Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4026 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R13586 LED-D
2	2	By: Dominguez H.B. No. 4026
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to authorizing certain retired public school employees to
8	8	participate in the state employee group benefits program.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 1551.003, Insurance Code, is amended by
11	11	adding Subdivision (11-a) to read as follows:
12	12	(11-a) "Retiree" has the meaning assigned by Section
13	13	1575.004.
14	14	SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 1551, Insurance Code, is
15	15	amended by adding Section 1551.1023 to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 1551.1023. PARTICIPATION ELIGIBILITY: PUBLIC SCHOOL
17	17	RETIREES. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, an individual who is
18	18	eligible to participate in the group program under Chapter 1575 as a
19	19	retiree is eligible to participate in the group benefits program
20	20	under this chapter and is entitled to the same benefits as an
21	21	annuitant eligible to participate in the group benefits program
22	22	under Section 1551.102.
23	23	(b) A retiree may elect to disenroll from the group program
24	24	under Chapter 1575, if applicable, and enroll in the group benefits
25	25	program under this chapter during an open enrollment period or any
26	26	other period set by the board of trustees by rule.
27	27	SECTION 3. Section 1551.151, Insurance Code, is amended to
28	28	read as follows:
29	29	Sec. 1551.151. ENTITLEMENT TO COVERAGE. An individual who
30	30	is eligible to participate in the group benefits program under
31	31	Section 1551.101, 1551.102, [or] 1551.1022, or 1551.1023 is
32	32	entitled to secure for a dependent of the individual any group
33	33	coverages provided under this chapter, as determined by the board
34	34	of trustees and subject to the exceptions provided by this
35	35	subchapter.
36	36	SECTION 4. Sections 1551.155(a) and (c), Insurance Code,
37	37	are amended to read as follows:
38	38	(a) A surviving spouse of an individual who is eligible to
39	39	participate in the group benefits program under Section 1551.101 or
40	40	1551.102 and who is entitled to monthly benefits paid by a
41	41	retirement system named in this chapter or a surviving spouse of an
42	42	individual who is eligible to participate in the group benefits
43	43	program under Section 1551.1023 may, following the death of the
44	44	individual, elect to retain:
45	45	(1) the spouse's authorized coverages; and
46	46	(2) authorized coverages for any dependent of the
47	47	spouse.
48	48	(c) A person who is the surviving spouse of an individual
49	49	described by Subsection (a) may secure group health coverage
50	50	without evidence of the person's insurability if the individual was
51	51	eligible to participate in the group benefits program under Section
52	52	1551.101, [or] 1551.102, or 1551.1023 but was not participating at
53	53	the time of the individual's death.
54	54	SECTION 5. Sections 1551.156(a), (c), and (d), Insurance
55	55	Code, are amended to read as follows:
56	56	(a) A surviving dependent of an annuitant who was receiving
57	57	monthly benefits paid by a retirement system named in this chapter
58	58	or a surviving dependent of a retiree who is eligible to participate
59	59	in the group benefits program under Section 1551.1023 may,
60	60	following the death of the annuitant or retiree if there is not a
61	61	surviving spouse, elect to retain any coverage previously secured
62	62	by the annuitant or retiree until the dependent becomes ineligible
63	63	for coverage for a reason other than the death of the member of the
64	64	group.
65	65	(c) A dependent who elects to retain coverage under this
66	66	section and who is entitled to monthly benefits from a retirement
67	67	system [named in this chapter] based on the service of the deceased
68	68	annuitant or retiree must direct the retirement system to deduct
69	69	required contributions for the coverage from the monthly benefits
70	70	paid the surviving dependent by the retirement system.
71	71	(d) A person who is a surviving dependent of an annuitant or
72	72	retiree may secure group health coverage after the death of the
73	73	annuitant or retiree without evidence of the person's insurability
74	74	if the annuitant or retiree was eligible to participate in the group
75	75	benefits program of a retirement system [named in this chapter] but
76	76	was not participating at the time of the individual's death.
77	77	SECTION 6. Subchapter G, Chapter 1551, Insurance Code, is
78	78	amended by adding Section 1551.3051 to read as follows:
79	79	Sec. 1551.3051. COST OF RETIREE COVERAGE. If the cost of
80	80	the basic coverage and other coverages, if any, for an individual
81	81	eligible to participate in the group benefits program under Section
82	82	1551.1023 exceeds the amount of contributions from the Teacher
83	83	Retirement System of Texas allocated to fund coverages, the state
84	84	shall deduct from the retirement benefits of the participant an
85	85	amount sufficient to pay the cost of the coverages.
