A. Any plan, fund or program that would not be an employee welfare benefit plan, except for the provisions of this section, that is established or maintained by a partnership, to the extent that the plan, fund or program provides medical care to current or former partners in the partnership or to their dependents directly or through insurance, reimbursement or otherwise, shall be treated as an employee welfare benefit plan that is a group health plan.
B. As used in this section:
(1) "employer" includes a partnership in relation to a partner; and
(2) "participant" includes:
(a) in connection with a group health plan maintained by a partnership, an individual who is a partner in relationship to the partnership; and
(b) in connection with a group health plan maintained by a self-employed individual under which one or more employees are participants, the self-employed individual, if he or his beneficiaries are or may become eligible to receive a benefit under the plan.
History: Laws 1997, ch. 243, § 17; 1998, ch. 41, § 21.
The 1998 amendment, effective March 6, 1998, in the section heading, substituted "partners" for "partnerships" following "of" and inserted "in connection with group health plans" at the end of the heading.