Wisconsin Legislature: 9,944w

40.02 (25) (b) 1m. Any teacher who is a participating employe and who is employed by the university for an expected duration of not less than 6 months on at least a one-third full-time employment basis;

9,930wb Section 930wb. 40.02 (26) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

40.02 (26) (intro.) "Employe" means any person who receives earnings as payment for personal services rendered for the benefit of any employer including officers of the employer, except as provided in subch. X. An employe is deemed to have separated from the service of an employer at the end of the day on which the employe last performed services for the employer, or, if later, the day on which the employe-employer relationship is terminated because of the expiration or termination of leave without pay, sick leave, vacation or other leave of absence. A person shall not be considered an employe if a person:

9,930wm Section 930wm. 40.02 (26) (intro.) of the statutes, as affected by 1999 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 930wb, is amended to read:

9,931b Section 931b. 40.02 (28) of the statutes is amended to read:

40.02 (28) "Employer" means the state, including each state agency, any county, city, village, town, school district, other governmental unit or instrumentality of 2 or more units of government now existing or hereafter created within the state and any federated public library system established under s. 43.19 whose territory lies within a single county with a population of 500,000 or more, a local exposition district created under subch. II of ch. 229 and a family care district created under s. 46.2895, except as provided under ss. 40.51 (7) and 40.61 (3), or a local exposition district created under subch. II of ch. 229 and subch. X. Each employer shall be a separate legal jurisdiction for OASDHI purposes.

9,931c Section 931c. 40.02 (28) of the statutes, as affected by 1999 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 931b, is amended to read:

40.02 (28) "Employer" means the state, including each state agency, any county, city, village, town, school district, other governmental unit or instrumentality of 2 or more units of government now existing or hereafter created within the state and any federated public library system established under s. 43.19 whose territory lies within a single county with a population of 500,000 or more, a local exposition district created under subch. II of ch. 229 and a family care district created under s. 46.2895, except as provided under ss. 40.51 (7) and 40.61 (3) and subch. X. Each employer shall be a separate legal jurisdiction for OASDHI purposes.

9,932 Section 932. 40.02 (36) of the statutes is amended to read:

40.02 (36) "Governing body" means the legislature or the head of each state agency with respect to employes of that agency for the state, the common council in cities, the village board in villages, the town board in towns, the county board in counties, the school board in school districts, or the board, commission or other governing body having the final authority for any other unit of government, for any agency or instrumentality of 2 or more units of government, for any federated public library system established under s. 43.19 whose territory lies within a single county with a population of 500,000 or more or , for a local exposition district created under subch. II of ch. 229 or for a family care district created under s. 46.2895.

9,935 Section 935. 40.02 (48) (am) of the statutes is amended to read:

40.02 (48) (am) "Protective occupation participant" includes any participant whose name is certified to the fund as provided in s. 40.06 (1) (d) and (dm) and who is a conservation warden, conservation patrol boat captain, conservation patrol boat engineer, conservation pilot, conservation patrol officer, forest fire control assistant, member of the state traffic patrol, state motor vehicle inspector, police officer, fire fighter, sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, state probation and parole officer, county traffic police officer, state forest ranger, fire watcher employed by the Wisconsin veterans home, state correctional-psychiatric officer, excise tax investigator employed by the department of revenue, special criminal investigation agent in the department of justice, assistant or deputy fire marshal, or person employed under s. 61.66 (1).

9,936 Section 936. 40.02 (48) (b) 4. of the statutes is created to read:

40.02 (48) (b) 4. A "member of the state traffic patrol" includes one division administrator in the department of transportation who is counted under s. 230.08 (2) (e) 12. and whose duties include supervising the state traffic patrol, if the division administrator is certified by the law enforcement standards board under s. 165.85 (4) (b) 1. as being qualified to be a law enforcement officer.

9,936t Section 936t. 40.03 (2) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:

40.03 (2) (g) Shall submit once each year to each participant currently making contributions, and to any other participant upon request or as in the secretary's judgment is desirable, a statement of the participant's account together with appropriate explanatory material. The secretary shall ensure that the participant's social security number does not appear on the statement.

9,939t Section 939t. 40.05 (2) (bz) of the statutes is created to read:

40.05 (2) (bz) The employer contribution rate determined under par. (b) for the department of administration shall be adjusted to reflect the cost of granting creditable service under s. 40.02 (17) (gm) and that rate shall be sufficient to amortize the unfunded prior service liability of the department of administration over the remainder of the 40-year amortization period under par. (b).

