Sec. H-5. 24-A MRSA §2808-B, sub-§1, ¶D, as amended by PL 2001, c. 258, Pt. E, §3 and c. 400, §1 and affected by §2, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

D.__"Eligible group" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, association or subgroup engaged actively in a business that employed an average of 50 or fewer eligible employees during the preceding calendar year.

(1)__If an employer was not in existence throughout the preceding calendar year, the determination must be based on the average number of employees that the employer is reasonably expected to employ on business days in the current calendar year.

(2)__In determining the number of eligible employees, companies that are affiliated companies or that are eligible to file a combined tax return for purposes of state taxation are considered one employer.

(3)__A group is not an eligible group if there is any one other state where there are more eligible employees than are employed within this State and the group had coverage in that state or is eligible for guaranteed issuance of coverage in that state.

(4)__An employer qualifies as an eligible group for 2- person coverage if the employer provides a carrier with the following information demonstrating that the employer's business and employees meet the minimum qualifications for group coverage in paragraph C:

(a)__A copy of the most recent quarterly combined filing for income tax withholding and unemployment contributions, Form 941/C1-ME;

(b)__For an employee claimed to be an employee eligible for group coverage whose name is not listed on Form 941/C1-ME, a copy of the employer's payroll records for the most recent 3 months