Bill Text: NJ S1970 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes grant program in Department of the Treasury for certain employers affected by winding down of Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust; establishes "Self-Funded Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement Security Fund."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-03 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee [S1970 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S1970-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes grant program in Department of the Treasury for certain employers affected by winding down of Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust; establishes "Self-Funded Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement Security Fund."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangements and establishing a grant program for certain employers.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The State Treasurer shall establish a program providing grants as specified in subsection b. of this section to employers that were members of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust during 2020 and 2021 and who were affected by the winding down of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust. The State Treasurer shall contact each employer that was a member of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust during 2020 or 2021 and provide the employer with information about the program and an application to apply for a grant pursuant to this act.
b. An employer that was a member of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust may apply to the State Treasurer for a grant pursuant to this act and the State Treasurer shall evaluate applications and make grants as appropriate. No grant shall be awarded pursuant to this act after the end of the 24th month following the effective date of this act. The State Treasurer shall evaluate applications from any employer that was a member of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust during 2020 or 2021 that was required to pay an assessment due to liabilities of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust. The grant shall be limited to the amount of the assessment required to be paid by the employer.
c. Out of the amounts of federal government assistance provided to this State with regard to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic which may be available to address the public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the impact of the pandemic, there are allocated such amounts that are necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
2. a. There is established in the Department of the Treasury a non-lapsing revolving fund to be known as the "Self-Funded Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement Security Fund." This fund shall be the repository for monies collected pursuant to this section. The monies in the fund may be released by the Treasurer if the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance orders their release upon a finding that a highly unusual or unexpected event has occurred which threatens a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement with insolvency, in which case the funds shall be released to the self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement and used to prevent insolvency. If the funds are not adequate to prevent the self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement's insolvency, the commissioner may direct the funds to be used to pay medical expense claims of employees of self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement members.
b. The Commissioner of Banking and Insurance shall determine an annual contribution rate for members of self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangements in the State, which shall be collected every year and deposited into the fund. The commissioner shall base the contribution rate of each member on the balance of the fund at the end of the preceding fiscal year.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and section 1 of this act shall expire 24 months following that date.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a grant program in the Department of Treasury for certain employers affected by the winding down of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust.
Specifically, the bill requires the State Treasurer to establish a program providing grants to employers that were members of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust during 2020 and 2021 and who were affected by the winding down of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust. The bill requires the State Treasurer to contact each employer that was a member of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust during 2020 or 2021 and to provide the employer with information about the program and an application to apply for a grant.
The bill provides that an employer that was a member of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust may apply to the State Treasurer for a grant and the State Treasurer is to evaluate applications and make grants as appropriate. No grant may be awarded pursuant to the bill after the end of the 24th month following the effective date of the bill. The bill requires the State Treasurer to evaluate applications from any employer that was a member of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust during 2020 or 2021 that was required to pay an assessment due to liabilities of the Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust. The grant is limited to the amount of the assessment required to be paid by the employer.
The bill allocates such amounts from federal government assistance that are necessary to effectuate the purposes of the bill.
The Affiliated Physicians and Employers Master Trust, doing business as the Members Health Plan NJ, is a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement that provides health benefits for about 2,500 physician practices and other small businesses in New Jersey. The trust filed for bankruptcy in May, 2021, as a result of millions of dollars in pandemic-related testing cost and treatment claims. Because the trust cannot pay the costs associated with these benefits, employers who are members of the trust have been required to pay an assessment based on their liabilities. This bill establishes a grant program to reimburse these employers for the cost of the assessments.
The bill also establishes in the Department of the Treasury a non-lapsing revolving fund to be known as the "Self-Funded Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement Security Fund." The fund is to be the repository for monies collected pursuant to a contribution by self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangements pursuant to the bill. The monies in the fund may be released by the Treasurer if the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance orders their release upon a finding that a highly unusual or unexpected event has occurred which threatens a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement with insolvency, in which case the funds shall be released to the self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement and used to prevent insolvency. If the funds are not adequate to prevent the self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement's insolvency, the funds are to be used to pay medical expense claims of employees of self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement members.
The bill requires the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance to determine an annual contribution rate for members of self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangements in the State, which is to be collected every year and deposited into the fund. The contribution rate of each member is to be based on the balance of the fund at the end of the preceding fiscal year.
