ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 129
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, and Caruth,
By Request of the Executive)
____________
[Passed March 10, 2007; to take effect July 1, 2007.]
____________
AN ACT
to amend and reenact §5-16-2, §5-16-5, §5-16-7 and §5-16-25
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and
reenact §5-16D-1 and §5-16D-6 of said code; and to amend and
reenact §18A-1-1 of said code, all relating to
Public
Employees Insurance Agency; expanding insurance coverage
eligibility to include certain substitute employees; expanding
coverage to include certain procedures; clarifying certain
eligibility provision; requiring continued insurance coverage
for Medicare-eligible retired employees; modifying treatment
of reserve fund balances; modifying treatment of certain
portions of required employer annual payments; modifying
certain employer annual required contribution provisions;
making technical corrections; and deleting obsolete
provisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5-16-2, §5-16-5, §5-16-7 and §5-16-25 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; that §5-
16D-1 and §5-16D-6
of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §18A-1-1 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNOR,
SECRETARY OF STATE AND ATTORNEY GENERAL; BOARD
OF PUBLIC WORKS; MISCELLANEOUS AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS,
OFFICES, PROGRAMS, ETC.
ARTICLE 16. WEST VIRGINIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES INSURANCE ACT.
§5-16-2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases as used in this article,
unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context,
have the following meanings:
(1) "Agency" means the Public Employees Insurance Agency
created by this article.
(2) "Director" means the Director of the Public Employees
Insurance Agency created by this article.
(3) "Employee" means any person, including an elected officer,
who works regularly full time in the service of the State of West
Virginia and, for the purpose of this article only, the term
"employee" also means any person, including an elected officer, who
works regularly full time in the service of a county board of
education; a county, city or town in the state; any separate
corporation or instrumentality established by one or more counties,
cities or towns, as permitted by law; any corporation or
instrumentality supported in most part by counties, cities or
towns; any public corporation charged by law with the performance
of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is coextensive
with one or more counties, cities or towns; any comprehensive
community mental health center or comprehensive mental retardation facility established, operated or licensed by the Secretary of
Health and Human Resources pursuant to section one, article two-a,
chapter twenty-seven of this code and which is supported in part by
state, county or municipal funds; any person who works regularly
full time in the service of the Higher Education Policy Commission,
the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College
Education or a governing board, as defined in section two, article
one, chapter eighteen-b of this code; any person who works
regularly full time in the service of a combined city-county health
department created pursuant to article two, chapter sixteen of this
code; and any person who works as a long-term substitute as defined
in section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code, in
the service of a county board of education:
Provided, That a long-
term substitute who is continuously employed for at least one
hundred thirty-three instructional days during an instructional
term, and until the end of that instructional term, is eligible for
the benefits provided in this article until the first day of
September following that instructional term:
Provided, however,
That a long-term substitute employed fewer than one hundred thirty-
three instructional days during an instructional term is eligible
for the benefits provided in this article only during such time as
he or she is actually employed as a long-term substitute. On and
after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-
four, and upon election by a county board of education to allow
elected board members to participate in the Public Employees
Insurance Program pursuant to this article, any person elected to
a county board of education shall be considered to be an "employee"
during the term of office of the elected member:
Provided further, That the elected member shall pay the entire cost of the premium if
he or she elects to be covered under this article. Any matters of
doubt as to who is an employee within the meaning of this article
shall be decided by the director.
On or after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, a person shall be considered an "employee" if that
person meets the following criteria:
(i) Participates in a job-sharing arrangement as defined in
section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(ii) Has been designated, in writing, by all other
participants in that job-sharing arrangement as the "employee" for
purposes of this section; and
(iii) Works at least one third of the time required for a
full-time employee.
(4) "Employer" means the State of West Virginia, its boards,
agencies, commissions, departments, institutions or spending units;
a county board of education; a county, city or town in the state;
any separate corporation or instrumentality established by one or
more counties, cities or towns, as permitted by law; any
corporation or instrumentality supported in most part by counties,
cities or towns; any public corporation charged by law with the
performance of a governmental function and whose jurisdiction is
coextensive with one or more counties, cities or towns; any
comprehensive community mental health center or comprehensive
mental retardation facility established, operated or licensed by
the Secretary of Health and Human Resources pursuant to section
one, article two-a, chapter twenty-seven of this code and which is
supported in part by state, county or municipal funds; and a combined city-county health department created pursuant to article
two, chapter sixteen of this code. Any matters of doubt as to who
is an "employer" within the meaning of this article shall be
decided by the director. The term "employer" does not include
within its meaning the National Guard.
