Citations Affected: IC 5-10-8.
Synopsis: Former legislator health benefits. Removes the statutory
authority of the speaker of the house of representatives and the
president pro tempore of the senate to elect to pay any part of the health
insurance premium of a former legislator after December 31, 2006.
Repeals a health insurance plan for former legislators enacted in 2001.
Voids any election to pay the premiums of former legislators made
before January 1, 2007. Permits a former legislator or a spouse of a
former legislator to continue in the group health insurance program if
the former legislator or spouse pays the entire premium charged for the
group health insurance program.
Effective: January 1, 2007.
January 10, 2006, read first time and referred to Committee on Rules and Legislative
Procedures.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning the
general assembly.
seq.;
(3) who will have completed twenty (20) years of creditable
employment with a public employer on or before the employee's
retirement date, ten (10) years of which shall have been
completed immediately preceding the retirement; and
(4) who will have completed at least fifteen (15) years of
participation in the retirement plan of which the employee is a
member on or before the employee's retirement date.
(c) The state shall provide a group health insurance program to each
retired employee:
(1) who is a retired judge;
(2) whose retirement date is after June 30, 1990;
(3) who is at least sixty-two (62) years of age;
(4) who is not eligible for Medicare coverage as prescribed by 42
U.S.C. 1395 et seq.; and
(5) who has at least eight (8) years of service credit as a
participant in the Indiana judges' retirement fund, with at least
eight (8) years of that service credit completed immediately
preceding the judge's retirement.
(d) The state shall provide a group health insurance program to each
retired employee:
(1) who is a retired participant under the prosecuting attorneys
retirement fund;
(2) whose retirement date is after January 1, 1990;
(3) who is at least sixty-two (62) years of age;
(4) who is not eligible for Medicare coverage as prescribed by 42
U.S.C. 1395 et seq.; and
(5) who has at least ten (10) years of service credit as a participant
in the prosecuting attorneys retirement fund, with at least ten (10)
years of that service credit completed immediately preceding the
participant's retirement.
(e) The state shall make available a group health insurance program
to each former member of the general assembly or surviving spouse of
each former member, if the former member:
(1) is no longer a member of the general assembly;
(2) is not eligible for Medicare coverage as prescribed by 42
U.S.C. 1395 et seq. or, in the case of a surviving spouse, the
surviving spouse is not eligible for Medicare coverage as
prescribed by 42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.; and
(3) has at least ten (10) years of service credit as a member in the
general assembly.
A former member or surviving spouse of a former member who obtains
insurance under this section is responsible for paying both the
employer and the employee share of the cost of the coverage.
(f) The group health insurance program required under subsections
(b) through (e) must be equal to that offered active employees. The
retired employee may participate in the group health insurance program
if the retired employee pays an amount equal to the employer's and the
employee's premium for the group health insurance for an active
employee and if the retired employee within ninety (90) days after the
employee's retirement date files a written request for insurance
coverage with the employer. However, Except as provided in
subsection (k), the employer may elect to pay any part of the retired
employee's premium with respect to insurance coverage under this
chapter.
(g) Except as provided in subsection (j), a retired employee's
eligibility to continue insurance under this section ends when the
employee becomes eligible for Medicare coverage as prescribed by 42
U.S.C. 1395 et seq., or when the employer terminates the health
insurance program. A retired employee who is eligible for insurance
coverage under this section may elect to have the employee's spouse
covered under the health insurance program at the time the employee
retires. If a retired employee's spouse pays the amount the retired
employee would have been required to pay for coverage selected by the
spouse, the spouse's subsequent eligibility to continue insurance under
this section is not affected by the death of the retired employee. The
surviving spouse's eligibility ends on the earliest of the following:
(1) When the spouse becomes eligible for Medicare coverage as
prescribed by 42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.
(2) When the employer terminates the health insurance program.
(3) Two (2) years after the date of the employee's death.
(4) The date of the spouse's remarriage.
(h) This subsection does not apply to an employee who is entitled
to group insurance coverage under IC 20-28-10-2(b). An employee
who is on leave without pay is entitled to participate for ninety (90)
days in any health insurance program maintained by the employer for
active employees if the employee pays an amount equal to the total of
the employer's and the employee's premiums for the insurance.
(i) An employer may provide group health insurance for retired
employees or their spouses not covered by this section and may provide
group health insurance that contains provisions more favorable to
retired employees and their spouses than required by this section. A
public employer may provide group health insurance to an employee
who is on leave without pay for a longer period than required by
subsection (h).
(j) An employer may elect to permit former employees and their
spouses, including surviving spouses, to continue to participate in a
group health insurance program under this chapter after the former
employee (who is otherwise qualified under this chapter to participate
in a group insurance program) or spouse has become eligible for
Medicare coverage as prescribed by 42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq. An
employer who makes an election under this section may require a
person who continues coverage under this subsection to participate in
a retiree health benefit plan developed under section 8.3 of this chapter.
(k) The speaker of the house of representatives and the
president pro tempore of the senate may not elect to pay any part
of the premium for insurance coverage under this chapter with
respect to a former member of the general assembly or the spouse
of a former member of the general assembly.