S.B. No. 872
AN ACT
relating to continued health insurance coverage and financial
assistance for eligible survivors of certain public servants killed
in the line of duty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 615.003, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 615.003. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
eligible survivors of the following individuals:
(1) an individual elected, appointed, or employed as a
peace officer by the state or a political subdivision of the state
under Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, or other law;
(2) a paid probation officer appointed by the director
of a community supervision and corrections department who has the
duties set out in Section 76.002 and the qualifications set out in
Section 76.005, or who was appointed in accordance with prior law;
(3) a parole officer employed by the pardons and
paroles division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice who
has the duties set out in Section 508.001 and the qualifications set
out in Section 508.113 or in prior law;
(4) a paid jailer;
(5) a member of an organized police reserve or
auxiliary unit who regularly assists peace officers in enforcing
criminal laws;
(6) a member of the class of employees of the
institutional division or the state jail division of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice formally designated as custodial
personnel under Section 615.006 by the Texas Board of Criminal
Justice or its predecessor in function;
(7) a jailer or guard of a county jail who is appointed
by the sheriff and who:
(A) performs a security, custodial, or
supervisory function over the admittance, confinement, or
discharge of prisoners; and
(B) is certified by the Commission on Law
Enforcement Officer Standards and Education;
(8) a juvenile correctional employee of the Texas
Youth Commission;
(9) an employee of the Texas Department of Mental
Health and Mental Retardation who:
(A) works at the department's maximum security
unit; or
(B) performs on-site services for the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice;
(10) an individual who is employed by the state or a
political or legal subdivision and is subject to certification by
the Texas Commission on Fire Protection;
(11) an individual employed by the state or a
political or legal subdivision whose principal duties are aircraft
crash and rescue fire fighting;
(12) a member of an organized volunteer fire-fighting
unit that:
(A) renders fire-fighting services without
remuneration; and
(B) conducts a minimum of two drills each month,
each two hours long;
(13) an individual who:
(A) performs emergency medical services or
operates an ambulance;
(B) is employed by a political subdivision of the
state or is an emergency medical services volunteer as defined by
Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code; and
(C) is qualified as an emergency care attendant
or at a higher level of training under Section 773.046, 773.047,
773.048, 773.049, or 773.0495, Health and Safety Code; [or]
(14) an individual who is employed or formally
designated as a chaplain for:
(A) an organized volunteer fire-fighting unit or
other fire department of this state or of a political subdivision of
this state;
(B) a law enforcement agency of this state or of a
political subdivision of this state; or
(C) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; or
(15) an individual who is employed by the state or a
political subdivision of the state and who is considered by the
governmental employer to be a trainee for a position otherwise
described by this section.
SECTION 2. Subsection (e), Section 615.021, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(e) In this section:
(1) "Personal injury" means an injury resulting from
an external force, an activity, or a disease caused by or resulting
from:
(A) a line-of-duty accident; or
(B) an illness caused by line-of-duty work under
hazardous conditions.
(2) "Line of duty" means an action an individual
listed under Section 615.003 is required or authorized by rule,
condition of employment, or law to perform. The term includes:
(A) an action by the individual at a social,
ceremonial, athletic, or other function to which the individual is
assigned by the individual's employer; and
(B) an action performed as part of a training
program the individual is required or authorized by rule, condition
of employment, or law to undertake.
SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 615.073, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The surviving spouse is entitled to continue to purchase
health insurance coverage until [the earlier of:
[(1) the date the surviving spouse remarries;
[(2) the date the surviving spouse becomes eligible
for group health insurance through another employer; or
[(3)] the date the surviving spouse becomes eligible
for federal Medicare benefits.
SECTION 4. Section 615.074, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 615.074. BENEFIT TO DEPENDENT. (a) An eligible
surviving dependent who is a minor child is entitled to continue
health insurance coverage until [the earlier of:
[(1)] the date the dependent reaches the age of 18
[years; or
[(2) the date the dependent becomes eligible for group
health insurance through another employer].
(b) An eligible surviving dependent who is not a minor child
is entitled to continue health insurance coverage until the earlier
of:
(1) [the date the dependent marries;
[(2)] the date the dependent becomes eligible for
group health insurance through another employer; or
(2) [(3)] the date the dependent becomes eligible for
federal Medicare benefits.
SECTION 5. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 615.075,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) An employing entity shall provide written notice to an
eligible survivor to whom this subchapter may apply of the
survivor's rights under this subchapter not later than the 10th day
after the date of the decedent's death. Not later than the 150th
day after the date of the decedent's death, the employing entity
shall send a subsequent written notice under this subsection by
certified mail to any eligible survivor who has not already elected
to continue coverage on or before that date.
(c) To receive continued coverage under this subchapter,
the employing entity must be informed not later than the 180th
[90th] day after the date the decedent died that the eligible
survivor elects to continue coverage.
SECTION 6. Section 615.077, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 615.077. PAYMENTS; RATE. An eligible survivor who is
entitled to continued coverage under this subchapter [is entitled
to]:
(1) is entitled to:
(A) make payments for the coverage or have
payments made on the survivor's behalf at the same time and to the
same entity that payments for coverage are made by current
employees of the employing entity; and
(B) obtain [(2) purchase] the coverage at the
[group] rate paid by current employees of the employing entity for
that coverage; and
(2) may not be required to pay a premium amount for the
coverage that is greater than the premium amount that a current
employee of the employing entity without a spouse is required to pay
to cover the employee alone or to cover the employee and the
employee's dependent children, as applicable to the eligible
survivor [that exists at the time of payment].
SECTION 7. Subchapter D, Chapter 615, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 615.080 and 615.081 to read as follows:
Sec. 615.080. GRACE PERIOD. Health insurance benefits
coverage in force on the date of the decedent's death under which a
deceased individual listed under Section 615.071 covered one or
more other persons may not lapse before the 181st day after the date
of the decedent's death for failure to pay the premium.
Sec. 615.081. LIMITED OPPORTUNITY FOR CERTAIN ELIGIBLE
SURVIVORS TO REAPPLY FOR COVERAGE. (a) This section applies only
to an eligible survivor of a deceased individual listed under
Section 615.071 who died on or after September 1, 1993.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter
or other law, an eligible survivor to whom this section applies who
did not purchase continued health insurance benefits under this
subchapter or under the law codified by this subchapter within the
time allowed after the listed individual's death, or who
discontinued coverage under this subchapter or under the law
codified by this subchapter after the listed individual's death,
may reapply for coverage under the employing entity's health
insurance benefits plan not later than March 1, 2010.
(c) An eligible survivor who reapplies for coverage under
Subsection (b) is entitled to purchase the coverage according to
the same rate schedule and coverage options as would apply had the
eligible survivor continued coverage under this subchapter after
the listed individual's death.
(d) This section expires September 1, 2010.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 872 passed the Senate on
April 7, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 8, 2009, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 872 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 5, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 145,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor