SB 202: "An Act relating to providing medical insurance coverage to certain surviving spouses and dependent children of peace officers and firefighters; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 202 01 "An Act relating to providing medical insurance coverage to certain surviving spouses 02 and dependent children of peace officers and firefighters; and providing for an effective 03 date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 39.30.090(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) The Department of Administration may obtain a policy or policies of group 07 insurance covering state employees, persons entitled to coverage under AS 14.25.168, 08 14.25.480, AS 22.25.090, AS 39.35.535, 39.35.880, or former AS 39.37.145, 09 employees of other participating governmental units, or persons entitled to coverage 10 under AS 23.15.136, subject to the following conditions: 11 (1) a group insurance policy shall provide one or more of the following 12 benefits: life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, weekly 13 indemnity insurance, hospital expense insurance, surgical expense insurance, dental 14 expense insurance, audiovisual insurance, or other medical care insurance;
01 (2) each eligible employee of the state, the spouse and the unmarried 02 children chiefly dependent on the eligible employee for support, [AND] each eligible 03 employee of another participating governmental unit, and each person who is eligible 04 for coverage under (13) of this subsection shall be covered by the group policy, 05 unless exempt under regulations adopted by the commissioner of administration; 06 (3) a governmental unit may participate under a group policy if 07 (A) its governing body adopts a resolution authorizing 08 participation and payment of required premiums; 09 (B) a certified copy of the resolution is filed with the 10 Department of Administration; and 11 (C) the commissioner of administration approves the 12 participation in writing; 13 (4) in procuring a policy of group health or group life insurance as 14 provided under this section or excess loss insurance as provided in AS 39.30.091, the 15 Department of Administration shall comply with the dual choice requirements of 16 AS 21.86.310, and shall obtain the insurance policy from an insurer authorized to 17 transact business in the state under AS 21.09, a hospital or medical service corporation 18 authorized to transact business in this state under AS 21.87, or a health maintenance 19 organization authorized to operate in this state under AS 21.86; an excess loss 20 insurance policy may be obtained from a life or health insurer authorized to transact 21 business in this state under AS 21.09 or from a hospital or medical service corporation 22 authorized to transact business in this state under AS 21.87; 23 (5) the Department of Administration shall make available bid 24 specifications for desired insurance benefits or for administration of benefit claims and 25 payments to (A) all insurance carriers authorized to transact business in this state 26 under AS 21.09 and all hospital or medical service corporations authorized to transact 27 business under AS 21.87 who are qualified to provide the desired benefits; and (B) 28 insurance carriers authorized to transact business in this state under AS 21.09, hospital 29 or medical service corporations authorized to transact business under AS 21.87, and 30 third-party administrators licensed to transact business in this state and qualified to 31 provide administrative services; the specifications shall be made available at least once
01 every five years; the lowest responsible bid submitted by an insurance carrier, hospital 02 or medical service corporation, or third-party administrator with adequate servicing 03 facilities shall govern selection of a carrier, hospital or medical service corporation, or 04 third-party administrator under this section or the selection of an insurance carrier or a 05 hospital or medical service corporation to provide excess loss insurance as provided in 06 AS 39.30.091; 07 (6) if the aggregate of dividends payable under the group insurance 08 policy exceeds the governmental unit's share of the premium, the excess shall be 09 applied by the governmental unit for the sole benefit of the employees; 10 (7) a person receiving benefits under AS 14.25.110, AS 22.25, 11 AS 39.35, or former AS 39.37 may continue the life insurance coverage that was in 12 effect under this section at the time of termination of employment with the state or 13 participating governmental unit; 14 (8) a person electing to have insurance under (7) of this subsection 15 shall pay the cost of this insurance; 16 (9) for each permanent part-time employee electing coverage under 17 this section, the state shall contribute one-half the state contribution rate for permanent 18 full-time state employees, and the permanent part-time employee shall contribute the 19 other one-half; 20 (10) a person receiving benefits under AS 14.25, AS 22.25, AS 39.35, 21 or former AS 