Bill Text: NJ A1056 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Concerns health insurance benefits for locked-out workers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-24 - Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee [A1056 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A1056-Amended.html
ASSEMBLY, No. 1056
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblywoman JOANN DOWNEY
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman JOSEPH V. EGAN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Concerns health insurance benefits for locked-out workers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Labor Committee on October 18, 2018, with amendments.
An Act concerning health insurance benefits for locked-out workers and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Department of Labor and Workforce Development a nonlapsing, revolving fund to be known as the Working Family Health Security Fund. The fund shall be administered by the commissioner, and shall be credited with moneys received pursuant to section 1[3] 21 of this act. The moneys in the fund shall be invested and reinvested by the Director of the Division of Investment in the Department of the Treasury as are other trust funds in the custody of the State Treasurer in the manner provided by law. Interest received on the moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund.
b. The purpose of the fund is to administer assistance in the form of the moneys needed for individuals to pay for continuation coverage under the COBRA continuation provision under the following circumstances:
(1) the individual is an employee of an employer that provides a health benefits plan to its employees in this State, including the individual;
(2) the health insurance coverage for the individual is being discontinued by the employer because of a stoppage of work which exists because of a labor dispute at the factory, establishment, or other premises at which the employee is or was last employed and the employer has prevented the employee from working, even though the employee's recognized or certified majority representative has directed the employees in the collective bargaining unit to work under the preexisting terms and conditions of employment, and the employees had not engaged in a strike immediately before being prevented from working; and
(3) the individual files an application on a form provided by the commissioner demonstrating the individual meets the requirements of this act to qualify for the assistance.
c. The employer shall provide the commissioner with all information, including information regarding costs of the health insurance coverage, deemed necessary by the commissioner to implement the provisions of this act, and shall comply with the directives of the commissioner regarding the timely facilitation of the COBRA extension.
d. Payments by the fund shall be discontinued whenever the 1[work stoppage is ended] employer reinstates the insurance coverage.
e. An employer that caused the fund to be depleted due to payments for employee COBRA coverage as a result of a stoppage of work because of a labor dispute shall be responsible for reimbursing the fund for the cost of the coverage during the stoppage of work 1.
2. For the purpose of providing the moneys necessary to establish and meet the purposes of the fund, there is established a five cent annual surcharge per employee for all employers who are subject to the "unemployment compensation law," R.S.43:21-1 et seq., except that the surcharge shall not be collected during any year for which the balance of the fund was more than $5 million as of September 1 of the immediately preceding year. The surcharge shall be collected by the controller for the unemployment compensation fund and paid over to the State Treasurer for deposit in the fund annually.
3. As used in this act:
"Carrier" means an entity that contracts or offers to contract to provide, deliver, arrange for, pay for, or reimburse any of the costs of health care services under a health benefits plan, including: an insurance company authorized to issue health benefits plans; a health maintenance organization; a health, hospital, or medical service corporation; a multiple employer welfare arrangement; an entity providing or administering a self-funded health benefits plan; an entity under contract with the State Health Benefits Program and the School Employees' Health Benefits Program to administer a health benefits plan; or any other entity providing a health benefits plan.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.
"Fund" means the Working Family Health Security Fund established by this act.
"Health benefits plan" means a benefits plan which pays or provides hospital and medical expense benefits for covered services, and is delivered or issued for delivery in this State by or through a carrier.
4. In accordance with the
"Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.),
the commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Banking and
Insurance, shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out the
purposes of this act.
5. This act shall take effect 90 days after its enactment, except that the commissioner shall have power immediately to promulgate rules and regulations, appoint officers and employees, and fix their compensation, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this act, and do those other things necessary to enforce the provisions of this act.
