Virginia Code 59.1-591: Additional requirements
A. The board of trustees established pursuant to subsection B of § 59.1-590 shall (i) operate any health benefit plans in accordance with the fiduciary duties defined in ERISA and (ii) have the power to make and collect special assessments against members and, if any assessment is not timely paid, to enforce collection of such assessment.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 59.1-591
- ERISA: means the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, P. See Virginia Code 59.1-589
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Member: means a person that is part of a sponsoring association, that conducts business operations within the Commonwealth, and that employs individuals who reside in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 59.1-589
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Trust: means a trust that (i) is established to accept and hold assets of a health benefit plan in trust in accordance with the terms of the written trust document for the sole purposes of providing medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision benefits and defraying reasonable administrative costs of providing health benefits under a health benefit plan and (ii) complies with the conditions set forth in § 59. See Virginia Code 59.1-589
B. Each member shall be liable for his allocated share of the liabilities of the sponsoring association under a health benefit plan as determined by the board of trustees.
C. Health benefit plan documents shall have the following statement printed on the first page in size 14-point boldface type:
“This coverage is not insurance and is not offered through an insurance company. This coverage is not required to comply with certain federal market requirements for health insurance, nor is it required to comply with certain state laws for health insurance. Each member shall be liable for his allocated share of the liabilities of the sponsoring association under the health benefit plan as determined by the board of trustees. This means that each member may be responsible for paying an additional sum if the annual premiums present a deficit of funds for the trust. The trust’s financial documents shall be available for public inspection at (insert website of where sponsoring association trust documents are posted).”