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Alaska Statutes.

Title 21. Insurance

Chapter 56. Small Employer Health Insurance

Section 140. Required Offer of Coverage.

AS 21.56.140. Required Offer of Coverage.

(a) Except as provided under AS 21.56.160 , a small employer insurer shall, as a condition of transacting business in this state with small employers, offer to small employers all health care insurance plans the small employer insurer actively markets to small employers in this state, including a basic health care insurance plan and a standard health care insurance plan.

(b) A small employer insurer shall issue a health care insurance plan to a small employer that applies for a plan and shall accept for enrollment under the health care insurance coverage all eligible employees and their dependents who apply for enrollment during the period in which the employee first becomes eligible to enroll under the terms of the plan. A small employer insurer may not place a restriction on an eligible employee or dependent with respect to being a participant or beneficiary that is inconsistent with AS 21.54.100 .

(c) A small employer insurer may not increase a requirement for minimum employee participation or for minimum employer contribution applicable to a small employer at any time after the small employer has been accepted for coverage, except that a small employer insurer may vary application of minimum participation and employer contribution requirements by the size of the small employer group. In applying minimum employee participation requirements, a small employer insurer may not consider employees or dependents who have existing creditable coverage in determining whether the minimum employee participation level is met.

(d) If a small employer insurer offers coverage to a small employer, the small employer insurer shall offer coverage to all of the eligible employees of the small employer and their dependents. A small employer insurer may not offer coverage to only certain individuals in a small employer group or to only part of the group, except in the case of late enrollees as provided in AS 21.54.110 (d). For purposes of complying with this subsection,

(1) a small employer insurer may issue a health care insurance plan that covers only those employees that the small employer selects to be covered under its plan, except that the small employer insurer shall initially offer a plan to the small employer that covers all eligible employees as defined in AS 21.56.250 and their dependents;

(2) a small employer insurer, producer, or any other representative of the small employer insurer may not directly or indirectly influence a small employer in selecting which employees will be covered under the small employer's health care insurance plan based on the factors concerning unfair discrimination listed in AS 21.54.100 ; and

(3) a small employer insurer shall apply the minimum employee participation and minimum employer contribution requirements to those employees that the small employer selects to be covered under the small employer's health care insurance plan.

(e) The small employer insurer shall apply this section uniformly to all small employers without regard to the claims experience of the small employers and their employees and dependents or a health status factor of an employee or dependent.

(f) A small employer insurer may not, directly or indirectly, encourage or direct small employers to refrain from filing an application for coverage with a small employer insurer or to seek coverage from another insurer because of a health status factor, the claims experience, the industry, the occupation, the size, or the geographic location of the small employer.

(g) Except as provided in AS 21.54.110 , a small employer insurer may not, by a rider or amendment applicable to a specific individual, restrict or exclude coverage or benefits by type of illness, treatment, medical condition, or service otherwise covered by the plan.

(h) This section does not apply to health care insurance plans offered by a small employer insurer if the insurer makes the health care insurance plans available in the small employer market only through a bona fide association.

Note to HTML Version:

This version of the Alaska Statutes is current through December, 2004. The Alaska Statutes were automatically converted to HTML from a plain text format. Every effort has been made to ensure their accuracy, but this can not be guaranteed. If it is critical that the precise terms of the Alaska Statutes be known, it is recommended that more formal sources be consulted. For statutes adopted after the effective date of these statutes, see, Alaska State Legislature If any errors are found, please e-mail Touch N' Go systems at E-mail. We hope you find this information useful.

Last modified 9/3/2005