| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Fair Share Health Care Fund; |
| 3 | providing definitions; creating the fund; providing |
| 4 | purposes and uses of the fund; providing duties of the |
| 5 | Agency for Health Care Administration and the Chief |
| 6 | Financial Officer; providing for audit of the fund; |
| 7 | providing employer reporting guidelines; specifying |
| 8 | required information; providing reporting guidelines for |
| 9 | the secretary of the Agency for Health Care |
| 10 | Administration; specifying required information; providing |
| 11 | for determining fair share health care payments by |
| 12 | employers; providing for employer payments into the fund; |
| 13 | providing criteria; providing civil penalties for late |
| 14 | reporting or nonpayment; providing for future review and |
| 15 | termination or re-creation of the fund; providing an |
| 16 | effective date. |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 19 |
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| 20 | Section 1. Fair Share Health Care Fund.-- |
| 21 | (1) DEFINITIONS.--For purposes of this section: |
| 22 | (a) "Earnings" means compensation paid or payable, in |
| 23 | money of a sum certain, for personal services or labor whether |
| 24 | denominated as wages, salary, commission, or bonus. |
| 25 | (b) "Employee" has the same meaning as provided in s. |
| 26 | 440.02, Florida Statutes. |
| 27 | (c) "Employer" has the same meaning as provided in s. |
| 28 | 440.02, Florida Statutes. The term "employer" does not include |
| 29 | the Federal Government, this state, another state, or a |
| 30 | political subdivision of this state or another state. |
| 31 | (d) "Fund" means the Fair Share Health Care Fund. |
| 32 | (e) "Health care expenditures" means the amount paid by an |
| 33 | employer to provide health care benefits or reimburse employees |
| 34 | for employees' health care costs, including, but not limited to, |
| 35 | payments for medical care, prescription drugs, vision care, and |
| 36 | medical savings accounts. |
| 37 | (f) "Secretary" means the secretary of the Agency for |
| 38 | Health Care Administration. |
| 39 | (2) FAIR SHARE HEALTH CARE FUND.-- |
| 40 | (a) The Fair Share Health Care Fund is created in the |
| 41 | Agency for Health Care Administration. |
| 42 | (b) The purpose of the fund is to help finance coverage |
| 43 | for uninsured employees. The fund may be used to support the |
| 44 | operations of the state Medicaid program or to help uninsured |
| 45 | employees and their dependents obtain health care or coverage |
| 46 | through another state program. |
| 47 | (c) The fund also may be used to provide subsidies for |
| 48 | approved health coverage options, to be designated by the Agency |
| 49 | for Health Care Administration. In designating approved health |
| 50 | coverage options, the agency shall: |
| 51 | 1. Identify specific health coverage plans for employees |
| 52 | and dependents, including, but not limited to, those employees |
| 53 | whose employers have paid into the fund. These options may |
| 54 | include Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, |
| 55 | and private insurance. |
| 56 | 2. Ensure that the coverage is affordable, accessible, and |
| 57 | meaningful and equivalent to the Federal Employees Health |
| 58 | Benefit Plan's standard Blue Cross/Blue Shield option. |
| 59 | (d) The fund consists of: |
| 60 | 1. Any revenue received from payments made by employers |
| 61 | under this section. |
| 62 | 2. Any other money from any other source accepted for the |
| 63 | benefit of the fund. |
| 64 | (e) The Chief Financial Officer shall hold the fund |
| 65 | separately and shall account for the fund. The Chief Financial |
| 66 | Officer shall invest the money of the fund in the same manner as |
| 67 | other state money may be invested and any investment earnings of |
| 68 | the fund shall be retained to the credit of the fund. |
| 69 | (f) The fund shall be subject to an audit by the |
| 70 | Department of Revenue. |
| 71 | (3) APPLICABILITY.--This section applies to an employer |
| 72 | with 10,000 or more employees in this state. |
| 73 | (4) EMPLOYER REPORTING GUIDELINES.-- |
| 74 | (a) On January 1, 2007, and annually thereafter, an |
| 75 | employer shall submit on a form and in a manner approved by the |
| 76 | secretary: |
| 77 | 1. The employer's definition of full-time employee and |
| 78 | part-time employee. |
| 79 | 2. The number of full-time and part-time employees of the |
| 80 | employer in this state as of January 1 of the previous year. |
| 81 | 3. The number of full-time and part-time employees |
| 82 | eligible to receive health care expenditures and the number of |
| 83 | full-time and part-time employees receiving health care |
| 84 | expenditures from the employer. |
| 85 | 4. The amount spent by the employer in the previous |
| 86 | calendar year on health care costs for employees in the state. |
