2021 New Hampshire Revised Statutes
Title XXXVII - Insurance
Title 415-E - Multiple-Employer Welfare Arrangements
Section 415-E:2 - Applicability.
[Paragraph I effective until 60 days after certification by the insurance commissioner that 29 C.F.R. section 2510.3-5(b) is valid and that issues raised in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor have been resolved, but not later than December 1, 2021; see also paragraph I set out below.]
I. No person shall, after April 1, 1992, operate a multiple-employer welfare arrangement unless such arrangement is approved by the commissioner. No person shall, after April 1, 1992, operate a multiple-employer welfare arrangement in existence prior to April 1, 1992, unless such arrangement has submitted for approval in compliance with RSA 415-E:4, or otherwise meets the special requirements of paragraph III of this section.
[Paragraph I effective 60 days after certification by the insurance commissioner that 29 C.F.R. section 2510.3-5(b) is valid and that issues raised in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor have been resolved, but not later than December 1, 2021; see also paragraph I set out above.]
I. No person shall operate a multiple-employer welfare arrangement unless such arrangement is approved by the commissioner. A foreign or domestic MEWA or association shall be subject to the jurisdiction of this state if it provides a health benefit plan that covers the employees of at least one employer that maintains a work location in New Hampshire, which is the primary workplace of at least one New Hampshire resident, including any self-employed New Hampshire resident who is qualified to enroll in the plan.
[Paragraph II effective until 60 days after certification by the insurance commissioner that 29 C.F.R. section 2510.3-5(b) is valid and that issues raised in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor have been resolved, but not later than December 1, 2021; see also paragraph II set out below.]
II. This chapter shall not apply to a multiple-employer welfare arrangement which offers or provides benefits which are fully insured by an authorized insurer or under the provisions of RSA 5-B.
[Paragraph II effective 60 days after certification by the insurance commissioner that 29 C.F.R. section 2510.3-5(b) is valid and that issues raised in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor have been resolved, but not later than December 1, 2021; see also paragraph II set out above.]
II. This chapter shall not apply to a multiple-employer welfare arrangement that is a bona fide pathway I association which offers or provides benefits which are fully insured by an authorized insurer or under the provisions of RSA 5-B.
III. RSA 415-E:4, RSA 415-E:8, RSA 415-E:9, III and RSA 415-E:11 shall not apply to a multiple-employer welfare arrangement which:
(a) Meets the general eligibility requirements of RSA 415-E:3, I;
(b) Is administered primarily from a principal place of business located within the state of New Hampshire;
(c) Has provided employee health benefits for a continuous period of 10 or more years;
(d) Maintains a termination liability fund wherein the fund balance plus the total liabilities of the multiple-employer welfare arrangement shall at no time, for a consecutive 90-day period, be less than 40 percent of the aggregate amount of premiums billed during the 6 prior months. For purposes of this subparagraph, that surety amount, if any, deposited with the commissioner pursuant to RSA 415-E:7, I, may be credited as a fund balance asset toward the termination liability fund amount required under this chapter; and
(e) Files with the commissioner, not later than 4 months following the end of each fiscal year, a report on the financial status of the termination liability fund, which report is filed under oath by a member of its board of trustees, or by an administrative executive duly appointed by the board, and further certified to by an independent certified public accountant with a place of business located within the state of New Hampshire.
IV. In the event a multiple-employer welfare arrangement does not satisfy the requirements of paragraph III, the arrangement shall within 60 days file with the commissioner an application for approval under RSA 415-E:4, and shall be subject to all provisions of this chapter until such time as the requirements of paragraph III are satisfied.
Source. 1991, 246:1, eff. Jan. 1, 1992. 2019, 346:400.
