Health insurance; association health plan for real estate salespersons. Provides that a licensed insurer may issue a policy of group accident and sickness insurance to an association of real estate salespersons (association), which association shall be deemed the policyholder, and that such association health plan is not considered to be insurance and is not subject to the existing requirements for insurance if certain requirements are met. The bill requires that (i) all members of the association be eligible for coverage and membership, including employer members with at least one employee that is domiciled in the Commonwealth or self-employed individuals; (ii) membership in the association not be conditioned on any health status–related factor; (iii) the coverage offered through the association be available to all members regardless of any health status–related factor; (iv) the association not make health insurance coverage offered through the association available other than in connection with a member of the association; and (v) premiums for the policy be paid from funds contributed by the association or associations, or by employer members, or by both, or from funds contributed by the covered persons or from both the covered persons and the association, associations, or employer members. The bill also requires the association (a) has at the outset a minimum of 100 members; (b) has been organized and maintained in good faith for purposes other than that of obtaining insurance; (c) has been in active existence for at least five years; and (d) has a constitution and bylaws that provide that the association hold regular meetings not less than annually to further purposes of the members, that the association collects dues or solicits contributions from members, and that the members have voting privileges and representation on the governing board and committees.The bill provides that any such policy shall (1) be considered a large group market plan subject to all coverage mandates applicable to a large group market plan, (2) be subject to the group health plan coverage requirements under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (3) be prohibited from denying coverage under the policy on the basis of a pre-existing condition, (4) shall be guaranteed issue and guaranteed renewable, (5) provide essential health benefits and cost-sharing requirements, and (6) offer a minimum level of coverage designed to provide benefits that are actuarially equivalent to 60 percent of the full actuarial value of the benefits provided under the plan.The bill requires an insurer issuing such policy to an association to (A) treat all of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy as a single risk pool; (B) set premiums on the basis of the collective group experience of the members and employees of employer members who are enrolled in coverage under the policy; (C) not vary premiums by age, except that the rate shall not vary by more than four to one for adults; (D) not vary premiums on the basis of gender; (E) not vary premiums on the basis of the health status of an individual employee of an employer member or a self-employed individual member; and (F) not establish discriminatory rules based on the health status of an employer member, an individual employee of an employer member, or a self-employed individual for eligibility or contribution.Finally, the bill provides that the State Corporation Commission retains its regulatory authority over any such association health plan and may impose insurance requirements, as it deems appropriate.
Sponsored bills
Elections; local offices; reapportionment and redistricting; effect of certain changes. Requires in certainlocalities that the passage of an ordinance providing for the electionof an additional member of the governing body on an at-large basis must coincide with an equal increase in the membership of the localelected school board on an at-large basis. The bills also clarifiesthat local elected officials in office on the effective date of acourt-ordered redistricting plan must be allowed to complete theirterms of office, regardless of loss of residency in a particulardistrict due to reapportionment or redistricting.
General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act;prohibited conduct; ownership of certain securities prohibited.Prohibits members of the General Assembly from owning any securityissued by a public service corporation, or the parent, affiliate,or subsidiary of a public service corporation, during their termof office. However, such prohibition does not restrict a member ofthe General Assembly from owning such a security in a diversifiedmutual fund or diversified unit investment trust.
Elections; absentee voting; ballots to be sortedand results to be reported by precinct. Provides that absentee ballots processed at a central absentee precinct must be sorted bythe precinct to which the voter who cast the absentee ballot is assignedand that the resulting vote totals from such ballots must be reportedseparately for each voter precinct.
Education Savings Account Program; establishment. Establishes the Education Savings Account Program (the Program),to be administered by the Department of Education (the Department)with assistance from each local school board, whereby the parentof any elementary or secondary school student who (i) is a memberof a household whose annual income does not exceed two times theannual household income that would qualify the student for free orreduced-price lunch and (ii) was eligible to attend a public schoolin the Commonwealth in the preceding semester or is starting elementaryor secondary school in the Commonwealth for the first time is eligibleto receive an education savings account, for as long as the studentis of school age and the amount of which is determined pursuant toa calculation set forth in the bill, to cover certain enumeratededucational expenses for his child. The bill requires the Departmentto establish rules and regulations for the Program and contains conditions,limitations, and other requirements for the Program, including provisionsrelating to the accountability and educational autonomy of individualsand entities receiving account funds to cover qualified expenses.
Best interests of the child; assuring frequentand continuing contact with both parents. Provides that, in determiningthe best interests of a child for purposes of custody and parentingtime arrangements, upon request of either party, the court shallassure a minor child of frequent and continuing contact with bothparents so as to maximize the amount of time the minor child spendswith each parent.
Purchase of handguns; limitation on handgunpurchases. Removes the prohibition on any person who is not a licensed firearms dealer from purchasing more than one handgun ina 30-day period. Current law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for aviolation of this provision, subject to certain exemptions.
Illegal gambling; exceptions; internet poker;private residence. Exempts from the definition of "illegal gambling" participation in a game of internet poker, defined in the bill, conductedin a private residence, provided such private residence is not commonlyused for internet poker games and there is no operator. The bill contains technical amendments.
Study; Joint Commission on Technology and Science;semiconductor industry expansion; report. Directs the Joint Commissionon Technology and Science to study the challenges and opportunitiesto expand the semiconductor industry in the Commonwealth. The Commissionshall submit its findings no later than the first day of the 2023Regular Session of the General Assembly.
Voter identification; identification containinga photograph required. Requires presentation of a form of identificationcontaining a photograph in order to vote. The bill repeals the provisionsof law permitting a voter who does not have one of the required formsof identification to vote after signing a statement, subject to felonypenalties for false statements, that he is the named registered voterhe claims to be. Instead, the bill provides that such voter is entitledto cast a provisional ballot.