A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE RANDOLPH COUNTY CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE TO ESTABLISH A FIVE‑YEAR HEALTH INSURANCE PILOT PROject IN RANDOLPH COUNTY TO PROVIDE A MODEL FOR AFFORDABLE EMPLOYER‑BASED HEALTH INSURANCE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Chambers of Commerce in Randolph County may establish and implement a five‑year health insurance pilot project ("Pilot Project"), the goal of which is to reduce the number of uninsured North Carolinians and to reduce the cost of health insurance for all purchasers of health insurance in the Pilot Project area.  The Pilot Project must comply with the following:
(1)	The products for which the pooling of small and large groups would occur are fully insured.
(2)	The insurance is issued through a group master contract with a bona fide association as defined in G.S. 58‑68‑25 or a trust or other legal entity that is capable of entering into a group master contract.
(3)	The pooling arrangement requires that all small employers with fewer than 100 employees desiring to join be accepted, and that all eligible employees of each employer who elects coverage through the participating employers be included in the pool.
(4)	Each employer participating in the pooling arrangement and its employees are offered the same benefit plan.
SECTION 1.(b)  The Pilot Project authorized under Section 1 of this act may contain the following components:
(1)	Use of matching funds from State, federal, and private sources to subsidize private health insurance premiums paid by eligible small employers and low‑wage employees participating in the Pilot Project.
(2)	Offer a health benefits package with defined tiers of benefits and premium payment mechanisms as optional alternatives to the standard, large group health benefits package to be applied to eligible small employers in achieving affordable health insurance premiums for employees and employers.
SECTION 1.(c)  The premium rates charged to individuals covered under employers participating in the group master contract are not subject to G.S. 58‑50‑130(b) when the rates are based on a community rate that reflects the participating public employers, nonprofit employers, for‑profit employers, and eligible small employers participating in the pool.  Such community rate may be adjusted for the benefit plan option selected by the participating employer or individual employee, for family composition, and for age and gender in order to determine premium.  
SECTION 1.(d)  The large risk pool authorized in this section shall not be established and a group master insurance contract shall not be executed with an insurer unless and until reviewed and approved by the Department of Insurance.  Department approval shall be given if the Department determines that the pool satisfies the requirements of Section 1 of this act and that the group master contract, certificates of coverage, and premium rates of the insurer desiring to issue the coverage satisfy all applicable requirements of Chapter 58 of the General Statutes.
SECTION 1.(e)  The Department of Insurance shall evaluate the Pilot Project and submit a report on its evaluation to the Joint Legislative Health Care Oversight Committee.  The report shall be submitted 15 months prior to the expiration of the five‑year term of the Pilot Project and shall also include a recommendation as to whether the Pilot Project should be extended, made permanent, or expire at the end of its fifth year.  The Department may submit interim reports as it deems appropriate, and may recommend to the Joint Legislative Health Care Oversight Committee early termination of the Pilot Project if it determines that the Pilot Project's continuation is not in the public's interest or is detrimental to the small group health insurance market.
(1)	Based on information provided by the Pilot Project and other sources, the Department of Insurance shall evaluate the aspects of the Pilot Project's performance and impacts that the Department deems necessary to ascertain the benefits and drawbacks of the Pilot Project, including, but not limited to, the impact that the Pilot Project has upon:
a.	The premiums and number of covered lives in the small group health insurance market;
b.	The percentage of large and small employers offering employee health insurance through the Pilot Project, the small group market, the large group market, or self‑funded plans; and
c.	The number of working uninsured in the Pilot Project area.
(2)	The evaluation may also examine the impact of the following features of the Pilot Project upon the cost of premiums, if employed as part of the Pilot Project:
a.	Unique disease management and health promotion initiatives.
b.	Approaches employed to achieve prudent and appropriate use of high-technology health care resources among those covered through the Pilot Project.
c.	Any other unique aspects of the Pilot Project.
SECTION 1.(f)  G.S. 105‑129.16E applies to eligible small businesses that provide health benefits under the Pilot Project authorized under this section.
SECTION 2.(a)  G.S. 105‑129.16E(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Credit. – A small business that provides health benefits for all of its eligible employees during the taxable year is allowed a credit to offset its costs in providing health benefits for its eligible employees. For the purposes of this subsection, a taxpayer provides health benefits if it pays at least fifty percent (50%) of the premiums for a health benefit plan sold by a small employer carrier under Part 5 of Article 50 of Chapter 58 of the General Statutes or if its employees have qualifying existing coverage.
The credit is equal to a dollar amount per eligible employee whose total wages or salary received from the business does not exceed forty thousand dollars ($40,000) on an annual basis. The dollar amount is two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00), not to exceed the taxpayer's costs of providing health benefits for the employee during the taxable year."
SECTION 2.(b)  This section is effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2008.
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.  Section 1 of this act expires June 30, 2013.  This act applies to Randolph County only.