ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2611
(By Delegate Ryan)
[Passed March 9, 1996; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact section thirteen, article sixteen,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to eligibility for
coverage under the public employees insurance act; and
providing that certain employees with twenty years of
service with a participating agency and employees who have
been covered by the act for twenty years may retain coverage
after leaving employment if those eligible employees pay the
actual cost of the retiree coverage plus five percent.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirteen, article sixteen, chapter five of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.
§5-16-13. Payment of costs by employer and employee; coverage for employee's spouse and dependents generally;
short term continuance of coverage for involuntary
employee termination; extended insurance coverage
for retired employees with accrued annual leave and
sick leave; increased retirement benefits for
retired employees with accrued annual and sick
leave; additional eligible retired employees;
option for health insurance coverage without life
insurance coverage made available to retirees;
health insurance for surviving dependents of
deceased employees.
(a) The director is hereby authorized to provide under any
contract or contracts entered into under the provisions of this
article that the costs of any such group hospital and surgical
insurance, group major medical insurance, group prescription drug
insurance, group life and accidental death insurance benefit plan
or plans may be paid by the employer and employee. In addition,
each employee shall be entitled to have his or her spouse and
dependents, as defined by the rules of the public employees
insurance agency, included in any group hospital and surgical
insurance, group major medical insurance or group prescription
drug insurance coverage:
Provided, That such spouse and
dependent coverage shall be limited to excess or secondary
coverage for each spouse and dependent who has primary coverage
from any other source. For purposes of this section, the term "primary coverage" means individual or group hospital and
surgical insurance coverage or individual or group major medical
insurance coverage or group prescription drug coverage in which
the spouse or dependent is the named insured or certificate
holder. The director may require proof regarding spouse and
dependent primary coverage and shall adopt rules governing the
nature, discontinuance and resumption of any employee's coverage
for his or her spouse and dependents.
(b) Should a participating employee be terminated from
employment involuntarily or in reduction of work force, the
employee's insurance coverage provided under this article shall
continue for a period of three months at no additional cost to
the employee. An employee discharged for misconduct shall not be
eligible for extended benefits under this section. Coverage may
be extended up to the maximum period of three months, while
administrative remedies contesting the charge of misconduct are
pursued. If the discharge for misconduct be upheld, the full
cost of the extended coverage shall be reimbursed by the
employee. If the employee is again employed or recalled to
active employment within twelve months of his or her prior
termination, he or she shall not be considered a new enrollee and
shall not be required to again contribute his or her share of the
premium cost, if he or she had already fully contributed such
share during the prior period of employment.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (f) for
higher education full-time faculty employed on an annual contract basis other than for twelve months, when a participating
employee, who has elected to participate in the plan before the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, is
compelled or required by law to retire before reaching the age of
sixty-five, or when a participating employee voluntarily retires
as provided by law, that employee's accrued annual leave and sick
leave, if any, shall be credited toward an extension of the
insurance coverage provided by this article, according to the
following formulae: Such insurance coverage for a retired
employee shall continue one additional month for every two days
of annual leave or sick leave, or both, which the employee had
accrued as of the effective date of his or her retirement. For
a retired employee, his or her spouse and dependents, such
insurance coverage shall continue one additional month for every
three days of annual leave or sick leave, or both, which the
employee had accrued as of the effective date of his or her
retirement.
(d) Notwithstanding the preceding subsection, except as
otherwise provided in subsection (f) for higher education full-
time faculty employed on an annual contract basis other than for
twelve months, when a participating employee who elects to
participate in the plan on and after the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-eight, is compelled or required by
law to retire before reaching the age of sixty-five, or when such
a participating employee voluntarily retires as provided by law,
that employee's annual leave or sick leave, if any, shall be credited toward one half of the premium cost of the insurance
provided by this article, for periods and scope of coverage
determined according to the following formulae: (1) One
additional month of single retiree coverage for every two days of
annual leave or sick leave, or both, which the employee had
accrued as of the effective date of his or her retirement; or (2)
one additional month of coverage for a retiree, his or her spouse
and dependents for every three days of annual leave or sick
leave, or both, which the employee had accrued as of the
effective date of his or her retirement. The remaining premium
cost shall be borne by such retired employee if he or she elects
such coverage. For purposes of this subsection, an employee who
has been a participant under spouse or dependent coverage and who
reenters the plan within twelve months after termination of his
or her prior coverage shall be considered to have elected to
participate in the plan as of the date of commencement of the
prior coverage. For purposes of this subsection, an employee
shall not be considered a new employee after returning from
extended authorized leave on or after the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred eighty-eight.
(e) In the alternative to the extension of insurance
coverage through premium payment provided in the two preceding
subsections, the participating employee's accrued annual leave
and sick leave may be applied, on the basis of two days
retirement service credit for each one day of accrued annual and
sick leave, toward an increase in the employee's retirement benefits with such days constituting additional credited service
in computation of such benefits under any state retirement
system. However, such credited service shall not be used in
meeting initial eligibility for retirement criteria, but only as
additional service credited in excess thereof.
(f) When a participating employee, who is a higher education
full-time faculty member employed on an annual contract basis
other than for twelve months, is compelled or required by law to
retire before reaching the age of sixty-five, or when such a
participating employee voluntarily retires as provided by law,
that employee's insurance coverage, as provided by this article,
shall be extended according to the following formulae: Such
insurance coverage for a retired higher education full-time
faculty member, formerly employed on an annual contract basis
other than for twelve months, shall continue beyond the effective
date of his or her retirement one additional year for each three
and one-third years of teaching service, as determined by uniform
guidelines established by the university of West Virginia board
of trustees and the board of directors of the state college
system, for individual coverage, or one additional year for each
five years of teaching service for "family" coverage.
(g) Any employee who retired prior to the twenty-first day
of April, one thousand nine hundred seventy-two, and who also
otherwise meets the conditions of the "retired employee"
definition in section two of this article, shall be eligible for
insurance coverage under the same terms and provisions of this article. The retired employee's premium contribution for any
such coverage shall be established by the finance board.
(h) All retirees under the provisions of this article,
including those defined in section two of this article; those
retiring prior to the twenty-first day of April, one thousand
nine hundred seventy-two; and those hereafter retiring shall be
eligible for and permitted to obtain health insurance coverage.
The retired employee's premium contribution for any such coverage
shall be established by the finance board.
(i) A surviving spouse and dependents of a deceased
employee, who was either an active or retired employee just prior
to such decease, shall be entitled to be included in any group
insurance coverage provided under this article, and such spouse
and dependents shall bear the premium cost of such insurance
coverage. The finance board shall establish the premium cost of
any such coverage.
(j) In construing the provisions of this section or any
other provisions of this code, the Legislature declares that it
is not now nor has it ever been the Legislature's intent that
elected public officials be provided any sick leave, annual leave
or personal leave, and the enactment of this section is based
upon the fact and assumption that no statutory or inherent
authority exists extending sick leave, annual leave or personal
leave to elected public officials and the very nature of such
positions preclude the arising or accumulation of such, so as to
be thereafter usable as premium paying credits for which such officials may claim extended insurance benefits.
(k) An employee, eligible for coverage under the provisions
of this article who has twenty years of service with any agency
or entity participating in the public employees insurance program
or who has been covered by the public employees insurance program
for twenty years may, upon leaving employment with a
participating agency or entity, continue to be covered by the
program if the employee pays one hundred and five percent of the
cost of retiree coverage:
Provided, That the employee shall
elect to continue coverage under this subsection within two years
of the date the employment with a participating agency or entity
is terminated.