General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5441
January Session, 2013 LCO No. 4714
*04714HB05441LAB*
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
General Assembly
Committee Bill No. 5441
January Session, 2013
LCO No. 4714
*04714HB05441LAB*
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT AUTHORIZING CERTAIN EMERGENCY RESPONSE EMPLOYEES TO ENROLL IN THE MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM AND CREATING A PUBLIC EMPLOYEE HEALTH PLAN.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (11) of section 7-425 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2013):
(11) "Regional emergency telecommunications center" means [an] any entity authorized by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection as [the] a public safety answering point responsible for the receipt and processing of 9-1-1 calls for at least three municipalities.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2014) As used in this section and in sections 3 to 5, inclusive, of this act:
(1) "Municipality" means any town, consolidated town and city, consolidated town and borough, regional school district and board of education;
(2) "Eligible employee" means any employee of a town, including employees of such town's board of education, whether or not in the classified service of the town, except "eligible employee" shall not include: (A) Elected officials unless the elected official is covered by the town's health benefits program on the effective date of this section, or such benefits are provided by local ordinance, (B) board and commission members, and (C) part-time employees who work fewer than twenty hours per week or on a seasonal basis unless an applicable collective bargaining agreement permits eligibility for fewer hours worked;
(3) "Employee organization" means any lawful association, labor organization, federation or council having as a primary purpose the improvement of wages, hours and other conditions of employment among town and board of education employees;
(4) "Seasonal basis" means working for a period of not more than one hundred twenty calendar days in any calendar year; and
(5) "Public Employee Health Plan" or "plan" means the health benefits plan offered to each municipality by the Comptroller pursuant to section 3 of this act.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2014) (a) The Comptroller, with the approval of the Attorney General and the Insurance Commissioner, shall arrange and procure a group hospitalization and medical and surgical insurance plan or plans for eligible employees. Such plan or plans shall be known as the Public Employee Health Plan. Each eligible employee shall be enrolled in the Public Employee Health Plan by the employing municipality.
(b) No eligible employee or group of eligible employees shall be denied membership in the plan by reason of past or future health care costs or claim experience.
(c) No municipality shall reduce the hours an employee is permitted to work in a position or change a full-time position to multiple part-time positions in order to prevent an employee from being eligible for coverage under the plan.
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 700c of the general statutes, the coverage provided under the Public Employee Health Plan shall be offered on a risk-pooled basis. The Comptroller may contract with an administrative services organization to provide administrative services for the plan. The Public Employee Health Plan shall not be considered a multiemployer welfare plan.
(e) The Comptroller shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section.
(f) The amount due to the Comptroller from each municipality shall be: (1) The product of (A) (i) the total cost of coverage under the plan for all covered employees and such employees' dependents in each of the following categories: (I) Individual employee; (II) employee plus one; and (III) family, (ii) divided by the total number of covered employees and such employees' dependents in each category, and (B) the number of covered employees and such employees' dependents for such municipality, and (2) a proportionate share of the cost of the administration of the plan and the establishment of a reserve fund, as determined by the Comptroller, based on the number of covered employees of such municipality and such employees' dependents.
(g) Each municipality shall pay the amount determined by the Comptroller pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, in accordance with regulations adopted by the Comptroller in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes. For the fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2013, each municipality shall provide the Comptroller with census data specifying the number of persons who are covered by the plan, and the category of such person's coverage, as enumerated in subsection (f) of this section, as of June thirtieth of the preceding fiscal year.
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a municipal health care cost containment committee. Such committee shall: (1) Make recommendations to the Comptroller on the selection of a health benefits plan or plans; (2) be responsible for requesting competitive proposals for employee health and dental insurance benefits and for cost containment; (3) request bids for self-insurance; and (4) develop health benefits and coverage plans that shall be reasonably equivalent to the benefits and coverage provided to active municipal employees prior to July 1, 2014.
(b) The municipal health care cost containment committee shall consist of the following members: (1) Ten municipal representatives; (2) ten employee organization representatives; and (3) one neutral chairperson appointed by the Comptroller. Such chairperson shall be a member of the National Academy of Neutral Arbitrators or an arbitrator authorized to serve as a neutral arbitrator in labor relations cases by the American Arbitration Association or the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and shall not be covered by the insurance pool. The municipal representatives shall be appointed to said cost containment committee from the municipalities and boards of education, by and through their member organizations. The municipal representatives shall have, collectively, one vote. The employee organization representatives shall be appointed to said containment committee from employee organizations that represent municipal and board of education employees. The employee organization representatives shall have, collectively, one vote. The municipal health care cost containment committee shall be staffed and advised by the Comptroller, or by the Comptroller's designee.
(c) All appointments to the committee shall be made not later than July 31, 2013. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority.
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2014) On and after July 1, 2014, matters relating to the provision of risk-pooled health care or health insurance coverage shall not be subject to collective bargaining under section 7-468 of the general statutes, except for bargaining relating to the premium share to be contributed by employees represented by an employee organization. The provisions of this section and sections 3 and 4 of this act shall not supersede the provisions of any collective bargaining agreement in effect on July 1, 2014, but, upon the expiration of any such agreement, the provisions of this section and sections 3 and 4 shall apply to subsequent collectively bargained agreements between the parties to any such agreement.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2013 7-425(11)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2014 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2014 New section
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2014 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2013
7-425(11)
Sec. 2
July 1, 2014
New section
Sec. 3
July 1, 2014
New section
Sec. 4
from passage
New section
Sec. 5
July 1, 2014
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To enroll in the municipal employees' retirement system to create a public employee health plan and to allow certain emergency response employees.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. STEINBERG, 136th Dist.
Co-Sponsors:
REP. STEINBERG, 136th Dist.
H.B. 5441