9,940c Section 940c. 40.05 (4) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

40.05 (4) (a) 2. For an insured employe who is an eligible employe under s. 40.02 (25) (a) 2. or (b) 1m. or 2m., the employer shall pay required employer contributions toward the health insurance premium of the insured employe beginning on the date on which the employe becomes insured. For an insured employe who is currently employed but who is not an eligible employe under s. 40.02 (25) (a) 2. or (b) 1m. or 2m., the employer shall pay required employer contributions toward the health insurance premium of the insured employe beginning on the first day of the 7th month beginning after the date on which the employe begins employment with the state, not including any leave of absence.

9,940d Section 940d. 40.05 (4) (ag) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

40.05 (4) (ag) 2. For eligible employes not specified in subd. 1., 90% of the gross premium for the standard health insurance plan offered to state employes by the group insurance board or 105% of the gross premium, excluding any premium cost related to the point-of-service option plan required to be offered under s. 609.10, of the alternative qualifying plan offered under s. 40.03 (6) that is the least costly qualifying plan within the county in which the alternate plan is located, whichever is lower, but not more than the total amount of the premium. Employer contributions for employes who select the standard plan shall be based on their county of residence. Qualifying health insurance plans shall be determined in accordance with standards established by the group insurance board.

9,940tc Section 940tc. 40.41 (6) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

40.41 (6) (b) Services performed by a student or a member of a board or commission, except members of governing bodies, in a position or office which does not normally require actual performance of duty for at least 600 hours in each calendar year. For purposes of this paragraph, a "board" or "commission" is a body referred to in the statutes as a board or commission.

9,940tr Section 940tr. 40.41 (6) (c) of the statutes is created to read:

40.41 (6) (c) Service performed in the employ of a school, college or university, if the service is performed by a student who is enrolled and regularly attending classes at the school, college or university.

9,944m Section 944m. 40.63 (1) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

40.63 (1) (c) The employe is not entitled to any earnings from the employer and the employer has certified that it has paid to the employe all earnings to which the employe is entitled, that the employe is on a leave of absence and is not expected to resume active service, or that the employe's participating employment has been terminated, because of a disability as described in par. (b) and as a consequence the employe is not entitled to any earnings from the employer. In this paragraph, "earnings" does not include bonus compensation to which the employe is was entitled under s. 25.156 (7) (a), 1997 stats.

9,944w Section 944w. 40.82 (3) of the statutes is created to read:

40.82 (3) The deferred compensation board shall ensure that any statement sent to employes who participate in a deferred compensation plan established under this subchapter does not contain the social security number of the employe.

9,944ym Section 944ym. Subchapter X of chapter 40 [precedes 40.98] of the statutes is created to read:

Chapter 40

Subchapter X
Private employer health
Care coverage

40.98 Health care coverage. (1) In this subchapter:

(ag) "Abortion" means the use of an instrument, medicine, drug or other substance or device with intent to terminate the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant or for whom there is reason to believe that she may be pregnant and with intent other than to increase the probability of a live birth, to preserve the life or health of the infant after live birth or to remove a dead fetus.

(ar) "Board" means the private employer health care coverage board.

(b) "Dependent" means a spouse, an unmarried child under the age of 19 years, an unmarried child who is a full-time student under the age of 21 years and who is financially dependent upon the parent, or an unmarried child of any age who is medically certified as disabled and who is dependent upon the parent.

(c) "Employe" means any person who receives earnings as payment for personal services rendered for the benefit of any employer including officers of the employer. An employe is considered to have separated from the service of an employer at the end of the day on which the employe last performed services for the employer, or, if later, the day on which the employe-employer relationship is terminated because of the expiration or termination of leave without pay, sick leave, vacation or other leave of absence. A person shall not be considered an employe if any of the following applies:

1. The person is employed under a contract involving the furnishing of more than personal services.

2. The person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, business or profession providing the same type of services to more than one employer and the person's services to an employer are not compensated for on a payroll of that employer.

3. The person is a patient or inmate of a hospital, home or institution and performs services in the hospital, home or institution.

(d) "Employer" means any person doing business or operating an organization in this state and employing at least 2 employes, except that for a person operating a farm business the person must employ at least one employe. "Employer" does not include an employer as defined in s. 40.02 (28).

(e) "Health care coverage program" means the health care coverage program established under sub. (2) (a).

(f) "Insurer" has the meaning given in s. 600.03 (27).