| 87 | 5. The percentage of payroll that was spent by the |
| 88 | employer in the previous calendar year on health care costs for |
| 89 | employees in the state. |
| 90 | (b) The information required shall: |
| 91 | 1. Be designated in a report signed by the principal |
| 92 | executive officer or an individual performing a similar |
| 93 | function. |
| 94 | 2. Include an affidavit under penalty of perjury that the |
| 95 | information required under paragraph (a) was reviewed by the |
| 96 | signing officer, was based on the officer's knowledge, and does |
| 97 | not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit a |
| 98 | material fact necessary to make the statement. |
| 99 | (c) When calculating the percentage of payroll under |
| 100 | subparagraph (a)2. or the amount spent on health care under |
| 101 | subparagraph (a)3., an employer may exempt earnings paid to an |
| 102 | employee who is enrolled in or eligible for Medicare. |
| 103 | (5) REPORTING GUIDELINES FOR THE SECRETARY; DETERMINATION |
| 104 | OF FAIR SHARE HEALTH CARE PAYMENTS.--On or before March 15 of |
| 105 | each year, the secretary shall report to the Governor and the |
| 106 | Legislature on: |
| 107 | (a) The name of each nonprofit and for-profit employer |
| 108 | with 10,000 or more employees in the state. |
| 109 | (b) The employer's definition of full-time employee and |
| 110 | part-time employee. |
| 111 | (c) The number of full-time and part-time employees. |
| 112 | (d) The number of full-time and part-time employees |
| 113 | eligible to receive health care expenditures. |
| 114 | (e) The number of full-time and part-time employees |
| 115 | receiving health care benefits or expenditures from the |
| 116 | employer. |
| 117 | (f) The source of health care benefits for those eligible |
| 118 | full-time and part-time employees not receiving health care |
| 119 | expenditures through an employer subject to reporting under this |
| 120 | section. |
| 121 | (g) The percent of total earnings each nonprofit and for- |
| 122 | profit employer with 10,000 or more employees in the state |
| 123 | spends on health care costs. |
| 124 | (h) The average percentage of total earnings for-profit |
| 125 | employers with 10,000 or more employees in the state spend on |
| 126 | health care costs. |
| 127 | (i) The average percentage of total earnings nonprofit |
| 128 | employers with 10,000 or more employees in the state spend on |
| 129 | health care costs. |
| 130 | (6) PAYMENT TO THE FUND.-- |
| 131 | (a) An employer that is organized as a nonprofit |
| 132 | organization and does not spend at least 7 percent of total |
| 133 | earnings of employees on health care costs shall pay to the |
| 134 | secretary an amount equal to the difference between what the |
| 135 | employer spends for health care costs and an amount equal to 7 |
| 136 | percent. |
| 137 | (b) An employer that is not organized as a nonprofit |
| 138 | organization and does not spend at least 9 percent of total |
| 139 | earnings of employees on health care costs shall pay to the |
| 140 | secretary an amount equal to the difference between what the |
| 141 | employer spends for health care costs and an amount equal to 9 |
| 142 | percent. |
| 143 | (c) An employer may not deduct any payment made under |
| 144 | paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) from the earnings of an employee. |
| 145 | (d) An employer shall make the payment required under this |
| 146 | section to the secretary on a periodic basis as determined by |
| 147 | the secretary. |
| 148 | (e) The secretary shall deposit all payments received from |
| 149 | employers under this section into the fund. |
| 150 | (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any |
| 151 | balance in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall remain |
| 152 | in the fund at the end of the year and shall be available for |
| 153 | carrying out the purposes of the fund. |
| 154 | (7) PENALTIES FOR LATE REPORTING OR NONPAYMENT.-- |
| 155 | (a) Failure to report in accordance with subsection (4) |
| 156 | shall result in the imposition by the secretary of a civil |
| 157 | penalty of $1,000 for each day that the report is not timely |
| 158 | filed. The penalties shall be deposited into the fund. |
| 159 | (b) Failure to make the payment required under subsection |
| 160 | (6) shall result in the imposition by the secretary of a civil |
| 161 | penalty of $500,000. The penalties shall be deposited into the |
| 162 | fund. |
| 163 | (8) REVIEW AND REPEAL.--In accordance with s. 19(f)(2), |
| 164 | Art. III of the State Constitution, the fund shall, unless |
| 165 | terminated sooner, be terminated on January 1, 2011. Before its |
| 166 | scheduled termination, the fund shall be reviewed as provided in |
| 167 | s. 215.3206(1) and (2), Florida Statutes. |
| 168 | Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2007. |