39.37 may obtain auditory, visual, and dental insurance for that person 22 and eligible dependents under this section; the level of coverage for persons over 65 23 shall be the same as that available before reaching age 65 except that the benefits 24 payable shall be supplemental to any benefits provided under the federal old age, 25 survivors, and disability insurance program; a person electing to have insurance under 26 this paragraph shall pay the cost of the insurance; the commissioner of administration 27 shall adopt regulations implementing this paragraph; 28 (11) a person receiving benefits under AS 14.25, AS 22.25, AS 39.35, 29 or former AS 39.37 may obtain long-term care insurance for that person and eligible 30 dependents under this section; a person who elects insurance under this paragraph 31 shall pay the cost of the insurance premium; the commissioner of administration shall
01 adopt regulations to implement this paragraph; 02 (12) each licensee holding a current operating agreement for a vending 03 facility under AS 23.15.010 - 23.15.210 shall be covered by the group policy that 04 applies to governmental units other than the state; 05 (13) each person who is eligible to receive a benefit under 06 AS 39.35.430 or 39.35.892 as the surviving spouse or dependent child of a peace 07 officer or firefighter is eligible for employee coverage under the policy of group 08 insurance under this subsection that covered the peace officer or firefighter; this 09 paragraph does not apply to a surviving spouse who is eligible for Medicare. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 39.30.095 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 11 (g) Notwithstanding (b) and (e) of this section, for the cost of providing 12 benefits under AS 39.30.090(a)(13), the commissioner of administration shall set the 13 rate of employer contribution at 100 percent. 14 * Sec. 3. AS 39.30.400(b) is amended to read: 15 (b) Upon application of an eligible person, the administrator shall reimburse to 16 the eligible person the costs for medical care expenses as defined in 26 U.S.C. 213(d). 17 Reimbursement is limited to the medical expenses of 18 (1) an eligible member, the spouse of an eligible member, and the 19 dependent children of an eligible member; [OR] 20 (2) a surviving spouse and the dependent children of an eligible 21 member dependent on the surviving spouse; or 22 (3) an eligible member's dependent children if the member dies 23 and there is no surviving spouse; this paragraph does not apply to a dependent 24 child who is eligible to receive a benefit under AS 39.30.090(a)(13). 25 * Sec. 4. AS 39.35.535(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) Except as provided in (d) of this section, the following persons are entitled 27 to major medical insurance coverage under this section: 28 (1) for employees first hired before July 1, 1986, 29 (A) an employee who is receiving a monthly benefit from the 30 plan and who has elected coverage; 31 (B) the spouse and dependent children of the employee
01 described in (A) of this paragraph; 02 (C) the surviving spouse of a deceased employee who is 03 receiving a monthly benefit from the plan and who has elected coverage; 04 (D) the dependent children of a deceased employee [WHO 05 ARE DEPENDENT ON THE SURVIVING SPOUSE DESCRIBED IN (C) 06 OF THIS PARAGRAPH]; 07 (2) for members first hired on or after July 1, 1986, 08 (A) an employee who is receiving a monthly benefit from the 09 plan and who has elected coverage for the employee; 10 (B) the spouse of the employee described in (A) of this 11 paragraph if the employee elected coverage for the spouse; 12 (C) the dependent children of the employee described in (A) of 13 this paragraph if the employee elected coverage for the dependent children; 14 (D) the surviving spouse of a deceased employee who is 15 receiving a monthly benefit from the plan and who has elected coverage; 16 (E) the dependent children of a deceased employee; 17 (3) for a deceased member who was employed as a peace officer or 18 firefighter, the surviving spouse of the deceased member who has received 19 payment of a pension under AS 39.35.430 and who is eligible for Medicare [WHO 20 ARE DEPENDENT ON THE SURVIVING SPOUSE DESCRIBED IN (D) OF THIS 21 PARAGRAPH IF THE SURVIVING SPOUSE HAS ELECTED COVERAGE FOR 22 THE DEPENDENT CHILDREN]. 23 * Sec. 5. AS 39.35.535(c) is amended to read: 24 (c) A benefit recipient may elect major medical insurance coverage in 25 accordance with regulations and under the following conditions: 26 (1) a person, other than a disabled member or a disabled member who 27 is appointed to normal retirement, must pay an amount equal to the full monthly group 28 premium for retiree major medical insurance coverage if the person is 29 (A) younger than 60 years of age and has less than 30 (i) 25 years of credited service as a peace officer under 31 AS 39.35.360 and 39.35.370; or
