Authorizes all municipalities, with the consent of the county and the governing body of such municipality, to join a county self-funded or self-insured health plan; requires certification.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1766--B
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STECK, BARRETT, BLANKENBUSH, COOK, DeSTEFANO,
FRIEND, HAWLEY, HEVESI, LUPARDO, McMAHON, PALMESANO, PEOPLES-STOKES,
REYES, STIRPE, WOERNER, BENDETT, MANKTELOW, TAGUE, BRABENEC, SAYEGH,
ANGELINO, GALLAHAN, LUNSFORD, K. BROWN, SEMPOLINSKI, CASHMAN, KASSAY,
McDONALD -- read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on
Insurance in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
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:
1 Section 1. A municipality is permitted, with the consent of the county
2 and the governing body of such municipality, to join a county self-fund-
3 ed or self-insured health plan in any county in which such municipality
4 is located in whole or in part. For the purposes of this act, a munici-
5 pality shall be defined as any city, town, or village. In order for a
6 municipality or municipalities to join the county self-funded or self-
7 insured health plan, the governing board of the municipality shall adopt
8 a resolution indicating that they consent to joining such plan and the
9 county shall file with the superintendent of financial services certif-
10 ication that, with inclusion of the lives to be covered in the plan,
11 prior to the admission of the municipality or municipalities, that the
12 county self-funded or self-insured health plan meets the following six
13 requirements:
14 (a) That the county and any municipality or municipalities joining
15 such plan have mutually consented to join such plan.
16 (b) That it maintain a reserve fund, calculated as a percentage of
17 total annual incurred claims, of a minimum of 12% of claims.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04716-04-6
A. 1766--B 2
1 (c) That it has a surplus account, established and maintained for the
2 sole purpose of satisfying unexpected obligations of the benefit plan in
3 the event of termination or abandonment of the plan, which shall not be
4 less than 5% of the annualized earned premium equivalents during the
5 current fiscal year of the plan.
6 (d) That it has in effect a specific stop loss per individual claim
7 only, no aggregate, and with a minimum deductible of $200,000 to
8 $250,000.
9 (e) That it has a minimum of 1,000 covered lives including retirees,
10 but not including dependents.
11 (f) That joint and several liability of participating municipalities
12 for the obligations of the plan is hereby abolished, and such liability
13 shall be governed as follows:
14 1. If the plan does not have admitted assets, as defined in section
15 107 of the insurance law, at least equal to the aggregate of its liabil-
16 ities and reserves and minimum surplus as provided in subdivision (b) of
17 this section, the governing board of such plan shall, within 30 days
18 thereafter, order an assessment for the amount that will provide suffi-
19 cient funds to remove such impairment and collect from each municipal
20 corporation a pro rata share of such assessed amount.
21 2. Every municipal corporation that participated in the plan at any
22 time during the two-year period prior to the issuing of an assessment
23 order by the plan's governing board shall, if notified of such assess-
24 ment, pay its pro rata share of such assessment within 90 days after the
25 issuance of that assessment order.
26 3. A municipal corporation's pro rata share of any assessment shall be
27 determined by applying the ratio of (i) the total assessment to the
28 total contributions or premium equivalents earned during the period
29 covered by the assessment on all municipal corporations subject to
30 assessment to (ii) the contribution or premium equivalent earned during
31 such period attributable to such municipal corporation.
32 4. The contingent liability of municipal corporations for additional
33 premium equivalents or assessments shall not be included as an asset in
34 the financial statements of the self-funded or self-insured health plan.
35 § 2. Any county that seeks to admit a municipality or municipalities
36 to its self-insured or self-funded health plan shall utilize the
37 services of an actuary approved by the superintendent of financial
38 services who shall certify that the criteria set forth above have been
39 complied with. Certification by an actuary approved by the superinten-
40 dent of financial services shall establish a presumption that the muni-
41 cipality or municipalities shall be admitted to the county self-insured
42 or self-funded health plan. Provided, however, that the superintendent
43 of financial services may, before the passage of one year from the date
44 of certification, may reject such certification stating the grounds
45 therefor and any requirements to assure that must be met to assure that
46 the proposal is approved.
47 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
