Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 1731 | Small Employer Health Care Alliances
Section 1731.04 | Provisions of Agreement Between Alliance and Insurer.

Effective: March 23, 2007
Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 5 - 126th General Assembly
(A) An agreement between an alliance and an insurer referred to in division (B) of section 1731.01 of the Revised Code shall contain at least the following:
(1) A provision requiring the insurer to offer and sell to small employers served or to be served by an alliance one or more health benefit plan options for coverage of their eligible employees and the eligible dependents and members of the families of the eligible employees and, if applicable, such members' eligible retirees and the eligible dependents and members of the families of the retirees, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be set forth or incorporated into the agreement;
(2) A brief description of each type of health benefit plan option that is to be so offered and the conditions for the modification, continuation, and termination of the coverage and benefits thereunder;
(3) A statement of the eligibility requirements that an employee or retiree must meet in order for the employee or retiree to be eligible to obtain and retain coverage under any health benefit plan option so offered and, if one of such requirements is that an employee must regularly work for a minimum number of hours per week, a statement of such minimum number of hours, which minimum shall not exceed twenty-five hours per week;
(4) A description of any pre-existing condition and waiting period rules;
(5) A statement of the premium rates or other charges that apply to each health benefit plan option or a formula or method of determining the rates or charges;
(6) A provision prescribing the minimum employer contribution toward premiums or other charges required in order to permit a small employer to obtain coverage under a health benefit plan option offered under an alliance program;
(7) A provision requiring that each health benefit plan under the alliance program must provide for the continuation of coverage of participants of an enrolled small employer so long as the small employer determines that such person is a qualified beneficiary entitled to such coverage pursuant to Part 6 of Title I of the "Federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 832, 29 U.S.C.A. 1001, and the laws of this state, and regulations or rulings interpreting such provisions. Such coverage provided by the insurer under the plan to participants shall comply with the "Federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974" and the relevant statutes, regulations, and rulings interpreting that act, including provisions regarding types of coverage to be provided, apportionments of limitations on coverage, apportionments of deductibles, and the rights of qualified beneficiaries to elect coverage options relating to types of coverage and otherwise.
(B) An agreement between an alliance and an insurer referred to in division (B) of section 1731.01 of the Revised Code may contain provisions relating to, but not limited to, any of the following:
(1) The application and enrollment process for a small employer and related provisions pertaining to historical experience, health statements, and underwriting standards;
(2) The minimum number of those employees eligible to be participants that are required to participate in order to permit a small employer to obtain coverage under a health benefit plan option offered under the alliance program, which may vary with the number of employees or those eligible to be participants in respect of the small employer;
(3) A procedure for allowing an enrolled small employer to change from one plan option to another under the alliance program, subject to qualifying by size or otherwise under the alliance program;
(4) The application of any risk-related pooling or grouping programs and related premiums, conditions, reviews, and alternatives offered by the insurer;
(5) The availability of a medicare supplement coverage option for eligible participants who are covered by Parts A and B of medicare, Title XVIII of the "Social Security Act," 49 Stat. 620 (1935), 42 U.S.C.A. 301;
(6) Relevant experience periods, enrollment periods, and contract periods;
(7) Effective dates for coverage of eligible participants;
(8) Conditions under which denial or withdrawal of coverage of participants or small employers and their employees may occur by reason of falsification or misrepresentation of material facts or criminal conduct toward the insurer, small employer, or alliance under the program;
(9) Premium rate structures, which may be uniform or make provision for age-specific rates, differentials based on number of participants of an enrolled small employer, products and plan options selected, and other factors, rate adjustments based on consumer price indices, utilization, or other relevant factors, notification of rate adjustments, and arbitration;
(10) Any responsibilities of the alliance for billing, collection, and transmittal of premiums;
(11) Inclusion under the alliance program of small employers that are members of other organizations described in division (A)(1) of section 1731.01 of the Revised Code that contract with the alliance for this purpose, and conditions pertaining to those small employer members and to their employees and retirees, and dependents and family members of those employees or retirees, as applicable under the alliance program;
(12) The agreement of the insurer to offer and sell one or more health benefit plans to small employer members of another small employer health care alliance that contracts with the alliance for this purpose;
(13) Use of the health benefit plan options of the insurer in the alliance program and use of the names of the alliance and the insurer;
(14) Indemnification from claims and liability by reason of acts or omissions of others;
(15) Ownership, use, availability, and maintenance of confidentiality of data and records relating to the alliance program;
(16) Utilization reports to be provided to the alliance by the insurer;
(17) Such other provisions as may be agreed upon by the alliance and the insurer to better provide for the articulation, promotion, financing, and operation of the alliance program or a health benefit plan under the program in furtherance of the public purposes stated in section 1731.02 of the Revised Code.
(C) Neither an alliance program nor an agreement between an alliance and an insurer is itself a policy or contract of insurance, or a certificate, indorsement, rider, or application forming any part of a policy, contract, or certificate of insurance. Chapters 3905., 3933., and 3959. of the Revised Code do not apply to an alliance program or to an agreement between an alliance and an insurer thereunder, as such, or to the functions of the alliance under an alliance program.