(a) âAgent or brokerâ means a person or entity licensed under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 1621) of Part 2 of Division 1. (b) âBenefit plan designâ means a specific health coverage product issued by a carrier to small employers, to trustees of associations that include small employers, or to individuals if the coverage is offered through employment or sponsored by an employer. It includes services covered and the levels of copayment and deductibles, and it may include the professional providers who are to provide those services and the sites where those services are to be provided. A benefit plan design may also be an integrated system for the financing and delivery of quality health care services which has significant incentives for the covered individuals to use the system. (c) âCarrierâ means a health insurer or any other entity that writes, issues, or administers health benefit plans that cover the employees of small employers, regardless of the situs of the contract or master policyholder. (d) âChildâ means a child described in Section 22775 of the Government Code and subdivisions (n) to (p), inclusive, of Section 599.500 of Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations. (e) âDependentâ means the spouse or registered domestic partner, or child, of an eligible employee, subject to applicable terms of the health benefit plan covering the employee, and includes dependents of guaranteed association members if the association elects to include dependents under its health coverage at the same time it determines its membership composition pursuant to subdivision (s). (f) âEligible employeeâ means either of the following: (1) Any permanent employee who is actively engaged on a full-time basis in the conduct of the business of the small employer with a normal workweek of an average of 30 hours per week over the course of a month, in the small employerâs regular place of business, who has met any statutorily authorized applicable waiting period requirements. The term does not include sole proprietors or the spouses of those sole proprietors, partners of a partnership or the spouses of those partners, or employees who work on a part-time, temporary, or substitute basis. It includes any eligible employee, as defined in this paragraph, who obtains coverage through a guaranteed association. Employees of employers purchasing through a guaranteed association are eligible employees if they would otherwise meet the definition except for the number of persons employed by the employer. A permanent employee who works at least 20 hours but not more than 29 hours is an eligible employee if all four of the following apply: (A) The employee otherwise meets the definition of an eligible employee except for the number of hours worked. (B) The employer offers the employee health coverage under a health benefit plan. (C) All similarly situated individuals are offered coverage under the health benefit plan. (D) The employee shall have worked at least 20 hours per normal workweek for at least 50 percent of the weeks in the previous calendar quarter. The insurer may request any necessary information to document the hours and time period in question, including, but not limited to, payroll records and employee wage and tax filings. (2) Any member of a guaranteed association as defined in subdivision (s). (g) âEnrolleeâ means an eligible employee or dependent who receives health coverage through the program from a participating carrier. (h) âExchangeâ means the California Health Benefit Exchange created by Section 100500 of the Government Code. (i) âFinancially impairedâ means, for the purposes of this chapter, a carrier that, on or after the effective date of this chapter, is not insolvent and is either: (1) Deemed by the commissioner to be potentially unable to fulfill its contractual obligations. (2) Placed under an order of rehabilitation or conservation by a court of competent jurisdiction. (j) âHealth ben
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