Amend CSHB 3540 (Senate committee printing) as follows:                      
	(1)  In ARTICLE 2 of the bill, strike the heading of the 
ARTICLE, and substitute the following:

ARTICLE 2. GROUP BENEFITS PROGRAM FOR
STATE EMPLOYEES AND ANNUITANTS
	(2)  In ARTICLE 2 of the bill, insert the following new 
SECTIONS, appropriately numbered, and renumber subsequent SECTIONS 
of the article accordingly:
	SECTION ___.  Section 1551.323, Insurance Code, is amended 
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), and 
(a-3) to read as follows:
	(a)  An annuitant eligible to participate under Section 
1551.102(i), 1551.111(e), or 1551.112(c) is[, except as provided by 
this subsection,] required to pay, [the total cost, as determined 
by the board, attributable to the participation of that individual 
and the dependents of that individual] until the date the 
individual is 65 years of age, an amount equal to the amount of the 
state or other employer contribution that would be made on behalf of 
the annuitant and, if applicable, the annuitant's dependents under 
this chapter if the annuitant were eligible to participate under 
another provision of Section 1551.102, 1551.111, or 1551.112.
	(a-1)  The payment made under this section is in addition to 
other contributions required under Sections 1551.305, 1551.306, 
and 1551.307.

	(a-2)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), if [If] the General 
Appropriations Act or other similar legislation provides that some 
or all of the costs paid under Subsection (a) are payable by a state 
contribution [addresses the payment of those costs], those costs 
shall be paid in the manner specified by that legislation.
	(a-3)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), an institution of 
higher education may provide some or all of the costs paid under 
Subsection (a) from money appropriated from a fund other than the 
general revenue fund or from money available from local sources.
	SECTION __. The change in law made by this article to Section 
1551.323, Insurance Code, applies only to participation on or after 
September 1, 2005, in the state employees group benefits program 
established under Chapter 1551, Insurance Code.  Participation in 
the group benefits program before September 1, 2005, is governed by 
the law as it exists immediately before that date and that law is 
continued in effect for this purpose.
	SECTION __.  The change in law made by this article to 
Section 1551.323, Insurance Code, takes effect September 1, 2005.