S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
310--B
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
(PREFILED)
January 9, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STECK, PEOPLES-STOKES, FAHY, ARROYO, GUNTHER,
MOSLEY, MONTESANO, RAIA, PALMESANO, STIRPE, HAWLEY, GOTTFRIED, BRABE-
NEC, FRIEND, ZEBROWSKI, GALEF, ENGLEBRIGHT, BARRETT, GIGLIO, BLANKEN-
BUSH, BUCHWALD, BLAKE, LIFTON, WOERNER, LUPARDO, HEVESI, REYES,
D'URSO, PICHARDO, COOK, McDONALD, DeSTEFANO, ASHBY, FERNANDEZ, JONES
-- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BARCLAY, CROUCH, LAVINE, SCHIMMING-
ER, SIMON, THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Insur-
ance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said
committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommit-
ted to said committee
AN ACT authorizing municipalities to join a county self-funded or self-
insured health plan
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Notwithstanding article 44 or 47 of the insurance law or
any other provision of law to the contrary, and subject to the require-
ments set forth in this section, a municipality is permitted, with the
consent of the county and the governing body of such municipality, to
join a county self-funded or self-insured health plan in any county in
which such municipality is located in whole or in part. Municipality is
defined as any city, town, village or any other municipal corporation, a
school district or any governmental entity operating a public school, a
public improvement or special district, a public authority, commission,
or public benefit corporation, or any other public corporation, agency
or instrumentality or unit of government which exercises governmental
powers under the laws of the state but is not a part of, nor a depart-
ment of, nor an agency of the state. In order for a municipality or
municipalities to join the county self-funded or self-insured health
plan, the county shall file with the superintendent of financial
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03515-04-9
A. 310--B 2
services certification that, with inclusion of the lives to be covered
in the plan following admission of the municipality or municipalities,
the county self-funded or self-insured health plan meets the following
six requirements:
(a) That the county and any municipality or municipalities joining
such plan have mutually consented to join such plan.
(b) That it maintain a reserve fund, calculated as a percentage of
total annual incurred claims, of a minimum of 12% of claims.
(c) That it has a surplus account, established and maintained for the
sole purpose of satisfying unexpected obligations of the benefit plan in
the event of termination or abandonment of the plan, which shall not be
less than 5% of the annualized earned premium equivalents during the
current fiscal year of the plan.
(d) That it has in effect a specific stop loss per individual claim
only, no aggregate, and with a minimum deductible of $200,000 to
$250,000.
(e) That it has a minimum of 1,000 covered lives including retirees,
but not including dependents.
(f) That joint and several liability of participating municipalities
for the obligations of the plan is hereby abolished, and such liability
shall be governed as follows:
1. If the plan does not have admitted assets, as defined in section
107 of the insurance law, at least equal to the aggregate of its liabil-
ities and reserves and minimum surplus as provided in subdivision (b) of
this section, the governing board of such plan shall, within 30 days
thereafter, order an assessment for the amount that will provide suffi-
cient funds to remove such impairment and collect from each municipal
corporation a pro rata share of such assessed amount.
2. Every municipal corporation that participated in the plan at any
time during the two-year period prior to the issuing of an assessment
order by the plan's governing board shall, if notified of such assess-
ment, pay its pro rata share of such assessment within 90 days after the
issuance of that assessment order.
3. A municipal corporation's pro rata share of any assessment shall be
determined by applying the ratio of (i) the total assessment to the
total contributions or premium equivalents earned during the period
covered by the assessment on all municipal corporations subject to
assessment to (ii) the contribution or premium equivalent earned during
such period attributable to such municipal corporation.
4. The contingent liability of municipal corporations for additional
premium equivalents or assessments shall not be included as an asset in
the financial statements of the self-funded or self-insured health plan.
The superintendent of financial services shall have the authority to
review such certification to determine that the six aforementioned
requirements have been met; provided, however, that in the absence of a
finding of the superintendent to the contrary within a six-month period
following the filing of such certification, the admission of the munici-
pality to the county self-funded or self-insured health plan shall take
effect. In January of every year following the initial filing of such
certification, the county shall file a subsequent certification that the
six aforementioned requirements remain in full force and effect.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.