HB 1031

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to Lee County; amending chapter 74-522,
3	Laws of Florida, as amended; revising the qualifications
4	for employment or reemployment as a classified employee of
5	the Lee County Sheriff's Office; providing definitions;
6	revising and providing provisions relating to the funding
7	of civil service board and retirement health insurance
8	benefits; providing membership qualifications for
9	participation in the Lee County Sheriff's Office group
10	health insurance plan; specifying payment and premium
11	provisions of the plan; specifying to whom benefits may be
12	payable; providing participation requirements for certain
13	terminated employees prior to their receiving a retirement
14	benefit; requiring the office to be a secondary payor to
15	certain coverage held from previous or subsequent
16	employers; providing schedule requirements for employer
17	premiums; providing the effect of Medicare eligibility;
18	providing for methods of premium payments; providing a
19	limitation on the selection of continued insurance
20	benefits; providing the effect in instances of the death
21	of an insured retiree; providing applicability to all
22	classified and unclassified members of the office;
23	providing an effective date.
24
25	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
27	Section 1.  Subsection (6) of section 9 and section 15 of
28	chapter 74-522, Laws of Florida, as amended by chapter 2007-320,
29	Laws of Florida, are amended to read:
30	Section 9.  Qualifications for employment.--The minimum
31	standards and qualifications for employment or reemployment as a
32	classified employee of the office of the Sheriff of Lee County,
33	shall be as follows:
34	(6)  All applicants having military service must submit a
35	DD 214 indicating that they have received no less than an their
36	military service and discharge were under honorable discharge
37	from any of the Armed Forces of the United States. Applicants
38	honorably conditions. Persons discharged from military service
39	for medical conditions or reasons must be able to perform all
40	functions and essential tasks of the position for which they
41	have applied are applying.
42	Section 15.  Funding of civil service board and retirement
43	health insurance benefits.--
44	(1)  Funding; board operations.--It shall be and is hereby
45	made the duty of the Sheriff of Lee County to provide annually
46	in his or her budget, a sufficient sum of money to enable the
47	board to properly carry out the purpose purposes of this act.
48	(2)  Continued group insurance benefits and funding of
49	retirement insurance.--Pursuant to section 112.0801, Florida
50	Statutes, the Sheriff of Lee County is required to offer all
51	retirees the option of continuing to participate in the agency's
52	group health and hospitalization insurance plan. The premium for
53	such continued insurance may be paid by the retiree or the
54	employer.
55	(3)  Definitions.--As used in this section, the term:
56	(a)  "Eligible employee" means a classified or unclassified
57	full-time member of the Lee County Sheriff's Office who fills a
58	regularly budgeted position, participates in the Florida
59	Retirement System, and meets the requirements of this section.
60	(b)  "Employee premium" means the amount or portion of the
61	health and hospitalization insurance premium payable by the
62	employee or retiree expressed as a monthly dollar amount.
63	(c)  "Employer premium" means the amount or portion of the
64	health and hospitalization premium payable by the Lee County
65	Sheriff's Office expressed as a monthly dollar amount.
66	(d)  "Florida Retirement System" means the state-
67	administered retirement system established for state and local
68	government employees as defined in chapter 121, Florida
69	Statutes.
70	(e)  "Health insurance subsidy" means a monthly payment
71	made to a retired Florida Retirement System member to assist in
72	paying costs of health insurance as provided in section 112.363,
73	Florida Statutes.
74	(f)  "Lee County Sheriff's Office retirement health and
75	hospitalization insurance plan" means the same health and
76	hospitalization insurance plan and premium rates as are
77	established for and offered to active members of the agency.
78	(g)  "Premium" means the amount charged by the plan to
79	provide individual or family health and hospitalization
80	insurance coverage to active and retired members of the Lee
81	County Sheriff's Office and their qualified dependents expressed
82	as a monthly dollar amount. Premiums for retirees and qualified
83	dependents shall not exceed premiums for active employees.
