Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The Program
shall exercise its powers through a Board.
1.
The Board shall be made up of the Commissioner, the Commissioner of Health and
Senior Services, or their designees (who shall serve ex officio) and 16 public
members. The composition of the Board shall be as described in
17B:27A-29 as amended. No person
representing one of the public members shall serve, or continue to serve, on
the Board unless such person represents one of the categories specified in
17B:27A-29 as amended.
2. Initially, three of the elected public
members shall serve for a term of three years; three shall serve for a term of
two years; and three shall serve for a term of one year. The tenth elected
public member, added by P.L. 1994, c.94 shall be elected for a three year term.
Of the two elected members added by P.L. 1995, c.298, that is, a health
maintenance organization and a carrier whose principal health insurance
business is in the small employer market, which new members shall replace the
risk-assuming carrier and the reinsuring carrier, one of the two new members
shall serve for a term of one year and one of the two new members shall serve
for a term of two years. Initially, of the six appointed public members added
to the Board by P.L. 1994, c.97, two shall be appointed for a term of one year,
two for a term of two years and two for a term of three years. Thereafter, all
public members shall serve for a term of three years. A vacancy in the
membership of the Board shall be filled for an unexpired term in the manner
provided for in the original election or appointment, as appropriate. The
public directors shall serve their terms of office until their replacements are
duly elected or pursuant to the terms of their appointments as applicable.
i. On or about 60 days prior to the date of
the election meeting, the Board shall send written notice to the Program
members setting forth the time, date and place of the election meeting, stating
the positions for which a vote is to be taken, soliciting written nominations
of candidates for those positions, and stating the last date that written
nominations shall be accepted, which shall be no less than 10 business days
following the date of the written notice.
ii. Following the close of the nomination
period, the Board shall determine from among the carriers and/or small
employers representatives nominated those persons that are eligible and willing
to serve in the position for which nominated. Carriers may be placed on the
ballot for only one position, and may not hold more than one seat on the Board.
If a carrier is nominated for two or more positions for which it is eligible,
the carrier shall notify the Board as to the single position for which it will
accept the nomination, and be designated on the ballot.
iii. At least 30 calendar days prior to the
date of the election meeting, the Board shall send a written notice to members
setting forth the candidates to be considered for purposes of voting at the
election meeting, along with a ballot by which the member carrier may vote
absentee on or before a date specified by the Board, which shall be no earlier
than three business days prior to the date of the election meeting.
iv. Affiliated carriers shall have no more
than one vote for each position subject to vote and no two affiliated carriers
shall serve on the Board at the same time.
v. Elections shall be by the highest number
of votes properly cast in person and absentee.
vi. The Board shall maintain a written record
of each election, including copies of all notices sent, ballots received and
the tally sheets in accordance with its record retention procedures set forth
at 11:21-2.1 1.
3. The Board may elect a Chair and Vice Chair
from among its Directors, as well as other officers, as it deems appropriate.
The election of officers shall be held annually or more frequently if needed to
fill vacancies. Subject to the provisions of the Act and as authorized by the
Board, such officers are authorized to serve as signatories on behalf of the
Board and perform other ministerial functions necessary and proper to
effectuate the actions of the Board.
(b) The votes of the Board shall be on a one
person, one vote basis. An elected carrier member, and the Commissioners of
Health and Banking and Insurance or their designees, may designate a voting
alternate employed by the same carrier or same State agency, as appropriate.
Appointed public members and the three small employer representatives, all of
whom are appointed or elected as individuals, may not designate a voting
alternate.
(c) A majority of the
Directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The acts
of the majority of the Directors at a meeting at which a quorum is present
shall be the acts of the Board, except as otherwise provided herein.
(d) Meetings of the Board shall be held in
accordance with the State's Open Public Meetings Act.
(e) At least once each year, the Board shall
meet to:
1. Review the Plan and submit
proposed amendments, if any, to the Commissioner for review;
2. Review reports of the committees
established by the Board;
3. Review
and approve the rate of interest to be charged for late payments;
4. Review and approve changes in the
communications program;
5.
Determine whether any technical corrections or amendments to the Act should be
recommended to the Commissioner;
6.
Fill any vacancies among the Directors who represent carriers which exist or
which will exist pursuant to a resolution of the Board or the expiration of a
Director's normal term of office; and
7. Review, consider, and act on any matters
deemed by the Board to be necessary and proper for the administration of the
program.
(f) The Board
shall hold other meetings upon the request of the Chair or three or more
Directors, as deemed appropriate. A meeting may be held in person or by
telephone. Notice of such a meeting and its purpose shall be provided to the
general public and to the Directors in accordance with the State's Open Public
Meetings Act.
(g) The Board shall
keep reasonably comprehensible minutes of all its meetings showing the time and
place, the Directors present, the subjects considered, the actions taken, the
vote of each Director, and any other information required to be shown in the
minutes by law. The original of the public record shall be retained by the
Board or its agent and shall be promptly available to the public to the extent
that making such matters public shall not be inconsistent with Section 7 of the
Open Public Meetings Act (10:4-12
).
The minutes of each meeting of the Board shall be delivered forthwith to the
Commissioner; delivery to the Commissioner's designee on the Board shall
satisfy this requirement.
(h) The
Board may establish rules of the Program consistent with the Act and this
Plan.
(i) Amendments to the Plan or
suggestions for technical corrections to the Act shall require the concurrence
of a majority of the entire Board.
(j) Directors shall not be compensated by the
Program for their services but may be reimbursed for reasonable unreimbursed
travel expenses incurred in attending Board and committee meetings pursuant to
the State Travel Guidelines issued by the Department of the Treasury.
(k) The Board may adopt rules for the taking
of testimony from the public, which may include rules relating to the time and
place of any such public hearing, and reasonable rules for the length and
format of testimony from individuals, groups and organizations.
(l) The Board may take up any additional
matters which are appropriate to effectuate the provisions of this
Act.
(m) The affirmative vote of at
least two-thirds of the Directors present at a meeting shall be required to
authorize assessments and the expenditure of Program funds.
