Section 5-75-8 - Benefit plans(a) A client and a PEO shall each be deemed an employer for purposes of sponsoring retirement and welfare benefit plans for its covered employees.(b) A fully-insured welfare benefit plan offered to the covered employees of a single PEO shall be considered a single-employer welfare benefit plan.(c) For purposes of determining employer status under chapter 50 of title 27 (entitled the Rhode Island Small Employer Health Insurance Availability Act), a PEO shall be considered the employer of all of its covered employees and all covered employees of one or more clients participating in a health benefit plan sponsored by a single PEO shall be considered employees of the PEO.(d) If a PEO offers to its covered employees any health benefit plan that is not fully-insured by an authorized insurer, the plan shall:(1) Utilize a third-party administrator licensed to do business in this state;(2) Hold all plan assets, including participant contributions, in a trust account; and(3) Provide sound reserves for such plan as determined using generally accepted actuarial standards. P.L. 2004 , ch. 87, § 1; P.L. 2004 , ch. 124, § 1.