84	(h)  "Qualified dependent" means the spouse or dependent
85	child of a retiree who is entitled to continuing group health
86	and hospitalization insurance benefits pursuant to section
87	112.0801, Florida Statutes, and the provisions of this section.
88	(i)  "Retirement" means the act of terminating employment
89	and becoming a retiree as defined in section 121.021(60) or
90	section 121.4501(2)(j), Florida Statutes, and receiving a
91	benefit from the Florida Retirement System.
92	(j)  "Vested" or "vesting" means the guarantee that a
93	member is eligible to receive a future retirement benefit as
94	provided in section 121.021(45), Florida Statutes.
95	(4)  Group health insurance; participation by retired
96	employees with fewer than 15 years of service.--All persons who
97	are retirees, as defined in section 121.021(60) or section
98	121.4501(2)(j), Florida Statutes, from the Florida Retirement
99	System and who terminate from the Lee County Sheriff's Office
100	have the option, pursuant to section 112.0801, Florida Statutes,
101	to continue to participate in the Lee County Sheriff's Office
102	group health insurance plan. Retirees and qualified dependents
103	shall be offered the same health and hospitalization insurance
104	coverage as active employees at a cost of no more than the
105	premium applicable to active employees. Participation in this
106	plan is voluntary and all premiums for retirees and qualified
107	dependents of retirees that have less than 15 years of service
108	with the Lee County Sheriff's Office are employee premiums
109	payable by the retiree or dependent. Retirees may also purchase,
110	at their own expense, individual or family group dental
111	insurance or vision insurance, or both, through the agency's
112	group policies. Premiums may be adjusted annually based on
113	actual qualified group costs to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
114	(5)  Retirement health insurance benefits for employees
115	with 15 or more years of service; employer premium
116	payments.--Effective October 1, 1986, and thereafter, it is the
117	duty of the Sheriff of Lee County to provide annually in his or
118	her budget a sufficient sum of money to pay a portion percentage
119	of the cost of the health and hospitalization insurance premiums
120	for employees of members of the Lee County Sheriff's Office who
121	retire from active service after having accumulated at least 15
122	or more years of full-time, active creditable service with the
123	office under the Florida Retirement System. Employer premiums
124	The health insurance costs payable under this provision are
125	limited to pursuant to this section include premiums for major
126	medical and hospitalization insurance, and but do not include
127	premiums for dental or vision insurance. Retirees may purchase,
128	at their expense, individual or family group dental insurance or
129	vision insurance, or both.
130	(6)  Benefits payable under subsection (5).--Benefits
131	payable under subsection (5) are only available to employees who
132	retire from the Florida Retirement System and terminate
133	employment after 15 or more years of service with the Lee County
134	Sheriff's Office. A member of the Florida Retirement System
135	employed prior to October 1, 2009, who has been a full-time
136	member of the Lee County Sheriff's Office for the 10 years
137	immediately preceding his or her retirement may claim up to 5
138	years of previous service with another Florida Retirement System
139	employer subject to verification by the Division of Retirement
140	of the Department of Management Services to meet the 15-year
141	requirement as provided for in subsection (5). Persons hired by
142	the Lee County Sheriff's Office on or after October 1, 2009, are
143	not eligible to claim additional years of service from previous
144	Florida Retirement System employers to qualify for employer-paid
145	health and hospitalization insurance benefits as provided for in
146	subsection (5).
147	(7)  Termination after 15 years of service but prior to
148	receiving a retirement benefit.--If an employee terminates from
149	the Lee County Sheriff's Office after accumulating 15 years or
150	more of full-time service as outlined in subsection (6), but
151	prior to receiving a retirement benefit from the Florida
152	Retirement System, he or she may continue participating in the
153	Lee County Sheriff's Office group health and hospitalization
154	insurance plan by paying the full current group premium rate for
155	individual or family coverage. Upon receiving written
156	notification and documentation from the Florida Retirement
157	System that the former employee has become a retiree of the
158	Florida Retirement System, the Lee County Sheriff's Office shall
159	begin to pay a portion of the retiree's, and dependents' if
160	qualified, health and hospitalization insurance premium from the
161	effective date of retirement. It is the retiree's responsibility
162	to ensure that notification of retirement from the Florida
163	Retirement System is made to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. No
164	retroactive payments may be made due to the retiree's failure to
165	timely notify the Lee County Sheriff's Office of his or her
166	retirement.
