| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Employee Health Care Access Act; |
| 3 | amending s. 627.6699, F.S.; revising application of the |
| 4 | act; providing construction; authorizing carriers to offer |
| 5 | coverage to certain employees without being subject to the |
| 6 | act under certain circumstances; providing requirements; |
| 7 | providing an effective date. |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
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| 11 | Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section |
| 12 | 627.6699, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 13 | 627.6699 Employee Health Care Access Act.-- |
| 14 | (4) APPLICABILITY AND SCOPE.-- |
| 15 | (a)1. This section applies to a health benefit plan that |
| 16 | provides coverage to employees of a small employer in this |
| 17 | state, unless the coverage policy is marketed directly to the |
| 18 | individual employee, and the employer does not contribute |
| 19 | directly or indirectly to participate in the collection or |
| 20 | distribution of premiums or facilitate the administration of the |
| 21 | coverage policy in any manner. For the purposes of this |
| 22 | subparagraph, an employer shall not be deemed to be contributing |
| 23 | to the premiums or facilitating the administration of coverage |
| 24 | if the employer does not contribute towards the premium and |
| 25 | merely collects the premiums for such coverage from an |
| 26 | employee's wages or salary through payroll deduction and submits |
| 27 | payment for the premiums of one or more employees in a lump sum |
| 28 | to a carrier. |
| 29 | 2. A carrier may offer coverage as described in this |
| 30 | section to individual employees without being subject to this |
| 31 | section if the employer has not had a group health benefit plan |
| 32 | in place in the prior 3 months. An employer that offers a group |
| 33 | health benefit plan may facilitate the purchase of coverage as |
| 34 | described in this paragraph to employees that are ineligible for |
| 35 | the group health benefit plan, provided the employer has not |
| 36 | changed its eligibility requirements in the prior 3 months. |
| 37 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |