The Hawaii legislature recently passed HB No. 2224, a bill requiring group health issuers to offer small group health plans to self-employed individuals. The effective date of the bill is September 1, 2008. The bill authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to exempt certain group health plans if the group health issuer does not have the capacity to deliver services adequately to new enrollees given the issuer's obligation to existing employer groups. The bill will be repealed on July 1, 2013.
Although the governor has been busy signing bills, this bill has not yet been signed.
