You want details about measures cited in OLR Report 2000-R-0907 and implemented by Northeast states to assist small businesses obtain health insurance for their employees and a contact person in each state.

In the small employer health insurance market, most state governments have adopted measures to ensure that (1) employees who want health insurance coverage are accepted and renewed by insurers; (2) waiting periods for preexisting conditions are short, occur only once, and are based only on recent medical history; (3) coverage is continuous and portable, even when the employee changes jobs or the employer changes insurers; and (4) extremes in premium costs are narrowed.

Specific health insurance reforms adopted in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1: Small Employer Health Insurance Reforms
STATE	NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES	GUARANTEED ISSUE	GUARANTEED RENEWAL	PREEXISTING CONDITION LIMIT	RATING BANDS	MODIFIED COMMUNITY RATING
Connecticut	1-50	yes	yes	12/6	no	yes
Maine	2-50	HIPAA*	yes	12/6	no	yes
Massachusetts	1-50	yes	HIPAA	6/6	no	yes
New Hampshire	1-100	yes	yes	9/3	no	yes
New Jersey	2-50	yes	yes	6/6	no	yes
New York	2-50	yes	yes	12/6	no	community rating
Rhode Island	1-50	yes	yes	0/0	yes	no
Vermont	1-50	yes	yes	12/6	no	yes

* Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

A number of small businesses obtain health insurance coverage through trade or other association plans. Vermont and New Hampshire allow association plans to use their own community rate. Connecticut requires association plans to comply with the state's small employer law.

The insurance commissioners of the various states are responsible for making sure that insurers in the small employer health insurance market comply with state and federal laws. Their names and addresses are listed bellow.

1. Linda Ruthardt

470 Atlanta Ave.

Boston, Ma 02110-2203

(617)-521-7301

2. S.Catherine Longley

35 State House Station

Augusta, Me. 04333-0035

(207)-624-8500

3. Paula Rogers

169 Manchester St.

Concord, NH 03301-5151

(603)-271-1406

4. Karen Suter

P.O. Box 325

Trenton, NJ 08625-0325

(609)-633-7620

5. Neil D. Levin

25 Beaver St., 3^rd Fl.

New York, NY 10004

(212)-480-2310

6. Alfonso Mastrosterfano

233 Richman St., Ste. 233

Providence, RI 02903

(401) 222-2223

7. Elizabeth R. Costle

89 State St.

Montpelier, Vt 05620-3101

(802)-828-3301

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