November 17, 2015
On Nov. 6, 2015, Commissioner of Insurance Hudgens issued Bulletin 15-EX-3 related to the Georgia definition of small group in light of passage of the PACE act. As background, the PACE act was signed into federal law Oct. 7, 2015, and repealed PPACA’s mandated small-group expansion. As a result of the PACE act, the federal government will continue to define small groups as those with 1-50 employees. As Georgia is no longer required to expand the definition of small group to 1-100 employees, this bulletin confirms that the small employer definition in Georgia is 1-50 employees and the counting methodology for grouping purposes is limited to full time equivalent employees (which, while not entirely clear, would appear to include part-time hours, similar to the counting procedures that apply under PPACA’s employer mandate). The bulletin also confirms that insurers will continue to utilize eligible employees for participation rate purposes.
Bulletin 15-EX-3 »