BILL NUMBER: AB 2242 CHAPTERED 09/29/06 CHAPTER 611 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 21, 2006 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 10, 2006 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2006 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2006 INTRODUCED BY Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security (Torrico (Chair), Jones, Mullin, and Negrete McLeod) FEBRUARY 22, 2006 An act to add Part 6.1 (commencing with Section 22959.1) to Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to public employee health benefits. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2242, Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Public employee health benefits: vision care: annuitants. Existing law provides in the State Treasury the State Annuitants' Vision Care Benefits Fund that is, upon appropriation by the Legislature, available to the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System for expenditure solely for the provision of vision care benefits to state annuitants. This bill would additionally establish a vision care program for specified state annuitants and their dependents. The bill would require the Department of Personnel Administration to administer the program, and would create the Vision Care Program for State Annuitants Fund that is available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for those purposes. The bill would also require the department to report to the Legislature with regard to the economic sustainability of the program, and would allow for the termination of the program upon a specified circumstance. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Part 6.1 (commencing with Section 22959.1) is added to Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read: PART 6.1. VISION CARE PROGRAM FOR STATE ANNUITANTS 22959.1. This part shall be known and may be cited as the Vision Care Program for State Annuitants. The purpose of this part is to do all of the following: (a) Promote increased economy and efficiency in the provision of vision benefits to annuitants. (b) Enable the state to use economies of scale to provide a vision care plan similar to those commonly provided in private industry and in other states. (c) Recognize and protect the state's investment in each permanent employee's service by providing into retirement the option of a vision care program, and to promote and preserve continued good health among state annuitants. 22959.2. The Vision Care Program for State Annuitants shall be administered by the Department of Personnel Administration. 22959.3. Unless otherwise indicated, the definition of terms in Article 2 (commencing with Section 22760) of Part 5 apply to this part. 22959.4. (a) An annuitant who retires from the state may enroll in a vision care plan offered under this part, if any of the following apply: (1) The annuitant was enrolled in a health benefit plan, a dental care plan, or vision care plan at the time of separation for retirement, and retired within 120 days of the date of separation. (2) The annuitant was not enrolled in a health benefit plan, a dental care plan, or vision care plan at the time of separation for retirement, but was eligible for enrollment as an employee at the time of separation for retirement, and retired within 120 days of the date of separation. (3) The annuitant is part of the Legislators' Retirement System receiving an allowance pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 9359) of Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of Division 2. (b) The Department of Personnel Administration has no duty to locate or notify any annuitant who may be eligible to enroll, or to provide names or addresses to any person, agency, or entity for the purpose of notifying those annuitants. 22959.5. (a) A person who was enrolled in a vision care plan at the time he or she became an annuitant under state or federal provisions, may continue his or her enrollment, including eligible family members, without discrimination as to benefit coverage as an enrolled person within this program. An annuitant who is eligible for this program is a person who meets the requirements of Section 22959.4 and at the time of retirement was employed with the state as one of the following: (1) A civil service employee of the state. (2) An elected member of the Legislature. (3) A legislative employee. (4) A constitutional officer. (5) An employee of the judicial branch of state government. (b) Annuitants of the California State University and University of California systems may not participate in this program. 22959.6. (a) The Department of Personnel Administration may contract with one or more vision care plans for annuitants and eligible family members, provided the carrier or carriers have operated successfully in the area of vision care benefits for a reasonable period, as determined by the Department of Personnel Administration. (b) The Department of Personnel Administration, as the program administrator, has full administrative authority over this program and associated funds and shall require the monthly premium to be paid by the annuitant for the vision care plan. The premium to be paid by the annuitant shall be deducted from his or her monthly allowance. A vision care plan or plans provided under this authority shall be funded by the annuitants' premium. All premiums received from annuitants shall be deposited in the Vision Care Program for State Annuitants Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury. Any income earned on the moneys in the Vision Care Program for State Annuitants Fund shall be credited to the fund. The Vision Care Program for State Annuitants Fund is available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes specified in subdivision (d). (c) An annuitant may enroll in a vision care plan provided by a carrier that also provides a health benefit plan pursuant to Section 22850 if the employee or annuitant is also enrolled in the health benefit plan provided by that carrier. However, nothing in this section may be construed to require an annuitant to enroll in a vision care plan and a health benefit plan provided by the same carrier. An annuitant enrolled in this program shall only enroll into a vision plan or vision plans contracted for by the Department of Personnel Administration. (d) No contract for a vision care plan may be entered into unless the Department of Personnel Administration determines it is reasonable to do so. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any premium moneys paid into this program by annuitants for the purposes of the annuitant vision care plan that is contracted for shall be used for the cost of providing vision care benefits to eligible, enrolled annuitants and their eligible and enrolled dependents, the payment of claims for those vision benefits, and the cost of administration of the vision care plan or plans under this vision care program, those costs being determined by the Department of Personnel Administration. (e) If the Director of the Department of Personnel Administration determines that it is not economically feasible to continue this program anytime after its commencement, the Director may, upon written notice to enrollees and to the contracting plan or plans, terminate this program within a reasonable time. The notice of termination to the plan or plans shall be determined by the Department of Personnel Administration. The notice to enrollees of the termination of the program shall commence no later than three months prior to the actual date of termination of the program. (f) Premium rates for this program shall be determined by the Department of Personnel Administration in conjunction with the contracted plan or plans and shall be considered separate and apart from active employee premium rates. (g) The Director shall report to the Legislature, prior to the end of the second quarter of the third plan year, on the continued economic sustainability of the Vision Care Program for State Annuitants.