Senate Bill No. 618
(By Senators Stollings, Jenkins, Bowman, Prezioso, Fanning,
Foster, McCabe, Bailey, Hunter, White, Minard, Love and Plymale)
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[Introduced February 8, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §5-16-15 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the Public Employees Insurance
Act; and making optional plans available as a section 125 plan
of the Internal Revenue Service or as part of the preferred
provider benefits.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-16-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.
§5-16-15. Optional dental, optical, disability and prepaid
retirement plan, and audiology and hearing-aid
service plan.
On and after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, the director shall make available to participants in
the public employees insurance system: (1) A dental insurance
plan; (2) an optical insurance plan; (3) a disability insurance
plan; (4) a prepaid retirement insurance plan; and (5) an audiology
and hearing-aid services insurance plan.
The finance board may
make these plans available as a section one hundred twenty-five
plan of the Internal Revenue Service or as part of the preferred
provider benefits or other arrangement as determined by the finance
board. Public employees insurance participants may elect to
participate in any one of these plans separately or in combination.
Notwithstanding anything in this article to the contrary, all
actuarial and administrative costs of each plan shall be totally
borne by the Premium payments
of and other cost sharing by the
participants or local governing bodies electing to participate in
that plan
shall be determined by the finance board. The director
is authorized to employ such administrative practices and
procedures with respect to these optional plans as are authorized
for the administration of other plans under this article. The
director shall finance board may establish separate funds: (1) For
deposit of dental insurance premiums and payment of dental
insurance claims; (2) for deposit of optical insurance premium
payments and payment of optical insurance claims; (3) for deposit
of disability insurance premium payments and payment of disability
insurance claims; and (4) for deposit of audiology and hearing-aid service insurance premiums and payment of audiology and hearing-aid
insurance claims.
Such funds shall not be supplemented by nor be
used to supplement any other funds.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the PEIA
Finance Board may make optional plans available as an IRS plan or
as part of the preferred provider benefits.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.