NY A02828

Authorizes cities, towns, villages, school districts, boards of cooperative educational services, library districts, fire districts, and improvement districts to establish centralized offices providing employee payroll, time, attendance, personnel administration, and health insurance services.

Allows municipal cooperative health benefit plans to offer multiple health insurance carriers and permit employees to choose among different plans, with options for participation in tax-deferred retirement, health care, and child care plans.

Permits municipal cooperative health benefit plans to reduce premiums for enrollees who participate in bona fide wellness programs (programs that identify at-risk populations or promote good health and disease prevention), subject to superintendent approval and actuarial justification.

Reduces the minimum participation requirements for municipal cooperative health benefit plans from three to two municipalities and from two thousand to five hundred covered employees, and extends the appeal period for certificate denial from thirty to sixty days.

Removes the population limitation on cities participating in municipal cooperative health benefit plans, allowing cities of any size to participate, and clarifies definitions of "municipal corporation" and "stop-loss insurance" in the insurance law.