Senate Commerce Committee Statement - Senate Bill No. 2676, State of New Jersey (July 23, 2020)

Summary

Senate Commerce Committee Statement to Senate, No. 2676 with committee amendments, State of New Jersey, dated July 23, 2020, reporting Senate Bill No. 2676 favorably. As amended, the bill requires entities authorized to issue health benefits plans to pay an annual assessment of 2.75% of net written premiums to the State Treasurer, and creates a nonlapsing revolving fund known as the "Health Insurance Affordability Fund." The fund is to be used to increase affordability in the individual and small group markets and to provide greater access to health insurance to the uninsured. Among the committee amendments, the bill does not apply to Medicare supplements plans.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

     SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

                    STATEMENT TO

                  SENATE, No. 2676
                   with committee amendments



 STATE OF NEW JERSEY
                       DATED: JULY 23, 2020

    The Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably and with
committee amendments Senate Bill No. 2676.
    As amended by the committee, the bill requires certain entities
authorized to issue health benefits plans to pay annual assessments
based on the entity’s net written premiums.
    The bill requires entities to pay an annual assessment of 2.75% of
the entity’s net written premiums.             Entities include various
organizations that are authorized to issue health and dental benefits
plans in this State.
    The bill requires entities to annually file with the Commissioner of
Banking and Insurance their net written premiums for the preceding
year, no later than April 1 of each year.
    The bill requires the commissioner to calculate and issue to the
entity a certified assessment, which will be 2.75% of the entity’s net
written premiums.
    The bill requires entities to pay the assessment issued by the
commissioner to the State Treasurer no later than May 1 of each year,
as prescribed by the commissioner.
    The bill provides that if the commissioner determines that the
amount of the assessment will reduce the State’s total revenue, the
commissioner may reduce the assessment.
    The bill establishes in the Department of the Treasury a nonlapsing
revolving fund to be known as the “Health Insurance Affordability
Fund.” This fund is to be the repository for all monies collected
pursuant to the bill. As directed by the commissioner, the monies in
the fund are to be used only for the purposes of increasing affordability
in the individual and small group markets and providing greater access
to health insurance to the uninsured, including minors, with a primary
focus on households with an income below 400 percent of the federal
poverty level, expanding eligibility, or modifying the definition of
affordability in those markets, through subsidies, reinsurance, tax
policies, outreach and enrollment efforts, buy-in programs, such as the
NJ FamilyCare Advantage Program, or any other efforts that can
increase affordability for small employers and individual policyholders
in those markets or that can reduce racial disparities in coverage for
the uninsured.
                                 2

    The bill provides that a report currently required to be issued by
the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance by June 1, 2022 shall also
set forth the impacts of the measures taken pursuant to the bill on
affordability, reductions in racial disparities in health insurance
coverage, including impacts by income level, race, and immigration
status.    The report shall make recommendations to increase
affordability and reduce the uninsured rate in New Jersey, as
appropriate, based on the data available to the department.
    The bill also requires that the assessments collected pursuant to the
bill be used only for the purposes contained in the bill, with certain
provisions to ensure the assessments are used for those purposes in
future fiscal years.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
    The committee amended the bill to:
    1) Make clarifications to the definition of “entity subject to this
act,” as used in the bill, and provide that the bill does not apply to
Medicare supplements plans.
    2) Remove references to certain sections of the federal Affordable
Care Act that will no longer be in effect in 2021.
    3) Provide that the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance must
consult with the Commissioners of the Department of Human
Services and the Department of Health in using the funds collected
pursuant to the bill.
    4) Provide that the funds collected pursuant to the bill are to be
used to increase affordability and provide greater access to health
insurance with a primary focus on households with an income below
400 percent of the federal poverty level, and to expand eligibility,
and to modify the definition of affordability in the small employer
and individual markets.
    5) Provide that the funds collected pursuant to the bill may be
used for efforts that can reduce racial disparities in coverage for the
uninsured.
    6) Provide that a report currently required to be issued by the
Commissioner of Banking and Insurance by June 1, 2022 shall also
set forth the impacts of the measures taken pursuant to the bill on
affordability, reductions in racial disparities in health insurance
coverage, including impacts by income level, race, and immigration
status.    The report shall make recommendations to increase
affordability and reduce the uninsured rate in New Jersey, as
appropriate, based on the data available to the department.
    7) Require that the assessments collected pursuant to the bill be
used only for the purposes contained in the bill, with certain
provisions to ensure the assessments are used for those purposes in
future fiscal years.


File and source

File

2020-07-23_SCM_S2676_S1.pdf

Size

121,193 bytes

SHA-256

5be72d65530f97bf8f1912c0449a87fe460987f776ac0d01cbb821f959a8bbb0

Our copy

2020-07-23_SCM_S2676_S1.pdf

Original

No public link identified.