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PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 161
SENATE BILL NO. 286
By Bailey
Substituted for: House Bill No. 329
By Brock Martin
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 56, Chapter 26, relative to multiple employer
welfare arrangements.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 56-26-204(a}, is amended by adding the
following as a new subdivision:
(5)(A) As used in this subdivision (a)(5):
(i) "Bank":
(a) Means an entity chartered pursuant to the laws of this state,
the laws of a contiguous state, or the laws of the United States, or in the
process of organizing to seek a charter, and authorized, or to be
authorized, to conduct business as a savings and loan, savings bank,
trust company, commercial bank, or other institution, and which is a
member or affiliate member of a trade or professional organization
organized to provide advocacy, leadership, and support for these
entities; provided, that the entity's participation is authorized under
Internal Revenue Code§ 501 (c)(9)(26 U.S.C. § 501 (c)(9)); and
(b) Includes the entity's parent, affiliate, or subsidiary, which is
under common control within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code §
414 (26 U.S.C. § 414);
(ii) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of commerce and
insurance;
(iii) "Multiple employer welfare arrangement" has the same meaning as
defined in 29 U.S.C. § 1002(40); and
(iv) "Plan-sponsoring organization" means an association that:
(a) Sponsors a multiple employer welfare arrangement
comprised only of banks;
(b) Has been actively in existence for at least five (5) years;
(c) Has at least one (1) substantial business purpose unrelated
to offering and providing health insurance coverage or other employee
benefits to its employer members and their employees; provided, that
offering and providing such coverage or benefits may serve as the
association's primary purpose;
(d) Does not condition membership in the association on any
health status-related factor relating to an individual, including an
employee of an employer or a dependent of an employee;
SB286
(e) Makes health insurance coverage offered through the
association available to all members regardless of any health status-
related factor relating to the members or individuals eligible for
coverage through a member; and
(f) Does not make health insurance coverage offered through
the association available other than in connection with a member of
the association.
(B) A foreign multiple employer welfare arrangement is deemed a domestic
multiple employer welfare arrangement if the foreign multiple employer welfare
arrangement:
(i) Is comprised only of banks together with their plan-sponsoring
organization, and their respective employees;
(ii) Is duly licensed as a multiple employer welfare arrangement by the
regulatory agency having jurisdiction over the regulation of insurance in a
state physically contiguous to this state;
(iii) Has no more than two thousand five hundred (2,500) residents of
this state who are employees of its member banks enrolled in or receiving
health, sickness, and accident benefits as insureds, members, enrollees, or
subscribers of the multiple employer welfare arrangement;
(iv) Is subject to adequate regulatory oversight by the contiguous
domiciliary state, including, but not limited to, solvency examination authority
and actuarially sound reserve-adequacy requirements, as determined in the
commissioner's sole discretion; and
(v) Applies for and receives a certificate of authority from the
commissioner to operate as a foreign multiple employer welfare arrangement.
(C) The commissioner may, in the commissioner's sole discretion, waive any
portion of this chapter, and any portion of chapter 7 of this title, for a qualifying
multiple employer welfare arrangement upon a determination that the multiple
employer welfare arrangement is subject to reasonable and adequate oversight by
the regulatory agency having jurisdiction over the regulation of insurance in the
multiple employer welfare arrangement's domicile.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 56-26-204, is amended by deleting
subsections (b) and (c) and substituting:
(b) The commissioner may promulgate rules in accordance with the Uniform
Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, as deemed necessary to
provide for the solvency, administration, examination, and enforcement of the pooling
agreements. However, the rules must not prohibit or deter any association lawfully formed
under the laws of this state or another state from offering health insurance coverage to its
members within this state, including through a multiple employer welfare arrangement, if the
health insurance coverage complies with federal law. To the extent deemed necessary by
the commissioner, each employer member of the approved group must be classified as a
self-insurer as otherwise provided in this chapter.
(c) A pool created or deemed domestic under this section is subject to taxation under
chapter 4 of this title, filing and approval under this chapter, and laws for protection of
policyholders under chapter 7 of this title.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.
2
SENATE BILL NO. 286
PASSED: March 31, 2025
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~4NI_D~McNALLY
SPEAKER OF THE SENATE
c~
CAMERON SEXTON, SPEAKER
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
/'tpri ~ APPROVED this I
day of 2025
•
BILL LEE, GOVERNOREvery fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.