A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the north carolina professional employer organization act concerning bonding provisions and maintenance of employee benefits.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 58‑89A‑50(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	An applicant for licensure shall file with the Commissioner a surety bond for the benefit of the Commissioner as follows:
(1)	If the applicant was initially licensed prior to October 1, 2008, the bond or as provided for in subsection (f) of this section shall be in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(2)	If the applicant was not initially licensed prior to October 1, 2008, the bond or as provided for in subsection (f) of this section shall be in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the applicant's prior year's total North Carolina wages, benefits, workers compensation premiums, and unemployment compensation contributions, but not greater than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), or such greater amount as the Commissioner may require."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 58‑89A‑105 reads as rewritten:
"§ 58‑89A‑105.  Employee benefit plans; required disclosure; other reports.
(a)	A licensee may sponsor and maintain employee benefit plans for the benefit of assigned employees. Any health insurance plan sponsored and maintained by a licensee licensed on or after October 1, 2009, shall only be fully insured by one of the following:
(1)	A licensed insurance company that is authorized to write accident and health insurance, as defined in G.S. 58‑7‑15(3).
(2)	A service corporation organized and licensed under Article 65 of this Chapter.
(3)	A health maintenance organization organized and licensed under Article 67 of this Chapter.
(a1)	A client company may sponsor and maintain employee benefit plans for the benefit of assigned employees.
(b),	(c) Repealed by Session Laws 2008‑124, s. 7.4, effective October 1, 2008.
(d)	For the purposes of this section, a health insurance plan is fully insured only if all of the benefits provided under the plan are covered by an approved policy issued by one or more of the entities specified in subsection (a) of this section. A health insurance plan is not fully insured if the plan is any form of stop‑loss insurance or any other form of reinsurance.
(e)	An existing licensee that sponsored and maintained any health insurance plan that is not fully insured by one or more of the entities specified in subsection (a) of this section before October 1, 2009, shall do all of the following:
(1)	Use a third‑party administrator licensed or registered under Article 56 of this Chapter.
(2)	Hold all plan assets, including participant contributions, in a trust account.
(3)	Provide sound reserves for the plan as determined by generally accepted actuarial standards."
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.