CHAPTER 125
SB 369 – FINAL VERSION
03/22/06 1375s
2006 SESSION
01/09
SENATE BILL 369
AN ACT relative to portability, availability, and renewability of health coverage.
SPONSORS: Sen. Hassan, Dist 23; Sen. Flanders, Dist 7; Sen. Gottesman, Dist 12; Sen. Green, Dist 6; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 24; Rep. McLeod, Graf 2; Rep. DeStefano, Merr 13
COMMITTEE: Banks and Insurance
This bill requires a health insurance carrier to provide a rating disclosure form at the time it gives a premium quote to a group. This bill also clarifies the information required in the insurance commissioner’s report on the small employer health insurance market.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/22/06 1375s
06-2740
01/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT relative to portability, availability, and renewability of health coverage.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
125:1 Medical Underwriting. Amend RSA 420-G:5, I to read as follows:
I. Health carriers providing health coverage for individuals may perform medical underwriting, including the use of health statements or screenings or the use of prior claims history, to the extent necessary to establish or modify premium rates as provided in RSA 420-G:4. [The commissioner may allow group carriers to use standardized health statements.] Small group carriers [may] shall use the standard reinsurance underwriting form for their reinsurance ceding decisions to the New Hampshire small employer health reinsurance pool, established in RSA 420-K:2, after premium prices have been agreed upon by the carrier and the small employer.
125:2 New Paragraph; Health Coverage; Rating Practices and Filings. Amend RSA 420-G:12 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
IV. Each health carrier shall provide, at the time it gives a premium quote to a group, a rating disclosure form that identifies the health coverage plan rate and any adjustments to that rate resulting from the application of rating factors, including age, industry, and group size. The health carrier shall submit the rate disclosure form to the department for approval. Health carriers shall provide their insureds with renewal premium quotes at least 60 days prior to the expiration date of the policy.
125:3 Health Coverage; Requested Information. Amend RSA 420-G:14-a, II to read as follows:
II. The commissioner shall request and health carriers shall supply information and data no later than April 1 of each year sufficient to report on the [distribution of rating factors being applied to small employers. The commissioner's report shall summarize the rating factors utilized by health carriers in the preceding calendar year] small employer health insurance market. Such information shall be reported for the market as a whole and by market segment. At the commissioner’s discretion, such information may include, but not be limited to, information relating to premium rates and rating practices, the number of groups and individuals insured, availability of coverage and benefit plans, trend, loss ratios, administration costs, and profitability. The commissioner shall file a report of the information by December 1 of each year with the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairperson of the house commerce committee, and the chairperson of the senate banks and insurance committee.
125:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Approved: May 15, 2006
Effective: July 14, 2006