Report Title:

Public Employees Health Fund; Surviving Spouse Benefits

 

Description:

Enables spouses of deceased members of the Public Employees Health fund who were vested contributory members of ERS to obtain health benefits.

 

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

226

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to THE public employees health fund.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 87-25, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§87-25 Determine eligibility of employee, dependent, or person. The board of trustees shall establish and adopt eligibility requirements to determine which employee, dependent, or person may qualify as an employee-beneficiary, dependent-beneficiary, or qualified-beneficiary, respectively, provided that a retired member of the employees' retirement system, a county pension system, or a police, firefighters, and bandsmen pension system of the State or county, or the retired member's dependent shall be eligible to qualify as an employee-beneficiary or dependent-beneficiary, whether or not the retired member was actively employed by the State or county at the time of the retired member's retirement and whether or not the employee retired before or after the [establishing] establishment of the public employees health fund. Employees who retired prior to the [establishing] establishment of the health fund shall be treated as if they were members of the system during their period of employment with the State or county and receive the same benefits as other members. Only an employee-beneficiary or dependent or person satisfying the eligibility requirements may qualify as an employee-beneficiary, dependent-beneficiary, or qualified-beneficiary[.]; provided that the spouse of an employee-beneficiary who died after June 1, 1996, but prior to filing a formal application to retire from active service and who was a vested contributory member of the employees' retirement system, shall be eligible for the health benefits normally provided to the spouse of the employee-beneficiary as if the employee-beneficiary retired the day prior to death."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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