(1) "Small employer" means, in connection with a health insurance plan with respect to a calendar year and a plan year, any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, or employer, as defined in Section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 that is actively engaged in business that, on at least fifty percent of its working days during the preceding calendar year, employed no more than fifty eligible employees or employed an average of not more than fifty employees on business days during the preceding calendar year and who employs at least one employee on the first day of the plan year.

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(a) in determining the number of eligible employees, companies which are affiliated companies, or which are eligible to file a combined tax return for purposes of state taxation, or that are treated as a single employer under subsections (b), (c), (m), or (o) of Section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 must be considered one employer; and

(b) in the case of an employer which was not in existence throughout the preceding calendar year, the determination of whether the employer is a small or large employer shall be based on the average number of employees that it is reasonably expected to employ on business days in the current calendar year; and

(c) any reference in the subarticle to an employer includes a reference to any predecessor of the employer.

(2) "Insurer" means any person who provides health insurance in this State. For the purposes of this subarticle, insurer includes a licensed insurance company, a health maintenance organization, a multiple employer welfare arrangement, or any other person providing a plan of health insurance subject to state insurance regulation.

(3) "Health insurance plan" or "plan" means any hospital or medical policy or certificate, major medical expense insurance, hospital or medical service plan contract, or health maintenance organization subscriber contract which provides benefits consisting of medical care, provided directly, through insurance or reimbursement, or otherwise and including items and services paid for medical care. It includes the entire contract between the insurer and the insured, including the policy, riders, endorsements, and the application, if attached. "Health insurance plan" does not include: accident-only; blanket accident and sickness; specified disease or hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance if offered as independent noncoordinated benefits; credit; limited scope dental or vision if offered separately; Medicare supplement if offered as a separate policy; long-term care if offered separately; disability-income insurance; coverage issued as a supplement to liability or other liability insurance, including general liability insurance and automobile liability insurance; coverage designed solely to provide payments on a per diem, fixed indemnity, or nonexpense incurred basis; coverage for Medicare or Medicaid services pursuant to a contract with state or federal government; workers’ compensation or similar insurance; automobile medical payment insurance; coverage for on-site medical clinics; or other similar coverage, specified in regulations, under which benefits for medical care are secondary or incidental to other insurance benefits.

(4) "Small employer insurer" means an insurer which offers health insurance plans covering the employees of a small employer.

(5) "Case characteristics" means the following characteristics of a small employer, as determined by a small employer insurer, which are considered by the insurer in the determination of premium rates for the small employer: age, gender, geographic area, industry, group size, and family composition. Geographic areas smaller than a county may not be used without prior approval of the director or his designee. Claim experience, health status, and duration of coverage since issue are not case characteristics for the purposes of this subarticle. The adjustment for case characteristics must be objective and meet sound actuarial practices.

(6) "Director" means the person who is appointed by the Governor upon the advice and consent of the Senate and who is responsible for the operation and management of the Department of Insurance, including all of its divisions. The director may appoint or designate the person or persons who shall serve at the pleasure of the director to carry out the objectives or duties of the department as provided by law. "Director" also includes a designee or deputy director upon whom the director has bestowed any duty or function required of the director by law in managing or supervising the Department of Insurance.

(7) "Department" means the Department of Insurance.

(8) "New business premium rate" means, for each class of business as to a rating period, the lowest premium charged or offered, or which could have been charged or offered, by the small employer insurer to small employers with similar case characteristics for newly issued health insurance plans with the same or similar coverage.

(9) "Class of business" means all or a distinct grouping of small employers as shown on the records of the small employer insurer.

(a) A distinct grouping may be established only by the small employer insurer on the basis that the applicable health insurance plans:

(i) are marketed and sold through individuals and organizations which are not participating in the marketing or sale of other distinct groupings of small employers for such small employer;

(ii) have been acquired from another small employer insurer as a distinct grouping of plans;

(iii) are provided through an association with membership of not less than fifty small employers which have been formed for purposes other than obtaining insurance; or

(iv) are provided through a common group formed solely for the purpose of obtaining insurance as permitted by § 38-71-730(1)(b).

(b) A small employer insurer may establish no more than two additional groupings on the basis of criteria, except group size, which are expected to produce substantial variation in administrative and marketing costs.

(c) The director or his designee may approve the establishment of additional distinct groupings upon application to the director or his designee and a finding by the director or his designee that action would enhance the efficiency and fairness of the small employer insurance marketplace.

(10) "Actuarial certification" means a written statement by a member of the American Academy of Actuaries or other individual acceptable to the director or his designee that a small employer insurer is in compliance with the provisions of § 38-71-940 and that the rating methods used in establishing premium rates for applicable health insurance plans are objective and based on sound actuarial practices. This statement must be based upon the person’s examination, including a review of the appropriate records and of the actuarial assumptions and methods utilized by the insurer in establishing premium rates for applicable health insurance plans.

(11) "Rating period" means the calendar period for which premium rates established by a small employer insurer are assumed to be in effect as determined by the small employer insurer.

(12) "Base premium rate" means, for each class of business as to a rating period, the lowest premium rate charged or which could have been charged under a rating system for that class of business, by the small employer insurer to small employers with similar case characteristics for health insurance plans with the same or similar coverage.

(13) "Index rate" means, for each class of business for small employers with similar case characteristics, the arithmetic average of the applicable base premium rate and the corresponding highest premium rate.

(14) "Restricted network provision" means any provision of a health insurance plan that conditions the payment of benefits, in whole or in part, on the use of health care providers that have entered into a contractual arrangement with the insurer pursuant to the laws and regulations of the State to provide health care services to covered individuals.