HF 3543 Summary

• Eliminates the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association assessment on health plan companies and replaces it with health care provider taxes (hospitals, surgical centers, providers, wholesale drug distributors) effective January 1, 2011.

• Changes the Comprehensive Health Association from a membership-based organization to one with no members, governed by 11 commissioners appointed by the commissioner of commerce, with at least two plan enrollees and one licensed insurance agent.

• Establishes premium approval criteria requiring the commissioner to review proposed premiums within 45 days based on factors including compliance with statutory provisions, advance notice to enrollees, cost comparisons, and enrollment projections, with approved premiums between 101-125 percent of weighted averages.

• Appropriates funding from the health care access fund to offset deficits in the Comprehensive Health Association program for fiscal year 2011 and requires the commissioner to include cost estimates in future budget submissions.

• Repeals previous statutory provisions regarding contributing member definitions, member assessments, and administrative procedures related to the association's operation.