1-1     By:  Harris                                             S.B. No. 97
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed December 14, 1998; January 26, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     February 15, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas
 1-5     8, Nays 0; February 15, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to long-term care for public employees.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Subchapter E, Chapter 3, Insurance Code, is
1-11     amended by adding Article 3.50-2A to read as follows:
1-12           Art. 3.50-2A.  LONG-TERM CARE FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
1-13           Sec. 1.  LONG-TERM CARE BOARD.  (a)  The Public Employees
1-14     Long-Term Care Board is established.  The board consists of:
1-15                 (1)  the executive directors of the Teacher Retirement
1-16     System of Texas, the Employees Retirement System of Texas, the
1-17     Texas County and District Retirement System, and the Texas
1-18     Municipal Retirement System; and
1-19                 (2)  seven public members appointed by the governor
1-20     with the advice and consent of the senate.
1-21           (b)  The executive directors serve as members of the board by
1-22     virtue of their position as executive directors, and the public
1-23     members serve two-year terms expiring February 1 of each
1-24     odd-numbered year.
1-25           (c)  Members of the board annually shall select their
1-26     presiding officers.  The board shall meet at the call of the
1-27     presiding officer or as otherwise determined by board policy.
1-28           (d)  A member of the board is not entitled to compensation
1-29     for service on the board but is entitled to reimbursement of travel
1-30     expenses incurred in performing the business of the board, as
1-31     provided in the General Appropriations Act.
1-32           Sec. 2.  EMPLOYEES AND CONSULTANTS.  The board may employ and
1-33     contract with persons to assist it in performing its powers and
1-34     duties under this article and may determine their duties and
1-35     compensation.
1-36           Sec. 3.  LONG-TERM CARE COVERAGE.  (a)  The board shall
1-37     contract with carriers offering long-term care insurance plans and
1-38     enter into health care service plan contracts covering long-term
1-39     care.
1-40           (b)  The board shall award contracts to carriers who are
1-41     qualified to provide long-term care benefits and may develop and
1-42     administer self-funded long-term care insurance plans.  The board
1-43     may offer one or more long-term care insurance plans or health care
1-44     service plan contracts covering long-term care and may offer
1-45     service or indemnity plans.
1-46           (c)  The long-term care insurance plans and health care
1-47     service plan contracts covering long-term care shall include home,
1-48     community, and institutional care.
1-49           (d)  A contract entered into under this section is subject to
1-50     competitive bidding.
1-51           (e)  The long-term care insurance plans and health care
1-52     service plan contracts covering long-term care shall be made
1-53     available periodically during open enrollment periods determined by
1-54     the board.
1-55           Sec. 4.  ENROLLMENT.  (a)  The board shall establish
1-56     eligibility criteria for enrollment, establish appropriate
1-57     underwriting criteria for potential enrollees, define the scope of
1-58     covered benefits, define criteria to receive benefits, and set any
1-59     other standards the board determines are needed.
1-60           (b)  The classes of persons who are eligible to enroll in the
1-61     long-term care program provided by this article are:
1-62                 (1)  members and annuitants of the Employees Retirement
1-63     System of Texas, their spouses, children, and parents, and their
1-64     spouses' parents;
 2-1                 (2)  members and annuitants of the Teacher Retirement
 2-2     System of Texas, their spouses, children, and parents, and their
 2-3     spouses' parents;
 2-4                 (3)  members and annuitants of the optional retirement
 2-5     program established under  Chapter 830, Government Code, their
 2-6     spouses, children, and parents, and their spouses' parents;
 2-7                 (4)  members and annuitants of the Judicial Retirement
 2-8     System of Texas Plan One, their spouses, children, and parents, and
 2-9     their spouses' parents;
2-10                 (5)  members and annuitants of the Judicial Retirement
2-11     System of Texas Plan Two, their spouses, children, and parents, and
2-12     their spouses' parents;
2-13                 (6)  members and annuitants of the Texas County and
2-14     District Retirement System, their spouses, children, and parents,
2-15     and their spouses' parents;
2-16                 (7)  members and annuitants of the Texas Municipal
2-17     Retirement System, their spouses, children, and parents, and their
2-18     spouses' parents; and
2-19                 (8)  members and annuitants, and the spouses, children,
2-20     parents, and spouses' parents of members and annuitants, of any
2-21     other retirement system administered by the state or a political
2-22     subdivision of the state, the governing body of which has
2-23     contracted with the board to provide coverage under this article.
2-24           (c)  A potential enrollee must meet the eligibility and
2-25     underwriting criteria established by the board.
2-26           (d)  The full cost of enrollment in a long-term care
2-27     insurance plan or in a health care service plan contract covering
2-28     long-term care shall be paid by the enrollees.
2-29           Sec. 5.  PUBLIC EMPLOYEES LONG-TERM CARE FUND.  (a)  The
2-30     public employees long-term care fund is established as a trust fund
2-31     outside the state treasury.
2-32           (b)  The comptroller is custodian of the fund and shall make
2-33     payments from the fund at the direction of the board or the board's
2-34     designee.
2-35           (c)  The board may set the premiums for any self-funded
2-36     long-term care plan and assess charges against carriers and the
2-37     premiums of enrollees to recover the administrative costs of the
2-38     public employees long-term care program.
2-39           (d)  Premiums paid by enrollees, amounts recovered under
2-40     contracts for the implementation of the public employees long-term
2-41     care program established under this article, and investment and
2-42     depository income of the fund shall be credited to the fund.  The
2-43     legislature may make appropriations to the fund.
2-44           (e)  Money in the fund may be used only for the purpose of
2-45     administering any self-funded long-term care plan developed by the
2-46     board and for paying the administrative expenses of the long-term
2-47     care program.  The fund is not subject to legislative
2-48     appropriation, except that the legislature in the General
2-49     Appropriations Act may limit the amount in the fund that may be
2-50     used to pay administrative expenses.
2-51           Sec. 6.  INVESTMENT OF FUND.  (a)  As trustees and
2-52     fiduciaries of the public employees long-term care fund, the board
2-53     may invest assets of the fund in any investment in which an asset
2-54     of a retirement system of which the executive director is a member
2-55     of the board may be invested.  The board is subject to the
2-56     investment standard provided by Section 67(a)(3), Article XVI,
2-57     Texas Constitution.
2-58           (b)  The board may employ investment staff or contract with
2-59     independent investment managers to manage the investments of the
2-60     public employees long-term care fund.
2-61           Sec. 7.  IMPLEMENTATION.  The board shall implement the
2-62     long-term care program developed under this article when the board
2-63     determines that it is feasible to do so.
2-64           SECTION 2.  If the Public Employees Long-Term Care Board does
2-65     not implement the long-term care program under Article 3.50-2A,
2-66     Insurance Code, as added by this Act, before January 1, 2001, the
2-67     board shall prepare and file a report with the governor, the
2-68     lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
2-69     representatives before that date making its recommendations for the
 3-1     resources necessary to implement the program.
 3-2           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 3-3           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-4     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-5     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-6     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-7     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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