86	86	SECTION 7. Section 1551.310, Insurance Code, is amended to
87	87	read as follows:
88	88	Sec. 1551.310. STATE CONTRIBUTION REQUIRED. (a) The state
89	89	shall contribute to the cost of each participant's group coverages,
90	90	including dependents' group coverages, the amounts appropriated
91	91	for the coverages in the General Appropriations Act.
92	92	(b) The Teacher Retirement System of Texas shall transfer to
93	93	the board of trustees the amount of contributions under Section
94	94	1575.2011 for retirees who elect to participate in the group health
95	95	benefits plan under this chapter. Notwithstanding any other
96	96	provision of this subchapter, money transferred to the board of
97	97	trustees under this subsection and money paid under Section
98	98	1551.3051 is the only money that may be used to pay the cost of
99	99	retiree coverage.
100	100	SECTION 8. Section 1551.314, Insurance Code, is amended to
101	101	read as follows:
102	102	Sec. 1551.314. CERTAIN STATE CONTRIBUTIONS PROHIBITED.
103	103	Except as provided by Section 1551.310(b), a [A] state contribution
104	104	may not be:
105	105	(1) made for coverages under this chapter selected by
106	106	an individual who receives a state contribution for coverages under
107	107	a group benefits program provided by another state health plan or by
108	108	an institution of higher education, as defined by Section 61.003,
109	109	Education Code; or
110	110	(2) made for or used to pay a tobacco user premium
111	111	differential assessed under Section 1551.3075.
112	112	SECTION 9. Section 1575.004(a), Insurance Code, is amended
113	113	to read as follows:
114	114	(a) In this chapter, "retiree" means:
115	115	(1) an individual not eligible for coverage under a
116	116	plan provided under Section 1551.101, 1551.102, 1551.1021, or
117	117	1551.1022 [Chapter 1551] or Chapter 1601 who:
118	118	(A) has taken a service retirement under the
119	119	Teacher Retirement System of Texas after September 1, 2005, with at
120	120	least 10 years of service credit in the system, which may include up
121	121	to five years of military service credit, but which may not include
122	122	any other service credit purchased for equivalent or special
123	123	service credit, and either:
124	124	(i) the sum of the retiree's age and years
125	125	of service credit in the retirement system equals or exceeds 80 at
126	126	the time of retirement, regardless of whether the retiree had a
127	127	reduction in the retirement annuity for early age; or
128	128	(ii) the retiree has 30 or more years of
129	129	service credit in the retirement system at the time of retirement;
130	130	(B) has taken a service retirement under the
131	131	Teacher Retirement System of Texas after September 1, 2004, but on
132	132	or before August 31, 2005, and on September 1, 2005, either:
133	133	(i) meets the requirements for eligibility
134	134	for the group program for coverage as a retiree as those
135	135	requirements existed on August 31, 2004;
136	136	(ii) meets the requirements of Paragraph
137	137	(A); or
138	138	(iii) is enrolled in the group program and
139	139	was enrolled in the group program on August 31, 2005; or
140	140	(C) has taken a service retirement under the
141	141	Teacher Retirement System of Texas on or before August 31, 2004, and
142	142	who is enrolled in the group program on August 31, 2005;
143	143	(2) an individual who:
144	144	(A) has taken a disability retirement under the
145	145	Teacher Retirement System of Texas; and
146	146	(B) is entitled to receive monthly benefits from
147	147	the Teacher Retirement System of Texas; or
148	148	(3) an individual who:
149	149	(A) has taken a disability retirement under the
150	150	Teacher Retirement System of Texas;
151	151	(B) has at least 10 years of service credit in the
152	152	Teacher Retirement System of Texas on the date of disability
153	153	retirement, as determined under Section 824.304, Government Code;
154	154	and
155	155	(C) is not entitled to receive monthly benefits
156	156	from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas because those benefits
157	157	have been suspended in accordance with Section 824.310, Government
158	158	Code.
159	159	SECTION 10. Subchapter E, Chapter 1575, Insurance Code, is
160	160	amended by adding Section 1575.2011 to read as follows:
161	161	Sec. 1575.2011. TRANSFER OF CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CERTAIN
162	162	RETIRED PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. Notwithstanding Section
163	163	1575.206, the trustee shall transfer to the Employees Retirement
164	164	System of Texas contributions made under Section 1575.201 on behalf
165	165	of a retiree who elects to participate in the group benefits program
166	166	under Chapter 1551 and other amounts contributed under this
167	167	subchapter that would otherwise be allocable to the coverage for
168	168	the retiree in accordance with Section 1551.310.
169	169	SECTION 11. Not later than December 1, 2019, the board of
170	170	trustees of the Employees Retirement System of Texas shall adopt
171	171	rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act.
172	172	SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.