505.21 - HEALTH CARE ACCESS -- DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER -- PENALTIES.

        505.21  HEALTH CARE ACCESS -- DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER      -- PENALTIES.         1.  The commissioner shall adopt rules establishing a requirement      that an employer provide access to health care to the employees of      the employer.  The rules shall provide that an employer doing      business within this state shall offer each employee, at a minimum,      access to health insurance.  The requirement contained in this      section may be satisfied by offering any of the following:         a.  Health care coverage through an insurer or health      maintenance organization authorized to do business in this state.         b.  Access to health benefits through a health benefits plan      qualified under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act      of 1974.         2.  An employer may financially contribute toward the employee's      health benefit plan.  The employer shall offer payroll deduction of      employee contributions and direct deposit of premium payments related      to a health insurance purchasing cooperative or other health care      coverage.         3.  A violation of this section may be reported to the consumer      and legal affairs bureau in the insurance division.  The division may      issue, upon a finding that an employer has failed to offer an      employee access to health insurance, any of the following:         a.  A cease and desist order instructing the employer to cure      the failure and desist from future violations of this section.         b.  An order requiring an employer who has previously been the      subject of a cease and desist order to pay an employee's reasonable      health insurance premiums necessary to prevent or cure a lapse in      health care coverage arising out of the employer's failure to offer      as required.         c.  An order upon the employer assessing the reasonable costs      of the division's investigation and enforcement action.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         94 Acts, ch 1176, §6; 98 Acts, ch 1217, § 38