Funds collected from the participating employers under multiple employer self-insured health plans must be held in trust subject to the following requirements:

(a) A board of trustees elected by participating employers must serve as fund managers on behalf of participants. Trustees must be plan participants. No participating employer may be represented by more than one trustee. A minimum of three and a maximum of seven trustees may be elected. Trustees may not receive remuneration but they may be reimbursed for actual and reasonable expenses incurred in connection with duties as trustee.

(b) Trustees must be bonded in an amount not less than one hundred fifty thousand dollars from a licensed surety company.

(c) Investment of plan funds is subject to the same restrictions which are applicable to insurers pursuant to Sections 38-12-10 through 38-12-320. All investments must be managed by a bank or other investment organization licensed to operate in South Carolina.

(d) Trustees, on behalf of the plan, shall file an annual report with the department by March first showing the condition and affairs of the plan as of the preceding thirty-first day of December. The report must be made on forms prescribed by the director or his designee. The report shall summarize the financial condition of the fund, itemize collections from participating employers, detail all fund expenditures, and provide any additional information which the director or his designee requires.

HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 38-65-40 [1985 Act No. 137, Section 4] recodified as Section 38-41-60 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 654; 2003 Act No. 73, Section 5, eff June 25, 2003.