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<p>&lt;p&gt;On Friday, January 29, 2010, the Michigan Supreme Court granted leave to appeal in &lt;em&gt;&lt;a title=&quot;Order Granting Leave&quot; href=&quot;http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/sct/public/orders/20100129_s139189_75_139189_2010-01-29_or.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Priority Health v. &lt;span&gt;Commissioner&lt;/span&gt; of the Office of Financial and Insurance Services&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;.  The case arose after the Office of Financial and Insurance Services (now the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (&quot;OFIR&quot;)) barred health insurance carriers from conditioning the issuance of small employer health insurance plans on the employer making a minimum contribution toward the employees&#39; premium costs.  The circuit court and the Court of Appeals both affirmed &lt;span&gt;OFIR&#39;s&lt;/span&gt; ruling.  The Court of Appeals explained that because &lt;/span&gt;the Michigan Small Employer Group Health &lt;span&gt;Coverage Act, MCL 500.3701 &lt;span&gt;et&lt;/span&gt; seq., prevented a health insurance carrier from declining to renew a small employer health insurance plan for failing to make the requisite minimum employer contribution, health insurance carriers could not condition the issuance of a health insurance plan to a small employer on the employer&#39;s agreement to make minimum payments to defray each employee&#39;s expense&lt;/span&gt;.  The Court of Appeals&#39; decision is &lt;a title=&quot;COA Opinion:  Priority Health v. Comm&#39;r of the Office of Fin. and Ins. Servs.&quot; href=&quot;http://coa.courts.mi.gov/documents/opinions/final/coa/20090521_c278373_66_89o-278373.pdf&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.    &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;The Michigan Supreme Court granted Priority Health&#39;s application for leave to appeal and ordered the parties to address &quot;(1) whether, as part of a plan under the Small Employer Group Health Coverage Act, MCL 500.3701, &lt;span&gt;et&lt;/span&gt; seq., an insurer or licensed [HMO] can require an employer to pay a specific percentage of the premium charged for each employee; and (2) whether MCL 500.3711(2) limits the provisions that can be included in such policies.&quot;  The Court invited the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Association of Michigan to submit &lt;span&gt;amicus&lt;/span&gt; curiae briefs.  The Michigan Association of Health Plans submitted an &lt;span&gt;amicus&lt;/span&gt; brief in support of the application for leave to appeal.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Disclaimer&lt;/em&gt;:  WNJ represents the successful petitioner, Priority Health, in this matter.&lt;/p&gt;</p>

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Matthew T. “Matt” Nelson

MSC grants leave to address employer-minimum contributions for health-insurance plans

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MSC grants leave to address employer-minimum contributions for health-insurance plans

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