PART B

Sec. B-1. 22 MRSA §3161, sub-§5, ķA, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 677, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

A.__Works on a full-time basis, with a normal work week of 30 hours or more.__"Eligible employee" includes a sole proprietor, a partner of a partnership or an independent contractor, but does not include employees who work on a temporary or substitute basis.__An employer may elect to treat as eligible employees part-time employees who work a normal work week of 10 hours or more as long as at least one employee works a normal work week of 30 hours or more.__An employer may elect to treat as eligible employees who retire from the employer's employment;

Sec. B-2. 24 MRSA §2317-B, sub-§14-A is enacted to read:

14-A.__Title 24-A, section 2808-C.__Small group health plans, Title 24-A, section 2808-C;

Sec. B-3. 24 MRSA §2317-B, sub-§15, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 256, Pt. M, §10, is repealed.

Sec. B-4. 24 MRSA §2327, as amended by PL 2003, c. 469, Pt. E, §1, is further amended to read:

§2327. Group rates

A group health care contract may not be issued by a nonprofit hospital or medical service organization in this State until a copy of the group rates to be used in calculating the premium for these contracts has been filed for informational purposes with the superintendent. The filing must include the base rates and a description of any procedures to be used to adjust the base rates to reflect factors including but not limited to age, gender, health status, claims experience, group size and coverage of dependents. Notwithstanding this section, rates for group Medicare supplement, nursing home care or long-term care contracts and for certain group contracts included within the definition of "individual health plan" in Title 24-A, section 2736-C, subsection 1, paragraph C must be filed in