Priority Health v. Commissioner of the Office of Financial & Insurance Services

This appeal involves the small employer group health coverage act,1 which establishes requirements for insurance carriers that offer health insurance benefit plans to small employers in Michigan. We address the narrow issue of whether § 3711(2) of the act, MCL 500.3711(2), prevents a carrier from requiring a small employer to pay a minimum percentage of its employees’ health insurance premiums.2

*70Both the Court of Appeals and the Commissioner of the Office of Financial and Insurance Services (OFIS)3 concluded that minimum employer contribution provisions are inconsistent with the act. They…