Public Policy at BCBSM has coordinated outreach efforts with our Government Affairs team to answer your question on SB 7. We reached out to the state Treasury Department and, unfortunately, they were unable to provide us with any additional information. We did reach out to the Legislature to inquire again regarding legislative intent.
Key legislative staff involved with the bill agreed with our interpretation of the language on this matter. As you recall, our interpretation of the timeline is a “medical benefit plan year” for purposes of this legislation is the period of time of the contract of the plan (i.e. October 1 to September 30 or July 1 to June 30). The legislation says “For medical benefit plan coverage years beginning on or after January 1, 2012”. The inclusion of “on or after” implies that the legislature contemplated that a plan’s coverage period does not begin and end every year on January 1 and that different groups may have different start or end dates for coverage.
“The summary is provided for information purposes only. They should not be considered legal advice or relied upon as such. You should consult your legal counsel and the underlying laws and regulations in order to gain a full understanding of the law.”
Leave a Reply