84R12057 AJA-D
By: Capriglione H.B. No. 2743
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to enrollment of certain retirees in the Texas Public
School Employees Group Insurance Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 1575, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Section 1575.1621 to read as follows:
Sec. 1575.1621. SUPPLEMENTAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD. (a) The
trustee shall, as described by Subsection (b), provide a
supplemental enrollment period for a retiree who establishes that
the retiree experienced extenuating circumstances that led to the
retiree's reasonable failure to select coverage during the
retiree's initial enrollment period under Section 1575.161.
(b) The trustee shall give a retiree described by Subsection
(a) an opportunity to enroll in the group program on or before the
30th day after the date the trustee determines that the retiree is
entitled to a supplemental enrollment period under this section.
(c) The trustee by rule shall establish:
(1) criteria under which a retiree will be considered
to have experienced extenuating circumstances described by
Subsection (a);
(2) a process through which a retiree may establish
that the retiree meets those criteria; and
(3) a reasonable period for requesting a supplemental
enrollment period under this section following the occurrence of
extenuating circumstances described by Subsection (a).
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than November 1, 2015, the
Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall adopt rules necessary to
implement Section 1575.1621, Insurance Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Rules adopted by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
under Section 1575.1621, Insurance Code, as added by this Act,
must:
(1) apply to a retiree described by that section,
regardless of whether the expiration of the retiree's initial
enrollment period occurred before, on, or after the effective date
of the rules or this Act; and
(2) allow a retiree who experienced extenuating
circumstances described by that section before the effective date
of the rules a reasonable period after that effective date to
request a supplemental enrollment period.
SECTION 3. 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, 2015.