(5) "Finance board" means the Public Employees Insurance
Agency finance board created by this article.
(6) "Person" means any individual, company, association,
organization, corporation or other legal entity, including, but not
limited to, hospital, medical or dental service corporations;
health maintenance organizations or similar organization providing
prepaid health benefits; or individuals entitled to benefits under
the provisions of this article.
(7) "Plan", unless the context indicates otherwise, means the
medical indemnity plan, the managed care plan option or the group
life insurance plan offered by the agency.
(8) "Retired employee" means an employee of the state who
retired after the twenty-ninth day of April, one thousand nine
hundred seventy-one, and an employee of the University of West
Virginia Board of Trustees or the Board of Directors of the State
College System or a county board of education who retires on or
after the twenty-first day of April, one thousand nine hundred
seventy-two, and all additional eligible employees who retire on or
after the effective date of this article, meet the minimum
eligibility requirements for their respective state retirement
system and whose last employer immediately prior to retirement
under the state retirement system is a participating employer:
Provided, That for the purposes of this article, the employees who are not covered by a state retirement system but who are covered by
a state-approved or a state-contracted retirement system shall, in
the case of education employees, meet the minimum eligibility
requirements of the State Teachers Retirement System and in all
other cases, meet the minimum eligibility requirements of the
Public Employees Retirement System.
§5-16-5. Purpose, powers and duties of the finance board; initial
financial plan; financial plan for following year; and
annual financial plans.
(a) The purpose of the finance board created by this article
is to bring fiscal stability to the Public Employees Insurance
Agency through development of annual financial plans and long-range
plans designed to meet the agency's estimated total financial
requirements, taking into account all revenues projected to be made
available to the agency and apportioning necessary costs equitably
among participating employers, employees and retired employees and
providers of health care services.
(b) The finance board shall retain the services of an
impartial, professional actuary, with demonstrated experience in
analysis of large group health insurance plans, to estimate the
total financial requirements of the Public Employees Insurance
Agency for each fiscal year and to review and render written
professional opinions as to financial plans proposed by the finance
board. The actuary shall also assist in the development of
alternative financing options and perform any other services
requested by the finance board or the director. All reasonable
fees and expenses for actuarial services shall be paid by the
Public Employees Insurance Agency. Any financial plan or modifications to a financial plan approved or proposed by the
finance board pursuant to this section shall be submitted to and
reviewed by the actuary and may not be finally approved and
submitted to the Governor and to the Legislature without the
actuary's written professional opinion that the plan may be
reasonably expected to generate sufficient revenues to meet all
estimated program and administrative costs of the agency, including
incurred but unreported claims, for the fiscal year for which the
plan is proposed. The actuary's opinion on the financial plan for
each fiscal year shall allow for no more than thirty days of
accounts payable to be carried over into the next fiscal year. The
actuary's opinion for any fiscal year shall not include a
requirement for establishment of a reserve fund.
(c) All financial plans required by this section shall
establish:
(1) Maximum levels of reimbursement which the Public Employees
Insurance Agency makes to categories of health care providers;
(2) Any necessary cost-containment measures for implementation
by the director;
(3) The levels of premium costs to participating employers;
and
(4) The types and levels of cost to participating employees
and retired employees.
The financial plans may provide for different levels of costs
based on the insureds' ability to pay. The finance board may
establish different levels of costs to retired employees based upon
length of employment with a participating employer, ability to pay
or other relevant factors. The financial plans may also include optional alternative benefit plans with alternative types and
levels of cost. The finance board may develop policies which
encourage the use of West Virginia health care providers.
In addition, the finance board may allocate a portion of the
premium costs charged to participating employers to subsidize the
cost of coverage for participating retired employees, on such terms
as the finance board determines are equitable and financially
responsible.
(d)(1) The finance board shall prepare an annual financial
plan for each fiscal year during which the finance board remains in
existence. The finance board chairman shall request the actuary to
estimate the total financial requirements of the Public Employees
Insurance Agency for the fiscal year.
