00 SENATE BILL NO. 30 01 "An Act requiring that a policy of group health insurance covering certain public 02 employee and teacher retirees include coverage for colorectal cancer screening." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 39.30.090(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) The Department of Administration may obtain a policy or policies of group 06 insurance covering state employees, persons entitled to coverage under AS 14.25.168, 07 14.25.480, AS 22.25.090, AS 39.35.535, 39.35.880, or former AS 39.37.145, 08 employees of other participating governmental units, or persons entitled to coverage 09 under AS 23.15.136, subject to the following conditions: 10 (1) a group insurance policy shall provide one or more of the following 11 benefits: life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, weekly 12 indemnity insurance, hospital expense insurance, surgical expense insurance, dental 13 expense insurance, audiovisual insurance, or other medical care insurance; 14 (2) each eligible employee of the state, the spouse and the unmarried 01 children chiefly dependent on the eligible employee for support, and each eligible 02 employee of another participating governmental unit shall be covered by the group 03 policy, unless exempt under regulations adopted by the commissioner of 04 administration; 05 (3) a governmental unit may participate under a group policy if 06 (A) its governing body adopts a resolution authorizing 07 participation and payment of required premiums; 08 (B) a certified copy of the resolution is filed with the 09 Department of Administration; and 10 (C) the commissioner of administration approves the 11 participation in writing; 12 (4) in procuring a policy of group health or group life insurance as 13 provided under this section or excess loss insurance as provided in AS 39.30.091, the 14 Department of Administration shall comply with the dual choice requirements of 15 AS 21.86.310, and shall obtain the insurance policy from an insurer authorized to 16 transact business in the state under AS 21.09, a hospital or medical service corporation 17 authorized to transact business in this state under AS 21.87, or a health maintenance 18 organization authorized to operate in this state under AS 21.86; an excess loss 19 insurance policy may be obtained from a life or health insurer authorized to transact 20 business in this state under AS 21.09 or from a hospital or medical service corporation 21 authorized to transact business in this state under AS 21.87; 22 (5) the Department of Administration shall make available bid 23 specifications for desired insurance benefits or for administration of benefit claims and 24 payments to (A) all insurance carriers authorized to transact business in this state 25 under AS 21.09 and all hospital or medical service corporations authorized to transact 26 business under AS 21.87 who are qualified to provide the desired benefits; and (B) 27 insurance carriers authorized to transact business in this state under AS 21.09, hospital 28 or medical service corporations authorized to transact business under AS 21.87, and 29 third-party administrators licensed to transact business in this state and qualified to 30 provide administrative services; the specifications shall be made available at least once 31 every five years; the lowest responsible bid submitted by an insurance carrier, hospital 01 or medical service corporation, or third-party administrator with adequate servicing 02 facilities shall govern selection of a carrier, hospital or medical service corporation, or 03 third-party administrator under this section or the selection of an insurance carrier or a 04 hospital or medical service corporation to provide excess loss insurance as provided in 05 AS 39.30.091; 06 (6) if the aggregate of dividends payable under the group insurance 07 policy exceeds the governmental unit's share of the premium, the excess shall be 08 applied by the governmental unit for the sole benefit of the employees; 09 (7) a person receiving benefits under AS 14.25.110, AS 22.25, 10 AS 39.35, or former AS 39.37 may continue the life insurance coverage that was in 11 effect under this section at the time of termination of employment with the state or 12 participating governmental unit; 13 (8) a person electing to have insurance under (7) of this subsection 14 shall pay the cost of this insurance; 15 (9) for each permanent part-time employee electing coverage under 16 this section, the state shall contribute one-half the state contribution rate for permanent 17 full-time state employees, and the permanent part-time employee shall contribute the 18 other one-half; 19 (10) a person receiving benefits under AS 14.25, AS 22.25, AS 39.35, 20 or former AS 39.37 may obtain auditory, visual, and dental insurance for that person 21 and eligible dependents under this section; the level of coverage for persons over 65 22 shall be the same as that available before reaching age 65 except that the benefits 23 payable shall be supplemental to any benefits provided under the federal old age, 24 survivors, and disability insurance program; a person electing to have insurance under 25 this paragraph shall pay the cost of the insurance; the commissioner of administration 26 shall adopt regulations implementing this paragraph; 27 (11) a person receiving benefits under AS 14.25, AS 22.25, AS 39.35, 28 or former AS 39.37 may obtain long-term care insurance for that person and eligible 29 dependents under this section; a person who elects insurance under this paragraph 30 shall pay the cost of the insurance premium; the commissioner of administration shall 31 adopt regulations to implement this paragraph; 01 (12) each licensee holding a current operating agreement for a vending 02 facility under AS 23.15.010 - 23.15.210 shall be covered by the group policy that 03 applies to governmental units other than the state; 04 (13) medical care insurance coverage obtained under this section 05 or provided under AS 39.30.091, for persons who receive benefits under 06 AS 14.25, AS 22.25, AS 39.35, or former AS 39.37 after termination of 07 employment with the state or a participating governmental unit, must include 08 coverage for colorectal cancer screening as required under AS 21.42.377.