In 1992, the Minnesota legislature enacted a law (62L.05) mandating that each health carrier in the small employer market must make available to qualifying small employers both a deductible-type and a co-payment-type small employer plan. In addition, the legislation requires that these plans include limited coverage for certain benefits (e.g., mental health, chemical dependency and prescription drugs).
In 1999, the Minnesota legislature passed SF 84 which allowed for benefit plans that may alter or eliminate coverage that is required by law, other than the requirement that care provided for covered services such as osteopaths, optometrists, and chiropractors be reimbursed on a nondiscriminatory basis. No carriers ever sold the plans and the law was allowed to expire in 2003.
In 2005, the Minnesota legislature enacted a new law that allows health plans to sell “small employer flexible benefit plans” that do not include any of the benefit mandates. However, all plans must comply with federal health mandates (maternity for employers with 15 or more employees, mastectomy-women’s health & cancer rights act, newborns 48/96 hours, HIPAA, COBRA, ERISA, etc.)
