Mass. General Laws c.149 § 189A

Employer contribution for employees receiving health insurance coverage through division of medical assistance or subsidized insurance through health insurance connector authority; request for hearing on liability determination; payment and collection of contribution; sharing and disclosure of data

Updates

Added by St.2017, c. 63, § 9 effective July 1, 2017 and January 1, 2018

Effective until December 31, 2019

(a) Each employer, subject to sections 14, 14A and 14C of chapter 151A, except those who employ not more than 5 employees, shall pay a contribution for each employee who receives health insurance coverage through the division of medical assistance or subsidized insurance through the commonwealth health insurance connector authority. The contribution shall be computed by multiplying the wages the employer paid any such employee by 5 per cent. The department of unemployment assistance, in consultation with the division of medical assistance and the commonwealth health insurance connector authority, shall promulgate regulations to implement this subsection, which shall specify the number of days that an individual shall be required to receive such subsidized health care coverage to cause the assessment. The contribution shall be paid in a manner prescribed by the director of unemployment assistance.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “wages” shall mean the “unemployment insurance taxable wage base” as defined in paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of section 14 of chapter 151A; provided, however, that “wages” shall not include that part of remuneration which, after remuneration equal to the unemployment insurance taxable wage base with respect to employment with such employer has been paid to an individual during the calendar year, is paid to any such individual during such year; and provided further, that for the purposes of this paragraph, “remuneration” shall include remuneration paid to an individual during the calendar year with respect to employment with a transferring employer as that term is used in subsection (n) of said section 14 of said chapter 151A.

(c) An employer notified of a liability determination under this section may request a hearing on such determination. The request for a hearing shall be filed not more than 10 days after the receipt of the notice of the determination. If a hearing is requested, the employer shall have a reasonable opportunity for a fair hearing before an impartial hearing officer designated by the director of unemployment assistance. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with subsection (b) of section 39 of chapter 151A. Following the hearing, an aggrieved party may appeal the decision to superior court.

(d)(1) Except where inconsistent with this section, the terms and conditions of chapter 151A that are applicable to the payment and collection of contributions or payments in lieu of contributions shall apply to the same extent to the payment and collection of the contribution under this section; provided, however, that such contributions shall not be credited to the employer’s account or to the solvency account established under section 14, 14A or 14C of said chapter 151A.

(2) The director of unemployment assistance may share information with the commissioner of revenue to enforce and collect the contribution under this section. The commissioner of revenue may enforce and collect a debt that has been certified by the director as owed under this section in the manner as a tax due and unpaid under chapter 62C; provided, however, that the procedures authorized in subsection (c) shall be the sole remedies for an employer to dispute a debt so certified and remedies otherwise available under said chapter 62C to dispute a tax assessment shall not be available. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary and for the purposes of enforcement of this section, the commissioner of revenue may disclose to the department of unemployment assistance any information referred to in chapter 62E or any information relating to the commissioner’s collection activities under chapter 62C with regard to debts certified by the director.

(e) Data collected by the department of unemployment insurance, the department of revenue, the division of medical assistance and the commonwealth health insurance connector authority under this section shall not be a public record under clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4 or under chapter 66. The department of unemployment insurance, the department of revenue, the division of medical assistance and the commonwealth health insurance connector authority may share information to implement this section.

Last updated:	June 26, 2019