(2) The finance board shall prepare a proposed financial plan
designed to generate revenues sufficient to meet all estimated
program and administrative costs of the Public Employees Insurance
Agency for the fiscal year. The proposed financial plan shall
allow for no more than thirty days of accounts payable to be
carried over into the next fiscal year. Before final adoption of
the proposed financial plan, the finance board shall request the
actuary to review the plan and to render a written professional
opinion stating whether the plan will generate sufficient revenues
to meet all estimated program and administrative costs of the
Public Employees Insurance Agency for the fiscal year. The
actuary's report shall explain the basis of its opinion. If the
actuary concludes that the proposed financial plan will not
generate sufficient revenues to meet all anticipated costs, then
the finance board shall make necessary modifications to the proposed plan to ensure that all actuarially determined financial
requirements of the agency will be met.
(3) Upon obtaining the actuary's opinion, the finance board
shall conduct one or more public hearings in each congressional
district to receive public comment on the proposed financial plan,
shall review the comments and shall finalize and approve the
financial plan.
(4) Any financial plan shall be designed to allow thirty days
or less of accounts payable to be carried over into the next fiscal
year. For each fiscal year, the Governor shall provide his or her
estimate of total revenues to the finance board no later than the
fifteenth day of October of the preceding fiscal year: Provided,
That, for the prospective financial plans required by this section,
the Governor shall estimate the revenues available for each fiscal
year of the plans based on the estimated percentage of growth in
general fund revenues. The finance board shall submit its final,
approved financial plan, after obtaining the necessary actuary's
opinion and conducting one or more public hearings in each
congressional district, to the Governor and to the Legislature no
later than the first day of January preceding the fiscal year. The
financial plan for a fiscal year becomes effective and shall be
implemented by the director on the first day of July of the fiscal
year. In addition to each final, approved financial plan required
under this section, the finance board shall also simultaneously
submit financial statements based on generally accepted accounting
practices (GAAP) and the final, approved plan restated on an
accrual basis of accounting, which shall include allowances for
incurred but not reported claims: Provided, however, That the financial statements and the accrual-based financial plan
restatement shall not affect the approved financial plan.
(e) The provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code shall
not apply to the preparation, approval and implementation of the
financial plans required by this section.
(f) By the first day of January of each year the finance board
shall submit to the Governor and the Legislature a prospective
financial plan, for a period not to exceed five years, for the
programs provided in this article. Factors that the board shall
consider include, but are not limited to, the trends for the
program and the industry; the medical rate of inflation;
utilization patterns; cost of services; and specific information
such as average age of employee population, active to retiree
ratios, the service delivery system and health status of the
population.
(g) The prospective financial plans shall be based on the
estimated revenues submitted in accordance with subdivision (4),
subsection (d) of this section and shall include an average of the
projected cost-sharing percentages of premiums and an average of
the projected deductibles and copays for the various programs.
Beginning in the plan year which commences on the first day of
July, two thousand two, and in each plan year thereafter, until and
including the plan year which commences on the first day of July,
two thousand six, the prospective plans shall include incremental
adjustments toward the ultimate level required in this subsection,
in the aggregate cost-sharing percentages of premium between
employers and employees, including the amounts of any subsidization
of retired employee benefits. Effective in the plan year commencing on the first day of July, two thousand six, and in each
plan year thereafter, the aggregate premium cost-sharing
percentages between employers and employees, including the amounts
of any subsidization of retired employee benefits, shall be at a
level of eighty percent for the employer and twenty percent for
employees, except for the employers provided in subsection (d),
section eighteen of this article whose premium cost-sharing
percentages shall be governed by that subsection. After the
submission of the initial prospective plan, the board may not
increase costs to the participating employers or change the average
of the premiums, deductibles and copays for employees, except in
the event of a true emergency as provided in this section: Provided
r, That if the board invokes the emergency provisions, the cost
shall be borne between the employers and employees in proportion to
the cost-sharing ratio for that plan year: Provided, however, That
for purposes of this section, "emergency" means that the most
recent projections demonstrate that plan expenses will exceed plan
revenues by more than one percent in any plan year: Provided
further, That the aggregate premium cost-sharing percentages
between employers and employees, including the amounts of any
subsidization of retired employee benefits, may be offset, in part,
by a legislative appropriation for that purpose.
