00 HOUSE BILL NO. 380 01 "An Act relating to reimbursement for certain Medicare premium charges for persons 02 receiving benefits from the teachers' retirement system, the judicial retirement system, 03 the elected public officers retirement system, and the public employees' retirement 04 system." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06  * Section 1. AS 14.25.168(b) is amended to read: 07 (b) After an election of coverage under this section, major medical insurance 08 coverage takes effect on the same date as retirement benefits begin and stops when the 09 member or survivor is no longer eligible to receive a monthly benefit. The coverage 10 for persons age 65 or older is the same as that available for persons under age 65. 11 The benefits payable to those persons age 65 or older supplement any benefits 12 provided under the federal old age, survivors and disability insurance program. The 13 medical premium and optional insurance premiums owed by a member or survivor 14 shall be deducted from the benefit owed to the member or survivor before payment of 01 the benefit. A person who is at least 65 years of age and who is receiving a  02 monthly benefit under the system shall be reimbursed annually for the premium  03 charges the person has paid for Part B of the federal Medicare program covering  04 the person. The administrator may, by regulation, prescribe application  05 procedures for reimbursement and a reimbursement schedule. The  06 administrator shall provide for an annual actuarial review to determine the  07 difference in the cost to the system of premiums paid for major medical  08 insurance coverage for covered persons who are under 65 years of age and those  09 who are age 65 and older. The amount of the difference may be used to provide  10 the reimbursement for premiums for Medicare Part B coverage by this  11 subsection. 12  * Sec. 2. AS 22.25.090(b) is amended to read: 13 (b) Except as provided in (d) of this section, major medical insurance 14 coverage takes effect on the same date as retirement benefits begin and stops when the 15 retired person or survivor is no longer eligible to receive a monthly benefit. The 16 coverage for persons age 65 or older is the same as that available for persons under 65 17 years of age. The benefits payable to those persons age 65 or older supplement any 18 benefits provided under the federal old age, survivors, and disability insurance 19 program. The medical premium and optional insurance premiums owed by a retired 20 person or survivor shall be deducted from the benefit payable to the retired person or 21 survivor before payment of the benefit. A person who is at least 65 years old and  22 who is receiving a monthly benefit under the system shall be reimbursed annually  23 for the premium charges the person has paid for Part B of the federal Medicare  24 program covering the person. The administrator may, by regulation, prescribe  25 application procedures for reimbursement and a reimbursement schedule. The  26 administrator shall provide for an annual actuarial review to determine the  27 difference in the cost to the system of premiums paid for major medical  28 insurance coverage for covered persons who are under 65 years of age and those  29 who are age 65 and older. The amount of the difference may be used to provide  30 the reimbursement for premiums for Medicare Part B coverage by this  31 subsection.  01  * Sec. 3. AS 39.35.535(b) is amended to read: 02 (b) Except as provided in (d) of this section, after an election of coverage 03 under this section, major medical insurance coverage takes effect on the same date that 04 benefits begin [,] and stops when the member or survivor is no longer eligible to 05 receive a monthly benefit. The coverage for persons age 65 or older is the same 06 coverage available for a person under 65 years of age. The benefits payable to persons 07 age 65 or older supplement any benefits provided under the federal old age, survivors 08 and disability insurance program. The medical premium and optional insurance 09 premiums owed by a member or survivor shall be deducted from the benefit owed to 10 the member or survivor before payment of the benefit.. A person who is at least 65  11 years old and who is receiving a monthly benefit under the system shall be  12 reimbursed annually for the premium charges the person has paid for Part B of  13 the federal Medicare program covering the person. The administrator may, by  14 regulation, prescribe application procedures for reimbursement and a  15 reimbursement schedule. The administrator shall provide for an annual  16 actuarial review to determine the difference in the cost to the system of premiums  17 paid for major medical insurance coverage for covered persons who are under 65  18 years of age and those who are age 65 and older. The amount of the difference  19 may be used to provide the reimbursement for premiums for Medicare Part B  20 coverage by this subsection. 21  * Sec. 4. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 22 read: 23 MEDICARE REIMBURSEMENT FOR CERTAIN BENEFICIARIES UNDER THE 24 ELECTED PUBLIC OFFICERS RETIREMENT SYSTEM. Notwithstanding former 25 AS 39.37.145, a person who is at least 65 years old and who is receiving a monthly benefit 26 under the elected public officers retirement system shall be reimbursed annually for the 27 premium charges the person has paid for Part B of the federal Medicare program covering the 28 person. The administrator may, by regulation, prescribe application procedures for 29 reimbursement and a reimbursement schedule. The administrator shall provide for an annual 30 actuarial review to determine the difference in the cost to the system of premiums paid for 31 major medical insurance coverage for covered persons who are under 65 years of age and 01 those who are age 65 and older. The amount of the difference may be used to provide the 02 reimbursement for premiums for Medicare Part B coverage by this section.