A. If coverage is offered under this article in the small employer market:

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1. Such coverage shall be offered and made available to all the eligible employees of every small employer and their dependents, including late enrollees, that apply for such coverage. No coverage may be offered only to certain eligible employees or their dependents and no employees or their dependents may be excluded or charged additional premiums because of health status; and

2. All products that are approved for sale in the small group market that the health insurance issuer is actively marketing must be offered to all small employers, and the health insurance issuer must accept any employer that applies for any of those products. This subdivision shall not apply to health insurance coverage or products offered by a health insurance issuer if such coverage or product is made available in the small group market only through one or more bona fide associations.

B. No coverage offered under this article shall exclude an employer based solely on the nature of the employer’s business.

C. A health insurance issuer that offers health insurance coverage in a small group market through a network plan may:

1. Limit the employers that may apply for such coverage to those eligible individuals who live, work or reside in the service area for such network plan; and

2. Within the service area of such plan, deny such coverage to such employers if the health insurance issuer has demonstrated, if required, to the satisfaction of the Commission that:

a. It will not have the capacity to deliver services adequately to enrollees of any additional groups because of its obligations to existing group contract holders and enrollees; and

b. It is applying this subdivision uniformly to all employers without regard to the claims experience of those employers and their employees (and their dependents) or any health status-related factors relating to such employees and dependents.

3. A health insurance issuer upon denying health insurance coverage in any service area in accordance with subdivision D 1, may not offer coverage in the small group market within such service area for a period of 180 days after the date such coverage is denied.

D. A health insurance issuer may deny health insurance coverage in the small group market if the health insurance issuer has demonstrated, if required, to the satisfaction of the Commission that:

1. It does not have the financial reserves necessary to underwrite additional coverage; and

2. It is applying this subdivision uniformly to all employers in the small group market in the Commonwealth consistent with the laws of this Commonwealth and without regard to the claims experience of those employers and their employees (and their dependents) or any health status-related factor relating to such employees and dependents.

E. A health insurance issuer upon denying health insurance coverage in accordance with subsection D in the Commonwealth may not offer coverage in the small group market for a period of 180 days after the date such coverage is denied or until the health insurance issuer has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Commission that the health insurance issuer has sufficient financial reserves to underwrite additional coverage, whichever is later.

F. Nothing in this article shall be construed to preclude a health insurance issuer from establishing employer contribution rules or group participation rules in connection with a health benefit plan offered in the small group market. As used in this article, the term “employer contribution rule” means a requirement relating to the minimum level or amount of employer contribution toward the premium for enrollment of eligible individuals and the term “group participation rule” means a requirement relating to the minimum number of eligible employees that must be enrolled in relation to a specified percentage or number of eligible employees. Any employer contribution rule or group participation rule shall be applied uniformly among small employers without reference to the size of the small employer group, health status of the small employer group, or other factors.

G. The provisions of this section shall not apply in any instance in which the provisions of this section are inconsistent or in conflict with a provision of Article 6 (§ 38.2-3438 et seq.) of Chapter 34.

1997, cc. 807, 913; 1998, c. 24; 2000, c. 544; 2013, c. 751.