By: Harris S.B. No. 97
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to long-term care for public employees.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 3, Insurance Code, is
1-4 amended by adding Article 3.50-2A to read as follows:
1-5 Art. 3.50-2A. LONG-TERM CARE FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
1-6 Sec. 1. LONG-TERM CARE BOARD. (a) The Public Employees
1-7 Long-Term Care Board is established. The board consists of:
1-8 (1) the executive directors of the Teacher Retirement
1-9 System of Texas, the Employees Retirement System of Texas, the
1-10 Texas County and District Retirement System, and the Texas
1-11 Municipal Retirement System; and
1-12 (2) seven public members appointed by the governor
1-13 with the advice and consent of the senate.
1-14 (b) The executive directors serve as members of the board by
1-15 virtue of their position as executive directors, and the public
1-16 members serve two-year terms expiring February 1 of each
1-17 odd-numbered year.
1-18 (c) Members of the board annually shall select their
1-19 presiding officers. The board shall meet at the call of the
1-20 presiding officer or as otherwise determined by board policy.
1-21 (d) A member of the board is not entitled to compensation
1-22 for service on the board but is entitled to reimbursement of travel
1-23 expenses incurred in performing the business of the board, as
1-24 provided in the General Appropriations Act.
2-1 Sec. 2. EMPLOYEES AND CONSULTANTS. The board may employ and
2-2 contract with persons to assist it in performing its powers and
2-3 duties under this article and may determine their duties and
2-4 compensation.
2-5 Sec. 3. LONG-TERM CARE COVERAGE. (a) The board shall
2-6 contract with carriers offering long-term care insurance plans and
2-7 enter into health care service plan contracts covering long-term
2-8 care.
2-9 (b) The board shall award contracts to carriers who are
2-10 qualified to provide long-term care benefits and may develop and
2-11 administer self-funded long-term care insurance plans. The board
2-12 may offer one or more long-term care insurance plans or health care
2-13 service plan contracts covering long-term care and may offer
2-14 service or indemnity plans.
2-15 (c) The long-term care insurance plans and health care
2-16 service plan contracts covering long-term care shall include home,
2-17 community, and institutional care.
2-18 (d) A contract entered into under this section is subject to
2-19 competitive bidding.
2-20 (e) The long-term care insurance plans and health care
2-21 service plan contracts covering long-term care shall be made
2-22 available periodically during open enrollment periods determined by
2-23 the board.
2-24 Sec. 4. ENROLLMENT. (a) The board shall establish
2-25 eligibility criteria for enrollment, establish appropriate
2-26 underwriting criteria for potential enrollees, define the scope of
3-1 covered benefits, define criteria to receive benefits, and set any
3-2 other standards the board determines are needed.
3-3 (b) The classes of persons who are eligible to enroll in the
3-4 long-term care program provided by this article are:
3-5 (1) members and annuitants of the Employees Retirement
3-6 System of Texas, their spouses, children, and parents, and their
3-7 spouses' parents;
3-8 (2) members and annuitants of the Teacher Retirement
3-9 System of Texas, their spouses, children, and parents, and their
3-10 spouses' parents;
3-11 (3) members and annuitants of the optional retirement
3-12 program established under Chapter 830, Government Code, their
3-13 spouses, children, and parents, and their spouses' parents;
3-14 (4) members and annuitants of the Judicial Retirement
3-15 System of Texas Plan One, their spouses, children, and parents, and
3-16 their spouses' parents;
3-17 (5) members and annuitants of the Judicial Retirement
3-18 System of Texas Plan Two, their spouses, children, and parents, and
3-19 their spouses' parents;
3-20 (6) members and annuitants of the Texas County and
3-21 District Retirement System, their spouses, children, and parents,
3-22 and their spouses' parents;
3-23 (7) members and annuitants of the Texas Municipal
3-24 Retirement System, their spouses, children, and parents, and their
3-25 spouses' parents;
3-26 (8) members and annuitants, and the spouses, children,
4-1 parents, and spouses' parents of members and annuitants, of any
4-2 other retirement system administered by the state or a political
4-3 subdivision of the state, the governing body of which has
4-4 contracted with the board to provide coverage under this article;
4-5 and
4-6 (9) members of the Texas National Guard and their
4-7 spouses, children, parents, and spouses' parents.
4-8 (c) A potential enrollee must meet the eligibility and
4-9 underwriting criteria established by the board.
4-10 (d) The full cost of enrollment in a long-term care
4-11 insurance plan or in a health care service plan contract covering
4-12 long-term care shall be paid by the enrollees.
4-13 Sec. 5. PUBLIC EMPLOYEES LONG-TERM CARE FUND. (a) The
4-14 public employees long-term care fund is established as a trust fund
4-15 outside the state treasury.
4-16 (b) The comptroller is custodian of the fund and shall make
4-17 payments from the fund at the direction of the board or the board's
4-18 designee.
4-19 (c) The board may set the premiums for any self-funded
4-20 long-term care plan to recover the administrative costs of the
4-21 public employees long-term care program.
4-22 (d) Premiums paid by enrollees, amounts recovered under
4-23 contracts for the implementation of the public employees long-term
4-24 care program established under this article, and investment and
4-25 depository income of the fund shall be credited to the fund. The
4-26 legislature may make appropriations to the fund.
5-1 (e) Money in the fund may be used only for the purpose of
5-2 administering any self-funded long-term care plan developed by the
5-3 board and for paying the administrative expenses of the long-term
5-4 care program. The fund is not subject to legislative
5-5 appropriation, except that the legislature in the General
5-6 Appropriations Act may limit the amount in the fund that may be
5-7 used to pay administrative expenses.
5-8 Sec. 6. INVESTMENT OF FUND. (a) As trustees and
5-9 fiduciaries of the public employees long-term care fund, the board
5-10 may invest assets of the fund in any investment in which an asset
5-11 of a retirement system of which the executive director is a member
5-12 of the board may be invested. The board is subject to the
5-13 investment standard provided by Section 67(a)(3), Article XVI,
5-14 Texas Constitution.
5-15 (b) The board may employ investment staff or contract with
5-16 independent investment managers to manage the investments of the
5-17 public employees long-term care fund.
5-18 Sec. 7. IMPLEMENTATION. The board shall implement the
5-19 long-term care program developed under this article when the board
5-20 determines that it is feasible to do so.
5-21 SECTION 2. If the Public Employees Long-Term Care Board does
5-22 not implement the long-term care program under Article 3.50-2A,
5-23 Insurance Code, as added by this Act, before January 1, 2001, the
5-24 board shall prepare and file a report with the governor, the
5-25 lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
5-26 representatives before that date making its recommendations for the
6-1 resources necessary to implement the program.
6-2 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
6-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.