(g) "Nontherapeutic abortion" means an abortion that is not directly and medically necessary to prevent the death of the woman.

(2) (a) 1. The department shall design an actuarially sound health care coverage program for employers that includes more than one group health care coverage plan and that provides coverage beginning not later than January 1, 2001. The health care coverage program shall be known as the "Private Employer Health Care Purchasing Alliance". In designing the health care coverage program, the department shall consult with the office of the commissioner of insurance and may consult with the departments of commerce and health and family services. The health care coverage program may not be implemented until it is approved by the board.

2. The department shall solicit and accept bids and make every reasonable effort to enter into a contract for the administration of the health care coverage plans under the program, based on criteria established by the board. If the department has not entered into a contract for the administration of the health care coverage plans under the program for coverage to begin before January 1, 2001, the department shall submit a report to the cochairpersons of the joint committee on finance specifying the department's reasons for not entering into a contract. After submitting the report to the cochairpersons of the joint committee on finance, the department shall provide all administrative services necessary for the provision of the health care coverage plans under the program. During the period that the department is providing the administrative services, the department shall continue to make every reasonable effort to contract for the administration of the health care coverage plans under the program.

3. The administrator selected under subd. 2., or the department if no administrator has been selected under subd. 2., shall enter into contracts with insurers who are to provide health care coverage under the health care coverage program.

4. The department shall solicit and accept bids and shall enter into a contract for marketing the health care coverage program.

5. The department shall maintain a toll-free telephone number to provide information on the health care coverage program.

(b) Every health care coverage plan under the health care coverage program is subject to the provisions of chs. 600 to 646 that apply to group health benefit plans, as defined in s. 632.745 (9), to the same extent as any other group health benefit plan, as defined in s. 632.745 (9).

(bm) No health care coverage plan under the health care coverage program may provide coverage of a nontherapeutic abortion except by an optional rider or supplemental coverage provision that is offered and provided on an individual basis and for which an additional, separate premium or charge is paid by the individual to be covered under the rider or supplemental coverage provision. Only funds attributable to premiums or charges paid for coverage under the rider or supplemental coverage provision may be used for the payment of any claim, and related administrative expenses, that relates to a nontherapeutic abortion. Such funds may not be used for the payment of any claim or administrative expenses that relate to any other type of coverage provided by the insurer under the health care coverage plan. Nothing in this paragraph requires an insurer or an employer to offer or provide coverage of an abortion under a health care coverage plan under the health care coverage program.

(c) The health care coverage program established under par. (a), or any health care coverage plan included in the program, may not be combined with any health care coverage plan under subch. IV.

(d) All insurance rates for health care coverage under the program shall be published annually in a single publication that is made available to employers and employes. The rates may be listed by county or by any other regional factor that the board considers appropriate.

(e) All plans under the health care coverage program shall have an enrollment period that is established by the board.

(f) 1. If the department has selected an administrator under par. (a) 2., the administrator shall charge employers who participate in the health care coverage program a fee to cover the cost of administrative services for the health care coverage program. The administrator shall reimburse the department for the expenses incurred by the department in designing, marketing and contracting for administrative services for the program. All moneys received by the department under this subdivision shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.515 (2) (g).

2. If the department has not selected an administrator under par. (a) 2., the department shall charge employers who participate in the health care coverage program a fee to cover the costs incurred by the department in designing, marketing and providing administrative services for the health care coverage program. All moneys received by the department under this subdivision shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.515 (2) (g).

(g) The department may not sell any health care coverage under the health care coverage program to an employer or enroll any employe in the health care coverage program, but the department shall make information about the program available to employers on a statewide basis.

(3) Any employer who participates in the health care coverage program shall do all of the following:

(a) Offer health care coverage under one or more plans to all of its permanent employes who have a normal work week of 30 or more hours and may offer health care coverage under one or more plans to any of its other employes.

(b) Provide health care coverage under one or more plans to at least 50% of its permanent employes who have a normal work week of 30 or more hours and who do not otherwise receive health care coverage as a dependent under any other plan that is not offered by the employer or a percentage of such employes specified by the board, whichever percentage is greater.

(c) Pay for each employe at least 50% but not more than 100% of the lowest premium rate that would be available to the employer for that employe's coverage under the health care coverage program.

(d) Make premium payments for the health care coverage of its employes in the manner specified by the board.

(4) Any employer that provides health care coverage for its employes under the program and that voluntarily terminates coverage under the program is not eligible to participate in the program for at least 3 years from the date that coverage is terminated.