(h) The finance board shall meet on at least a quarterly basis
to review implementation of its current financial plan in light of
the actual experience of the Public Employees Insurance Agency.
The board shall review actual costs incurred, any revised cost
estimates provided by the actuary, expenditures and any other
factors affecting the fiscal stability of the plan and may make any additional modifications to the plan necessary to ensure that the
total financial requirements of the agency for the current fiscal
year are met. The finance board may not increase the types and
levels of cost to employees during its quarterly review except in
the event of a true emergency.
(i) For any fiscal year in which legislative appropriations
differ from the Governor's estimate of general and special revenues
available to the agency, the finance board shall, within thirty
days after passage of the budget bill, make any modifications to
the plan necessary to ensure that the total financial requirements
of the agency for the current fiscal year are met.
§5-16-7. Authorization to establish group hospital and surgical
insurance plan, group major medical insurance plan,
group prescription drug plan and group life and
accidental death insurance plan; rules for
administration of plans; mandated benefits; what plans
may provide; optional plans; separate rating for
claims experience purposes.
(a) The agency shall establish a group hospital and surgical
insurance plan or plans, a group prescription drug insurance plan
or plans, a group major medical insurance plan or plans and a group
life and accidental death insurance plan or plans for those
employees herein made eligible and establish and promulgate rules
for the administration of these plans, subject to the limitations
contained in this article. Those plans shall include:
(1) Coverages and benefits for X-ray and laboratory services
in connection with mammograms when medically appropriate and
consistent with current guidelines from the United States Preventive Services Task Force; pap smears, either conventional or
liquid-based cytology, whichever is medically appropriate and
consistent with the current guidelines from either the United
States Preventive Services Task Force or The American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists; and a test for the human papilloma
virus (HPV) when medically appropriate and consistent with current
guidelines from either the United States Preventive Services Task
Force or The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
when performed for cancer screening or diagnostic services on a
woman age eighteen or over;
(2) Annual checkups for prostate cancer in men age fifty and
over;
(3)
Annual screening for kidney disease
as determined to be
medically necessary
by a physician using
any combination of blood
pressure testing, urine albumin or urine protein testing and serum
creatinine testing as recommended by the National Kidney
Foundation;
(4) For plans that include maternity benefits, coverage for
inpatient care in a duly licensed health care facility for a mother
and her newly born infant for the length of time which the
attending physician considers medically necessary for the mother or
her newly born child: Provided, That a plan may not deny payment
for a mother or her newborn child prior to forty-eight hours
following a vaginal delivery, or prior to ninety-six hours
following a caesarean section delivery, if the attending physician
considers discharge medically inappropriate;
(5) For plans which provide coverages for post-delivery care
to a mother and her newly born child in the home, coverage for inpatient care following childbirth as provided in subdivision (4)
of this subsection if inpatient care is determined to be medically
necessary by the attending physician. Those plans may also
include, among other things, medicines, medical equipment,
prosthetic appliances, and any other inpatient and outpatient
services and expenses considered appropriate and desirable by the
agency; and
(6) Coverage for treatment of serious mental illness.
(A) The coverage does not include custodial care, residential
care or schooling. For purposes of this section, "serious mental
illness" means an illness included in the American psychiatric
association's diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders, as periodically revised, under the diagnostic categories
or subclassifications of: (i) Schizophrenia and other psychotic
disorders; (ii) bipolar disorders; (iii) depressive disorders; (iv)
substance-related disorders with the exception of caffeine-related
disorders and nicotine-related disorders; (v) anxiety disorders;
and (vi) anorexia and bulimia. With regard to any covered
individual who has not yet attained the age of nineteen years,
"serious mental illness" also includes attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, separation anxiety disorder and conduct
disorder.
(B) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section to the
contrary, in the event that the agency can demonstrate actuarially
that its total anticipated costs for the treatment of mental
illness for any plan will exceed or have exceeded two percent of
the total costs for such plan in any experience period, then the
agency may apply whatever cost-containment measures may be necessary, including, but not limited to, limitations on inpatient
and outpatient benefits, to maintain costs below two percent of the
total costs for the plan.
(C) The agency shall not discriminate between medical-surgical
benefits and mental health benefits in the administration of its
plan. With regard to both medical-surgical and mental health
benefits, it may make determinations of medical necessity and
appropriateness, and it may use recognized health care quality and
cost management tools, including, but not limited to, limitations
on inpatient and outpatient benefits, utilization review,
implementation of cost-containment measures, preauthorization for
certain treatments, setting coverage levels, setting maximum number
of visits within certain time periods, using capitated benefit
arrangements, using fee-for-service arrangements, using third-party
administrators, using provider networks and using patient cost
sharing in the form of copayments, deductibles and coinsurance.
(b) The agency shall make available to each eligible employee,
at full cost to the employee, the opportunity to purchase optional
group life and accidental death insurance as established under the
rules of the agency. In addition, each employee is entitled to
have his or her spouse and dependents, as defined by the rules of
the agency, included in the optional coverage, at full cost to the
employee, for each eligible dependent; and with full authorization
to the agency to make the optional coverage available and provide
an opportunity of purchase to each employee.
(c) The finance board may cause to be separately rated for
claims experience purposes:
(1) All employees of the State of West Virginia;
(2) All teaching and professional employees of state public
institutions of higher education and county boards of education;
(3) All nonteaching employees of the Higher Education Policy
Commission, West Virginia Council for Community and Technical
College Education and county boards of education; or
(4) Any other categorization which would ensure the stability
of the overall program.
(d) The agency shall maintain the medical and prescription
drug coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees by providing coverage
through one of the existing plans or by enrolling the Medicare-
eligible retired employees into a Medicare-specific plan,
including, but not limited to, the Medicare/Advantage Prescription
Drug Plan. In the event that a Medicare-specific plan would no
longer be available or advantageous for the agency and the
retirees, the retirees shall remain eligible for coverage through
the agency.
§5-16-25. Reserve fund.
Upon the effective date of this section, the finance board
shall establish and maintain a reserve fund for the purposes of
offsetting unanticipated claim losses in any fiscal year.
Beginning with the fiscal year two thousand two plan and for each
succeeding fiscal year plan, the finance board shall transfer ten
percent of the projected total plan costs for that year into the
reserve fund, which is to be certified by the actuary and included
in the final, approved financial plan submitted to the Governor and
Legislature in accordance with the provisions of this article. Any
moneys saved in a plan year shall be transferred into the reserve
fund. At the close of any fiscal year in which the balance in the reserve fund exceeds the recommended reserve amount by fifteen
percent, the executive director shall transfer that amount to the
West Virginia Retiree Health Benefit Trust Fund created in section
two, article sixteen-d of this chapter.
ARTICLE 16D. WEST VIRGINIA RETIREMENT HEALTH BENEFIT TRUST FUND.
§5-16D-1. Definitions.
As used in this article, the term:
(a) "Actuarial accrued liability" means that portion, as
determined by a particular actuarial cost method, of the actuarial
present value of fund obligations and administrative expenses which
is not provided by future normal costs.
(b) "Actuarial cost method" means a method for determining the
actuarial present value of the obligations and administrative
expenses of the fund and for developing an actuarially equivalent
allocation of the value to time periods, usually in the form of a
normal cost and an actuarial accrued liability. Acceptable
actuarial methods are the aggregate, attained age, entry age,
frozen attained age, frozen entry age and projected unit credit
methods.
(c) "Actuarially sound" means that calculated contributions to
the fund are sufficient to pay the full actuarial cost of the fund.
The full actuarial cost includes both the normal cost of providing
for fund obligations as they accrue in the future and the cost of
amortizing the unfunded actuarial accrued liability over a period
of no more than thirty years.
(d) "Actuarial present value of total projected benefits"
means the present value, at the valuation date, of the cost to
finance benefits payable in the future, discounted to reflect the expected effects of the time value of money and the probability of
payment.
(e) "Actuarial assumptions" means assumptions regarding the
occurrence of future events affecting the fund such as mortality,
withdrawal, disability and retirement; changes in compensation and
offered post-employment benefits; rates of investment earnings and
other asset appreciation or depreciation; procedures used to
determine the actuarial value of assets; and other relevant items.
(f) "Actuarial valuation" means the determination, as of a
valuation date, of the normal cost, actuarial accrued liability,
actuarial value of assets and related actuarial present values for
the fund.
(g) "Administrative expenses" means all expenses incurred in
the operation of the fund, including all investment expenses.
(h) "Annual required contribution" means the amount employers
must contribute in a given year to fully fund the trust, as
determined by the actuarial valuation in accordance with
requirements of generally accepted accounting principles. This
amount shall represent a level of funding that if paid on an
ongoing basis is projected to cover the normal cost each year and
amortize any unfunded actuarial liabilities of the plan over a
period not to exceed thirty years.
(i) "Board" means the Public Employees Insurance Agency
Finance Board created in section four, article sixteen of this
chapter.
(j) "Cost-sharing multiple employer plan" means a single plan
with pooling (cost-sharing) arrangements for the participating
employers. All risk, rewards, and costs, including benefit costs, are shared and not attributed individually to the employers. A
single actuarial valuation covers all plan members and the same
contribution rate applies for each employer.
(k) "Covered health care expenses" means all actual health
care expenses paid by the health plan on behalf of fund
beneficiaries. Actual health care expenses include claims payments
to providers and premiums paid to intermediary entities and health
care providers by the health plan.
(l) "Employer" means any employer as defined by section two,
article sixteen of this chapter which has or will have retired
employees in any Public Employees Insurance Agency health plan.
(m) "Employer annual required contribution" means the portion
of the annual required contribution which is the responsibility of
that particular employer.
(n) "Fund" means the West Virginia Retiree Health Benefit
Trust Fund established under this article.
(o) "Fund beneficiaries" means all persons receiving post-
employment health care benefits through the health plan.
(p) "Health plan" means the health insurance plan or plans
established under article sixteen of this chapter.
(q) "Minimum annual employer payment" means the annual amount
paid by employers which, when combined with the retirees'
contributions on their premiums that year, provide sufficient funds
to cover all projected retiree covered health care expenses and
related administrative costs for that year. The finance board
shall develop the minimum annual employer payment as part of its
financial plan each year as addressed in section five, article
sixteen of this chapter.
(r) "Normal cost" means that portion of the actuarial present
value of the fund obligations and expenses which is allocated to a
valuation year by the actuarial cost method used for the fund.
(s) "Obligations" means the administrative expenses of the
fund and the cost of covered health care expenses incurred on
behalf of fund beneficiaries.
(t) "Other post-employment benefits" or "retiree post-
employment health care benefits" means those benefits as addressed
by governmental accounting standards board statement no. 43 or any
subsequent governmental standards board statement that may be
applicable to the fund.
(u) "Plan for other post-employment benefits" means the fiscal
funding plan for retiree post-employment health care benefits as it
relates to governmental accounting standards board statement no.
43 or any subsequent governmental accounting standards board
statements that may be applicable to the fund.
(v) "Retiree" means retired employee as defined by section
two, article sixteen of this chapter.
(w) "Retirement system" or "system" means the West Virginia
Consolidated Public Retirement Board created and established by
article ten of this chapter and includes any retirement systems or
funds administered or overseen by the Consolidated Public
Retirement Board.
(x) "Unfunded actuarial accrued liability" means for any
actuarial valuation the excess of the actuarial accrued liability
over the actuarial value of the assets of the fund under an
actuarial cost method used by the fund for funding purposes.
§5-16D-6. Mandatory employer contributions.
(a) The board shall annually set the total annual required
contribution sufficient to maintain the fund in an actuarially
sound manner in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles.
(b) The board shall annually allocate to the respective
employers the employer's portion of the annual required
contribution, which allocated amount is the "employer annual
required contribution".
(c) The board may apportion the annual required contribution
into various components. These components may include the
amortized unfunded actuarial accrued liability, the total normal
cost, the employer annual required contribution and the lesser
included minimum annual employer payment. In the board's annual
apportionment of the annual required contribution, any amounts of
the minimum annual employer payment apportioned to reduce the
amortized unfunded actuarial accrued liability shall not be treated
as premium by the board in the finance plan but, rather, shall be
treated as contributions to prefund other post-employment benefits.
(d) Employers shall make annual contributions to the fund in,
at least, the amount of the minimum annual employer payment rates
established by the board.
(e) The Public Employees Insurance Agency shall bill each
employer for the employer annual required contribution and the
included minimum annual employer payment. The Public Employees
Insurance Agency shall annually collect the minimum annual employer
payment. The Public Employees Insurance Agency shall, in addition
to the minimum annual employer payment, collect any amounts the
employer elects to pay toward the employer annual required contribution. Any employer annual required contribution amount not
satisfied by the respective employer shall remain the liability of
that employer until fully paid.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
§18A-1-1. Definitions.
The definitions contained in section one, article one, chapter
eighteen of this code apply to this chapter. In addition, the
following words used in this chapter and in any proceedings
pursuant to this chapter shall, unless the context clearly
indicates a different meaning, be construed as follows:
(a) "School personnel" means all personnel employed by a
county board whether employed on a regular full-time basis, an
hourly basis or otherwise. School personnel shall be comprised of
two categories: Professional personnel and service personnel;
(b) "Professional personnel" means persons who meet the
certification requirements of the state, licensing requirements of
the state or both and includes the professional educator and other
professional employees;
(c) "Professional educator" has the same meaning as "teacher"
as defined in section one, article one, chapter eighteen of this
code. Professional educators shall be classified as:
(1) "Classroom teacher" means a professional educator who has
direct instructional or counseling relationship with pupils,
spending the majority of his or her time in this capacity;
(2) "Principal" means a professional educator who, as agent of
the county board, has responsibility for the supervision,
management and control of a school or schools within the guidelines established by the county board. The major area of the
responsibility shall be the general supervision of all the schools
and all school activities involving pupils, teachers and other
school personnel;
(3) "Supervisor" means a professional educator who, whether by
this or other appropriate title, is responsible for working
primarily in the field with professional and other personnel in
instructional and other school improvement; and
(4) "Central office administrator" means a superintendent,
associate superintendent, assistant superintendent and other
professional educators, whether by these or other appropriate
titles, who are charged with the administering and supervising of
the whole or some assigned part of the total program of the
countywide school system;
(d) "Other professional employee" means that person from
another profession who is properly licensed and is employed to
serve the public schools and includes a registered professional
nurse, licensed by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for
Registered Professional Nurses and employed by a county board, who
has completed either a two-year (sixty-four semester hours) or a
three-year (ninety-six semester hours) nursing program;
(e) "Service personnel" means those who serve the school or
schools as a whole, in a nonprofessional capacity, including such
areas as secretarial, custodial, maintenance, transportation,
school lunch and as aides;
(f) "Principals Academy" or "academy" means the academy
created pursuant to section two-b, article three-a of this chapter;
(g) "Center for Professional Development" means the center created pursuant to section one, article three-a of this chapter;
(h) "Job-sharing arrangement" means a formal, written
agreement voluntarily entered into by a county board with two or
more of its employees who wish to divide between them the duties
and responsibilities of one authorized full-time position;
(i) "Prospective employable professional personnel" means
certified professional educators who:
(1) Have been recruited on a reserve list of a county board;
(2) Have been recruited at a job fair or as a result of
contact made at a job fair;
(3) Have not obtained regular employee status through the job
posting process provided for in section seven-a, article four of
this chapter; and
(4) Have obtained a baccalaureate degree from an accredited
institution of higher education within the past year;
(j) "Dangerous student" means a pupil who is substantially
likely to cause serious bodily injury to himself, herself or
another individual within that pupil's educational environment,
which may include any alternative education environment, as
evidenced by a pattern or series of violent behavior exhibited by
the pupil and documented in writing by the school, with the
documentation provided to the student and parent or guardian at the
time of any offense; and
(k) "Alternative education" means an authorized departure from
the regular school program designed to provide educational and
social development for students whose disruptive behavior places
them at risk of not succeeding in the traditional school structures
and in adult life without positive interventions.
(l) "Long-term substitute" means a substitute employee who
fills a vacant position:
That the county superintendent expects to extend for at least
ninety consecutive days and is either:
(A) Listed in the job posting as a long-term substitute
position of over ninety days; or
(B) Listed in a job posting as a regular, full-time position
and:
(i) Is not filled by a regular, full-time employee; and
(ii) Is filled by a substitute employee.
For the purposes of section two, article sixteen, chapter five
of this code, long-term substitute does not include a retired
employee hired to fill the vacant position.