167	(8)  Retirement benefits from a previous or subsequent
168	employer.--If a retiree, qualified under subsection (6) or
169	subsection (7), is entitled to retirement health insurance
170	benefits paid for by any previous or subsequent employer, the
171	Lee County Sheriff's Office shall be a secondary payor to that
172	coverage.
173	(9)  Premium payments by the Lee County Sheriff's Office;
174	employer premium.--The employer premium, the portion of a
175	qualified retiree's health and hospitalization insurance premium
176	payable by the Lee County Sheriff's Office, is dependent upon
177	the retiree expressing a desire to participate in the Lee County
178	Sheriff's Office group health and hospitalization plan and the
179	following schedule:
180	(a)  At 15 years of service the Lee County Sheriff's Office
181	shall pay up to 75 percent of the portion of the retiree's
182	health and hospitalization insurance premium that exceeds the
183	amount of any health insurance subsidy paid to a retiree. For
184	each full month of employment with the Lee County Sheriff's
185	Office beyond 15 years the Sheriff's Office shall pay an
186	additional 0.416 percent per month through 19 years and 11
187	months of service. The insured retiree may purchase, at his or
188	her own expense, group coverage for a qualified spouse or
189	dependents. Employee premium payments and payments for insurance
190	coverage of dependents of the retiree are payable by the
191	retiree.
192	(b)  At 20 years of service and beyond, the Lee County
193	Sheriff's Office shall pay up to 100 percent of the portion of
194	the retiree's health and hospitalization insurance premium that
195	exceeds the first $100 of any health insurance subsidy received
196	by a retiree and in addition shall pay 50 percent of the health
197	and hospitalization insurance premium for any qualified spouse
198	or dependents of the retiree. Any employee premium payments and
199	the balance of payments for dependents of the retiree are
200	payable by the retiree or qualified dependent. Any increase or
201	decrease to the health insurance subsidy by the state shall be
202	factored into the provisions of this subsection.
203	(c)  Premiums may be adjusted annually based on actual
204	qualified group costs to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
205	(10)  Effect of Medicare eligibility.--At such time as a
206	retiree or qualified dependent covered under this section
207	becomes eligible for Medicare health insurance, it is his or her
208	responsibility to enroll in and utilize his or her Medicare
209	benefits to pay primary, secondary, or last payments to the
210	extent stated under federal law. The Lee County Sheriff's Office
211	shall treat an eligible retiree or qualified dependent as
212	enrolled in Medicare parts A and B, regardless of actual
213	enrollment, and base its payments on behalf of the retiree or
214	qualified dependent as if the retiree or spouse has utilized his
215	or her Medicare benefits.
216	(11)  Method of premium payments.--Any employee premium
217	payments or portions of employee premium payments due from the
218	retiree must be made directly to the Lee County Sheriff's Office
219	either by the retiree or by authorized deduction from his or her
220	Florida Retirement System benefit payments.
221	(12)  Limitation on selection of continued insurance
222	benefits.--Retirement insurance benefits are only available to
223	an employee at the time he or she retires from the Florida
224	Retirement System, except as provided in subsection (7). All
225	benefits must be applied for within 60 days of the employee's
226	last physical day of employment. If an employee chooses not to
227	receive any or all retirement benefits or fails to make a
228	selection of benefits during this time period, he or she does
229	not have the option to do so at a later date. Retirees receiving
230	benefits may only add dependents at a later date if a qualifying
231	event has occurred.
232	(13)(a)  Death of insured retiree.--Upon the death of an
233	insured retiree, his or her spouse or qualified dependents, or
234	both, may continue to participate in any group health and
235	hospitalization plan that was in force on them at the time of
236	such death. The death of a retiree shall not be considered a
237	qualifying event to add additional persons or modify existing
238	insurance coverage. Premiums shall not be increased unless there
239	is an overall increase in premiums for active employees.