(5) Any insurer that offers a health care coverage plan under the health care coverage program shall provide coverage under the plan to any employer that applies for coverage, and to all of the employer's employes who elect coverage under the health care coverage plan, without regard to the health condition or claims experience of any individual who would be covered under the health care coverage plan if all of the following apply:

(a) The employer agrees to pay the premium required for coverage under the health care coverage plan.

(b) The employer agrees to comply with all provisions of the health care coverage plan that apply generally to a policyholder or an insured without regard to health condition or claims experience.

(6) (a) Health care coverage under the health care coverage program may only be sold by insurance agents licensed under ch. 628.

(b) An insurance agent may not sell any health care coverage under the health care coverage program on behalf of an insurer unless he or she is employed by the insurer or has a contract with the insurer to sell the health care coverage on behalf of the insurer.

(c) The board shall set, and may adjust as often as semiannually, the commission rate for the sale of a policy under the health care coverage program. The rate shall be based on the average commission rate that insurance agents are paid in the state for the sale of comparable health insurance policies at the time that the rate is set or adjusted.

(d) An insurer shall specify on the first page of any policy sold under the health care coverage program the amount of the commission paid to the insurance agent.

(7) (a) Annually, on or before December 31, the board shall submit a report to the appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3) and to the governor on the operation of the health care coverage program. The report shall specify the number of employers and employes participating in the health care coverage program, calculate the costs of the health care coverage program to employers and their employes and include recommendations for improving the health care coverage program.

(b) No later than January 1, 2008, the board shall submit a report to the appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3) and to the governor that offers recommendations as to whether the department should continue to be involved in the design, marketing and contracting for administrative services for the health care coverage program. If the board recommends that the department not be involved in the performance of these functions, the board shall submit proposed legislation eliminating the department's involvement in the performance of these functions to the appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3) at the time that the board submits its report.

9,944yr Section 944yr. Subchapter X of chapter 40 [precedes 40.98] of the statutes, as created by 1999 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), section 944ym, is repealed.

9,944yt Section 944yt. 41.11 (4m) of the statutes is created to read:

41.11 (4m) Access to customer information; fees. (a) Notwithstanding s. 19.35, the department may refuse to reveal names, addresses and related demographic information maintained on any list that the department has compiled of persons who have requested information about travel opportunities in the state. The department may not refuse to reveal such information to representatives of the news media.

(b) Notwithstanding s. 19.71, if the department provides information from a list of persons requesting travel information, the department may charge the person requesting the information a fee to recover the department's actual costs of compiling and providing the information. The department may reduce or waive the fee under this subsection if the department determines that the reduction or waiver is in the public interest.

9,945am Section 945am. 41.17 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

41.17 (2) Eligibility. Any public or private organization not organized or incorporated for profit, including a tribal organization of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state, and any elected governing body of a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state may apply to the department for joint effort marketing funds under this section. Prior to applying for such funds, each prospective applicant shall have submitted, at the time and in the manner provided by departmental rule, a plan and budget specifying the media to be used, the market to be approached, the facilities and attractions to be promoted and the applicant's estimated expenditures and receipts for the various projects within the plan. If such plan is coordinated with the statewide marketing strategy, the department shall approve it and the submitting organization or governing body shall be eligible to apply for joint effort marketing funds under this section.

9,945ar Section 945ar. 41.17 (3) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

41.17 (3) Written agreements. (intro.) Each joint effort marketing project shall be implemented by a written agreement between the department and the applicant organization, which or governing body. The agreement shall specify at a minimum:

9,945b Section 945b. 41.17 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

41.17 (4) (a) No state funds may be released for a project which that is not included within an advertising plan and budget submitted by an eligible organization or governing body and approved by the department.

9,945c Section 945c. 41.17 (5) of the statutes is created to read:

41.17 (5) Funding source. Subject to the 50% limitation under s. 20.380 (1) (b) and the proportional expenditure requirements under s. 20.380 (1) (b) and (kg), the department shall expend, from the appropriations under s. 20.380 (1) (b) and (kg), at least $1,130,000 in the aggregate in each fiscal year in joint effort marketing funds under this section.

9,945d Section 945d. 41.41 (7) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:

41.41 (7) (cm) Acquire development rights in land any portion of which is approved by the department for inclusion in the Kickapoo valley reserve. Purchases under this paragraph are subject to the approval of the governor under s. 20.914 (1).

9,945dc Section 945dc. 42.035 of the statutes is created to read: