  For the purposes of subparagraph 1., an employer

25  shall not be deemed to be contributing to the premiums or

26  facilitating the administration of coverage if the employer

27  does not contribute toward the premium and merely collects the

28  premiums for such coverage from an employee's wages or salary

29  through a payroll deduction and submits payment for the

30  premiums of one or more employees in a lump sum to a carrier.

31  A carrier may offer coverage as described in this subparagraph

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 1660
    11-826A-05




 1  to individual employees without being subject to this section

 2  if the employer has not had a group health benefit plan in

 3  place in the prior 3 months. An employer that offers a group

 4  health benefit plan may facilitate the purchase of coverage as

 5  described in this subparagraph by employees that are

 6  ineligible for the group health benefit plan if the employer

 7  has not changed its eligibility requirements in the prior 3

 8  months.

 9         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

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12                          SENATE SUMMARY

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      Clarifies, with respect to the Employee Health Care
14    Access Act, that an employer is not contributing to a
      premium or facilitating the administration of coverage if
15    the employer collects premiums from the employee through
      a payroll deduction and transfers the premiums to the
16    insurance carrier. Authorizes a carrier to offer coverage
      when the employer has not had a group health benefit plan
17    in place, and for an employer to facilitate the purchase
      of coverage to employees ineligible for the group plan if
18    the employer has not changed the eligibility
      requirements, in the prior 3 months.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.