240	(b)  In the event that a current classified employee of the
241	Lee County Sheriff's Office dies or becomes totally and
242	permanently disabled while carrying out the duties of his or her
243	office but does not qualify for benefits under section 112.19,
244	Florida Statutes, the employee shall be considered retired from
245	the Lee County Sheriff's Office at the date of such death or
246	total and permanent disability. This retirement shall qualify
247	the employee and his or her surviving qualified dependents to be
248	insured according to current Sheriff's Office policy and under
249	this section provided that the employee meets all requirements
250	contained in this section as to length of service and selection
251	of benefits.
252	(14)  Participation of classified and unclassified
253	members.--This section shall apply to all classified and
254	unclassified members of the Lee County Sheriff's Office alike,
255	provided that they meet all eligibility requirements found in
256	this section. When a retiree receiving this health insurance
257	benefit becomes eligible for Medicare, his or her health
258	coverage will convert to the Medicare Supplement health
259	insurance.
260	(a)  In order to receive this benefit, the retiree must
261	have served with the Lee County Sheriff's Office for the 10
262	years immediately preceding his or her retirement. The retiree
263	may claim up to 5 years of creditable service earned while in
264	the employ of another member agency within the Florida
265	Retirement System. The Lee County Sheriff's Office shall verify
266	all years of creditable service claimed through the Division of
267	Retirement of the Department of Administration.
268	(b)  If an employee retires from the Lee County Sheriff's
269	Office after at least 10 years of service with the department,
270	but before reaching retirement age, and has participated in the
271	Florida Retirement System for at least 15 years, he or she may
272	pay his and her or his and her dependent's health insurance
273	costs until he or she begins to receive retirement benefits
274	under the Florida Retirement System. The Lee County Sheriff's
275	Office shall begin to pay a percentage of the employee's health
276	insurance costs when he or she begins to receive such retirement
277	benefits. The retiree shall give the sheriff's office written
278	notice of the date of payment of his or her initial retirement
279	benefit. The Lee County Sheriff's Office shall verify this date
280	through the Division of Retirement of the Department of
281	Administration.
282	(c)  The Lee County Sheriff's Office shall base the
283	percentage of a retiree's health insurance costs it will pay
284	upon the number of years of creditable service that the retiree
285	has accumulated in the Florida Retirement System. Fifteen years
286	of creditable service entitles the retiree to have 75 percent of
287	his or her health insurance premiums paid by the sheriff's
288	office. The sheriff's office shall pay an additional 5 percent
289	of the insurance premiums for each year of service in excess of
290	15 years until reaching a maximum of 100 percent of the premium
291	at 20 years of service. The Lee County Sheriff's Office shall
292	pay an additional one-twelfth of 1 percent of the premium for
293	each month served until the full 100 percent is paid.
294	(d)  If an employee has health insurance coverage through a
295	previous employer, the Lee County Sheriff's Office will be the
296	secondary payor.
297	(e)  If an employee receives a retiree health insurance
298	subsidy from the state, the Lee County Sheriff's Office shall
299	reduce the amount it pays of the employee's health insurance
300	premiums by the amount of the subsidy.
301	(f)  The Lee County Sheriff's Office shall pay for the
302	health insurance coverage of the retiree and 50 percent of his
303	or her dependents' health insurance coverage only if the
304	retiree's health insurance is paid at 100 percent of the premium
305	at 20 years of service. A retiree who obtains benefits without
306	attaining 20 years of service may pay for the health insurance
307	of his or her dependents. Upon a retiree's death, his or her
308	spouse may continue the health insurance coverage previously
309	provided by the retiree. Premiums must be paid to the Lee County
310	Sheriff's Office.
311	(g)  This retiree health insurance benefit is only
312	available to an employee when he or she retires. If the employee
313	does not elect to receive the insurance benefit upon retiring,
314	he or she does not have the option of receiving the benefit at a
315	later date.
316	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.