The commissioner may not issue a certificate of authority to a self-funded multiple employer welfare arrangement unless the arrangement establishes to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the following requirements have been satisfied by the arrangement:

(1) The employers participating in the arrangement are members of a bona fide association;

(2) The employers participating in the arrangement exercise control over the arrangement, as follows:

(a) Subject to (b) of this subsection, control exists if the board of directors of the bona fide association or the employers participating in the arrangement have the right to elect at least seventy-five percent of the individuals designated in the arrangement's organizational documents as having control over the operations of the arrangement and the individuals designated in the arrangement's organizational documents in fact exercise control over the operation of the arrangement; and

(b) The use of a third-party administrator to process claims and to assist in the administration of the arrangement is not evidence of the lack of exercise of control over the operation of the arrangement;

(3) In this state, the arrangement provides only health care services;

(4) In this state, the arrangement provides or arranges benefits for health care services in compliance with those provisions of this title that mandate particular benefits or offerings and with provisions that require access to particular types or categories of health care providers and facilities;

(5) In this state, the arrangement provides or arranges benefits for health care services in compliance with RCW 48.43.500 through 48.43.535, 48.43.545, and 48.43.550;

(6) The arrangement provides health care services to not less than twenty employers and not less than seventy-five employees;

(7) The arrangement may not solicit participation in the arrangement from the general public. However, the arrangement may employ licensed insurance producers who receive a commission, unlicensed individuals who do not receive a commission, and may contract with a licensed insurance producer who may be paid a commission or other remuneration, for the purpose of enrolling and renewing the enrollments of employers in the arrangement;

(8) The arrangement has been in existence and operated actively for a continuous period of not less than ten years as of December 31, 2003, except for an arrangement that has been in existence and operated actively since December 31, 2000, and is sponsored by an association that has been in existence more than twenty-five years; and

(9) The arrangement is not organized or maintained solely as a conduit for the collection of premiums and the forwarding of premiums to an insurance company.

Severability—Effective date—2008 c 217: See notes following RCW 48.03.020.