01 (ii) 30 years of credited service under AS 39.35.360 and 02 39.35.370 that is not service as a peace officer; or 03 (B) of any age and has less than 10 years of credited service; 04 (2) a person is not required to make premium payments for retiree 05 major medical coverage if the person 06 (A) is a disabled member; 07 (B) is a disabled member who is appointed to normal 08 retirement; 09 (C) is 60 years of age or older and has at least 10 years of 10 credited service; [OR] 11 (D) has at least 12 (i) 25 years of credited service as a peace officer under 13 AS 39.35.360 and 39.35.370; or 14 (ii) 30 years of credited service under AS 39.35.360 and 15 39.35.370 not as a peace officer; or 16 (E) is receiving a benefit under (a)(3) of this section. 17 * Sec. 6. AS 39.35.870(a) is amended to read: 18 (a) [IN ORDER TO OBTAIN MEDICAL BENEFITS UNDER AS 39.35.880, 19 AN ACTIVE MEMBER MUST RETIRE DIRECTLY FROM THE PLAN.] A 20 member is eligible to retire [FROM THE PLAN] if the member [HAS BEEN AN 21 ACTIVE MEMBER FOR AT LEAST 12 MONTHS BEFORE APPLICATION FOR 22 RETIREMENT AND] 23 (1) [THE MEMBER] has at least 25 years of membership service as a 24 peace officer or firefighter or at least 30 years of membership service for all other 25 employees; or 26 (2) [THE MEMBER] reaches the normal retirement age and has at 27 least 10 years of membership service. 28 * Sec. 7. AS 39.35.870(c) is repealed and reenacted to read: 29 (c) The following persons are eligible to elect medical benefits under 30 AS 39.35.880: 31 (1) a member who is eligible for retirement under (a) of this section;
01 (2) a member's surviving spouse if the member had retired or was 02 eligible for retirement and medical benefits at the time of the member's death; and 03 (3) a deceased member's surviving spouse who is eligible for 04 Medicare, if the deceased member was employed as a peace officer or firefighter and 05 the deceased member's surviving spouse has received payment of a benefit under 06 AS 39.35.892. 07 * Sec. 8. AS 39.35.870(d) is amended to read: 08 (d) A person [MEMBERS] shall apply for retirement and medical benefits on 09 the forms and in the manner prescribed by the administrator. 10 * Sec. 9. AS 39.35.870(g) is repealed and reenacted to read: 11 (g) If an eligible person elects not to participate in the retiree major medical 12 insurance plan, the election becomes irrevocable upon application for retirement and 13 medical benefits or when the person reaches 70 1/2 years of age, whichever is later. 14 * Sec. 10. AS 39.35.870 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 15 (h) Notwithstanding cessation of benefits under AS 39.35.892(b), medical 16 benefits for a survivor under (c)(3) of this section shall be paid until the last day of the 17 month in which there is no surviving spouse. 18 * Sec. 11. AS 39.35.880(b) is repealed and reenacted to read: 19 (b) Retiree major medical insurance plan coverage elected by a person who is 20 eligible under AS 39.35.870(c) covers 21 (1) the member, the spouse of the eligible member, and the dependent 22 children of the eligible member if the member is the elector; 23 (2) the surviving spouse and the dependent children of the eligible 24 member who are dependent on the surviving spouse if the surviving spouse is the 25 elector; 26 (3) the dependent child if the dependent child, or a person authorized 27 to act on behalf of the dependent child, is the elector. 28 * Sec. 12. AS 39.35.880(d) is amended to read: 29 (d) Major medical insurance coverage takes effect on the first day of the 30 month following the date of the administrator's approval of the election and stops 31 when the person who receives [ELECTS] coverage is no longer eligible to receive
01 coverage [DIES] or fails to make a required premium payment. 02 * Sec. 13. AS 39.35.880 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 03 (l) Notwithstanding (g) of this section, a person who is eligible for major 04 medical insurance coverage under AS 39.35.870(c)(3) is not required to make 05 premium payments. 06 * Sec. 14. AS 39.35.894 is amended to read: 07 Sec. 39.35.894. Premiums for retiree major medical insurance coverage 08 upon termination of disability benefits or survivor's pension. The premium for 09 retiree major medical insurance coverage payable by an employee whose disability 10 benefit is terminated under AS 39.35.890(g) or by an eligible survivor whose survivor 11 pension is terminated under AS 39.35.890(k) [OR 39.35.892(e)] when the employee 12 would have been eligible for normal retirement if the employee had survived shall be 13 determined under AS 39.35.880(g)(2) as if the employee or survivor were eligible for 14 Medicare. 15 * Sec. 15. AS 39.35.990(24) is amended to read: 16 (24) "retiree" means an eligible member under AS 39.35.870(a) who 17 has retired from the plan [PERSON WHO HAS ELECTED TO RECEIVE 18 MEDICAL BENEFITS UNDER AS 39.35.880]; 19 * Sec. 16. AS 14.25.480(c) and AS 39.35.880(c) are repealed. 20 * Sec. 17. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 21 read: 22 RETROACTIVITY. This Act is retroactive to January 1, 2013. 23 * Sec. 18. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).