As used in this act:

1. 1. "Base period" means the period of coverage pursuant to the issuance or renewal of a health benefit plan that is required to provide benefits pursuant to the provisions of Section 2 of this act;

2. 2.

   1. a. "Health benefit plan" means:

      1. (1) group hospital or medical insurance coverages,
      2. (2) not-for-profit hospital or medical service or indemnity plans,
      3. (3) prepaid health plans,
      4. (4) health maintenance organizations,
      5. (5) preferred provider plans,
      6. (6) the State and Education Employees Group Insurance Plan,
      7. (7) Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWA), or
      8. (8) employer self-insured plans that are not exempt pursuant to the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) provisions.
   2. b. The term "health benefit plan" shall not include individual plans; plans that only provide coverage for a specified disease, accidental death, or dismemberment for wages or payments in lieu of wages for a period during which an employee is absent from work because of sickness or injury or as a supplement to liability insurance; Medicare supplemental policies as defined in Section 1882(g)(1) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C., Section 1395ss); workers' compensation insurance coverages; medical payment insurance issued as a part of a motor vehicle insurance policy; or long term care policies including nursing home fixed indemnity policies, unless the Insurance Commissioner determines that the policy provides comprehensive benefit coverage sufficient to meet the definition of a health benefit plan;

3. 3. "Severe mental illness" means any of the following biologically based mental illnesses for which the diagnostic criteria are prescribed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:

   1. a. schizophrenia,
   2. b. bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness),
   3. c. major depressive disorder,
   4. d. panic disorder,
   5. e. obsessive-compulsive disorder, and
   6. f. schizoaffective disorder;
4. 4. "Small employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, or other legal entity that is actively engaged in business that, on at least fifty percent (50%) of its working days during the preceding calendar year, employed no more than fifty (50) employees who work on a full-time basis, which means an employee has a normal work week of twenty-four (24) or more hours.

Laws 1999, SB 2, c. 153, § 1, eff. January 1, 2000.