Senate Bill No. 138
(By Senators Wooton, Bailey and Ball)
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[Introduced February 27, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Banking and Insurance and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-two, article sixteen,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to permitting board
members of public bodies existing under the authority of the
state to purchase public employees insurance at cost to the
board member.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two, 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.
ยง5-16-22. Permissive participation; exemptions.
The provisions of this article are not mandatory upon any
employee or employer who is not an employee of or is not the state of West Virginia, its boards, agencies, commissions,
departments, institutions or spending units or a county board of
education, and nothing contained in this article shall be
construed so as to compel any employee or employer to enroll in
or subscribe to any insurance plan authorized by the provisions
of this article.
Those employees enrolled in the insurance program authorized
under the provisions of article two-b, chapter twenty-one-a of
this code shall not be required to enroll in or subscribe to an
insurance plan or plans authorized by the provisions of this
article, and the employees of any department which has an
existing insurance program for its employees to which the
government of the United States contributes any part or all of
the premium or cost of the premium may be exempted from the
provisions of this article. Any employee or employer exempted
under the provisions of this paragraph may enroll in any
insurance program authorized by the provisions of this article at
any time, to the same extent as any other qualified employee or
employer, but employee or employer shall not remain enrolled in
both programs. The provisions of articles fourteen, fifteen and
sixteen, chapter thirty-three of this code, relating to group
life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and group
accident and sickness insurance, are not applicable to the provisions of this article whenever the provisions of articles
fourteen, fifteen and sixteen, chapter thirty-three of this code
are in conflict with or contrary to any provision set forth in
this article or to any plan or plans established by the public
employees insurance agency.
Employers, other than the state of West Virginia, its boards,
agencies, commissions, departments, institutions, spending units
or a county board of education are exempt from participating in
the insurance program provided for by the provisions of this
article unless participation by the employer has been approved by
a majority vote of the employer's governing body: Provided, That
a board member or other public official, of a nonparticipating
county, municipal or other political subdivision's public
corporate entity, that operates under the authority of this
state, has the option to participate in the insurance program:
Provided, however, That the nonparticipating employer remains
exempt from contributions and the board members or other public
officials who elect to participate in the program shall pay their
proportionate individual share of the full cost for all group
coverage on themselves and their spouses and dependents, so that
there will be no cost to the state for the coverage of any board
members, public officials, spouses and dependents. It is the
duty of the clerk or secretary of the governing body of an employer who by majority vote becomes a participant in the
insurance program to notify the director not later than ten days
after the vote.
Any employer, whether the employer participates in the public
employees insurance agency insurance program as a group or not,
which has retired employees, their dependents or surviving
dependents of deceased retired employees who participate in the
public employees insurance agency insurance program as authorized
by this article, shall pay to the agency the same contribution
toward the cost of coverage for its retired employees, their
dependents or surviving dependents of deceased retired employees
as the state of West Virginia, its boards, agencies, commissions,
departments, institutions, spending units or a county board of
education pay for their retired employees, their dependents and
surviving dependents of deceased retired employees, as determined
by the finance board: Provided, That after the thirtieth day of
June, one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, an employer is only
required to pay a contribution toward the cost of coverage for
its retired employees, their dependents or the surviving
dependents of deceased retired employees who elect coverage when
the retired employee participated in the plan as an active
employee of the employer for at least five years. Each employer
is hereby authorized and required to budget for and make such payments as are required by this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow board members of
public bodies existing under the authority of the state to
purchase PEIA insurance at their own cost.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.