Section 404-G:4 Association Membership and Governance.
I. The association shall be comprised of all writers of health insurance.
II. The initial board of directors of the association shall be the same as that set forth in the order. Except as provided in paragraph IV, each successor board shall consist of 9 individuals who are representative of categories of members of the association, health care providers, consumers who have purchased or are likely to purchase coverage from the pool, insurance brokers, small employers, and the commissioner who shall be an ex-officio member. In the initial and in each successor board, 3 directors shall be representative of and elected by qualified writers of group health insurance, 2 directors shall be representative of and elected by qualified writers of individual health insurance, one director shall be representative of the health care provider community and shall be appointed by the commissioner, one director shall be representative of consumers covered through the high risk pool and shall be appointed by the commissioner, one director shall be a representative of insurance brokers and shall be appointed by the commissioner, and one director shall be a representative of small employers and shall be appointed by the commissioner.
III. There shall be no more than one director representing any one qualified writer or its affiliate. For purposes of this section, the insurance activities of any elected director's affiliate shall be deemed to be insurance activities of the elected director.
IV. Qualified writers of individual or group health insurance shall be those that provide coverage for at least 500 covered lives or 5 percent of the total covered lives in the relevant market. A member's votes for individual or group market representatives shall be proportional to the member's assessment in that market.
V. If, at any board election subsequent to the establishment of the initial board, one or more elected group representatives are also qualified individual health insurance writers, then the membership of the board shall be altered by applying the provisions in subparagraphs (a) through (d) to such elected group representatives.
(a) If the elected group representative writing in the individual market is also an elected individual representative, then that member shall take a seat on the board as an individual representative and relinquish the group seat. The group writer with the next highest number of group votes shall take the relinquished group seat.
(b) If the elected group representative writing in the individual market is not also an elected individual representative, then up to 2 directors will be added to the board as follows:
(1) If the total size of the board-elect is 9 or 10, the elected group representative shall remain on the board, but neither as a group or an individual representative, and the group writer with the next highest number of group votes shall join the board as a group representative; but
(2) If the total size of the board-elect is 11, the elected group representative shall not remain on the board and the group writer with the next highest number of group votes shall take the relinquished group seat.
(c) The provisions in subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall be applied to elected group representatives in the order of the number of votes received.
(d) The seats added to the board pursuant to subparagraph (b) shall not survive the term of the seat-holder.
VI. Members of the board of directors shall be elected to terms of one year.
VII. The board of directors shall take action by affirmative vote representing a simple majority of the entire board.
VIII. The board shall elect officers in accordance with the bylaws of the association. The bylaws of the association shall also govern the place and frequency of meetings of directors and their reimbursement for expenses incurred.
Source: 1998, 340:6. 2001, 295:8, July 1, 2001.