HB 2081 Summary

• Amends the Employer Health Insurance Purchasing Group Act by modifying definitions, eligibility requirements, and operational standards for health insurance purchasing groups (HIPGs)

• Changes eligible employer requirements from "no more than one hundred eligible employees" to "two or more employees" and establishes a two-hundred employee minimum for HIPG composition with a twelve-month formation period

• Modifies HIPG board composition requirements to include "at least five" representatives and allows contract periods up to five years (previously twelve months) with optional extensions

• Removes requirement that HIPGs comply with the Small Employer Health Insurance Reform Act and prohibits HIPGs from offering certain types of plans while allowing limited benefit contracts without state-mandated health benefits

• Establishes annual filing approval process as deemed approved after sixty days unless expressly disapproved; specifies HIPGs are considered large groups for regulatory purposes; effective November 1, 2011