1.    This section only applies to a health benefit plan offered by a small employer who employed an average of at least two but not more than twenty-five eligible employees on business days during the preceding calendar year and who employs at least two employees on the first day of the plan year.

2.    Premium rates for health benefit plans subject to this section and section 26.1-36-37.2 are subject to the following:

a.    The index rate for a rating period for any class of business may not exceed the index rate for any other class of business by more than fifteen percent.

b.    For a class of business, the premium rates charged during a rating period to small employers with similar case characteristics for the same or similar coverage, or the rates that could be charged to the employers under the rating system for that class of business, may not vary from the index rate by more than twenty percent of the index rate.

c.    The percentage increase in the premium rate charged to a small employer for a new rating period may not exceed the sum of:

(1) The percentage change in the new business premium rate measured from the first day of the prior rating period to the first day of the new rating period.

In the case of a health benefit plan into which the small employer carrier is no longer enrolling new small employers, the small employer carrier shall use the percentage change in the base premium rate, provided that the change does not exceed, on a percentage basis, the change in the new business premium rate for the most similar health benefit plan into which the small employer carrier is actively enrolling new small employers; (2) Any adjustment due to the claim experience, health status, or duration of coverage of the employees or dependents of the small employer as determined from the small employer carrier’s rate manual for the class of business; however, the adjustment may not exceed fifteen percent annually and must be adjusted pro rata for rating periods of less than one year; and

(3) Any adjustment due to change in coverage or change in the case characteristics of the small employer, as determined from the small employer carrier’s rate manual for the class of business.

d.    Adjustments in rates for claim experience, health status, and duration of coverage may not be charged to individual employees or dependents. Premium rates charged for a health benefit plan may not vary by a ratio of greater than four to one after January 1, 1997. Any adjustment must be applied uniformly to the rates charged for all employees and dependents of the small employer.

e.    A small employer carrier may utilize industry as a case characteristic in establishing premium rates, but the highest rate factor associated with any industry classification may not exceed the lowest rate factor associated with any industry classification by more than fifteen percent.

f.    In the case of health benefit plans delivered or issued for delivery before August 1, 1993, a premium rate for a rating period may exceed the ranges set    forth in subdivisions a and b for a period of three years following August 1, 1993. Under this subdivision, the percentage increase in the premium rate charged to a small employer for a new rating period may not exceed the sum of:

(1) The percentage change in the new business premium rate measured from the first day of the prior rating period to the first day of the new rating period. In the case of a health benefit plan into which the small employer carrier is no longer enrolling new small employers, the small employer carrier shall use the percentage change in the base premium rate, provided that the change does not exceed, on a percentage basis, the change in the new business premium rate for the most similar health benefit plan into which the small employer carrier is actively enrolling new small employers.

(2) Any adjustment due to change in coverage or change in the case characteristics of the small employer, as determined from the carrier’s rate manual for the class of business.

g.     (1) Small employer carriers shall apply rating factors, including case characteristics, consistently with respect to all small employers in a class of business. Rating factors must produce premiums for identical groups which differ only by amounts attributable to plan design and do not reflect differences due to the nature of the groups assumed to select particular health benefit plans.

(2) A small employer carrier shall treat all health benefit plans issued or renewed in the same calendar month as having the same rating period.

h.    For the purposes of this subsection, a health benefit plan that uses a restricted provider network may not be considered similar coverage to a health benefit plan that does not use a restricted provider network, if the use of the restricted provider network results in substantial differences in claims costs.

i.    A small employer carrier may not use case characteristics, other than age, gender, industry, geographic area, family composition, and group size, without prior approval of the commissioner. Gender may not be used as a case characteristic after January 1, 1996.

j.    The commissioner shall adopt rules to:

(1) Assure that differences in rates charged for health benefit plans by small employer carriers are reasonable and reflect objective differences in plan design, not including differences due to the nature of the groups assumed to select particular health benefit plans; (2) Prescribe the manner in which case characteristics may be used by small employer carriers; and

(3) Otherwise implement this section.

3.    A small employer carrier may not transfer a small employer involuntarily into or out of a class of business. A small employer carrier may not offer to transfer a small employer into or out of a class of business unless the offer is made to transfer all small employers in the class of business without regard to case characteristics, claim experience, health status, or duration of coverage.

4.    The commissioner may suspend for a specified period the application of subdivision a of subsection 2 as to the premium rates applicable to one or more small employers included within a class of business of a small employer carrier for one or more rating periods upon a filing by the small employer carrier and a finding by the commissioner that the suspension is reasonable in light of the financial condition of the small employer carrier or that the suspension would enhance the efficiency and fairness of the marketplace for small employer health insurance.

5.    In connection with the offering for sale of any health benefit plan to a small employer, a small employer carrier shall make a reasonable disclosure, as part of its solicitation and sales materials, of:

a.    The extent to which premium rates for a specified small employer are established or adjusted based upon the actual or expected variation in claims costs or actual     or expected variation in health status of the employees of the small employer and their dependents; b.    The provisions of the health benefit plan concerning the small employer carrier’s right to change premium rates and factors, other than claim experience, that affect changes in premium rates; c.    The provisions relating to renewability of policies and contracts; and d.    The provisions relating to any pre-existing condition exclusion.

6.     a.    Each small employer carrier shall maintain at its principal place of business a complete and detailed description of its rating practices and renewal underwriting practices, including information and documentation that demonstrate that its rating methods and practices are based upon commonly accepted actuarial assumptions and are in accordance with sound actuarial principles.

b.    Each small employer carrier shall file with the commissioner on or before March fifteenth of each year an actuarial certification certifying that the carrier is in compliance with this chapter and that the rating methods of the small employer carrier are actuarially sound. The certification must be in a form and manner and contain information specified by the commissioner. The small employer carrier shall retain a copy of the certification at the carrier’s principal place of business.

c.    A small employer carrier shall make the information and documentation described in subdivision a available to the commissioner upon request. Except in cases of violations of this chapter and section 26.1-36-37.2, the information is proprietary and trade secret information and is not subject to disclosure by the commissioner to persons outside the department except as agreed to by the small employer carrier or as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.