"The bills sets very restrictive limits on the amount to be paid towards a retiree's health insurance upon their retirement or disability from work," Ritchey explained.

"Under the leadership of Gerald Stewart and Mike Swift, EMS and fire has put forth a concurrent resolution to the Kentucky General Assembly that would require a study of the long term funding needs for fire and EMS in Kentucky. If adopted, this task force study would make recommendations to adequately fund and preserve the retirement system for our professions. Rep. Mike Cherry (Princeton) will be the primary sponsor of this House Concurrent Resolution," Ritchey said.

"Please join us by calling your legislator and stating your strong opposition to HB 675 and your support for the task force study," Ritchey said.

The full text of House Bill 675 is printed below.

AN ACT relating to state government.

Section 1. KRS 61.702 is amended to read as follows:

(1) (a) The board of trustees of Kentucky Retirement Systems shall arrange by appropriate contract or on a self-insured basis to provide a group hospital and medical insurance plan for present and future recipients of a retirement allowance from the Kentucky Employees Retirement System, County Employees Retirement System, and State Police Retirement System. The board shall also arrange to provide health care coverage by health maintenance organizations, as defined in KRS 18A.225, as an alternative to group hospital and medical insurance for any person eligible for hospital and medical benefits under this section. Any person who chooses coverage by a health maintenance organization shall pay, by payroll deduction from the retirement allowance or by another method, the difference in premium between the cost of health maintenance organization coverage and the benefits to which he would be entitled under this section. The board may authorize present and future recipients of a retirement allowance from any of the three (3) retirement systems to be included in the state employees' group for hospital and medical insurance and shall provide benefits for recipients equal to those provided to state employees having the same Medicare hospital and medical insurance eligibility status. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other statute, recipients shall be included in the same class as current state employees in determining medical insurance policies and premiums.

(b) For recipients of a retirement allowance who are not eligible for the same level of hospital and medical benefits as recipients living in Kentucky having the same Medicare hospital and medical insurance eligibility status, the board shall provide a medical insurance reimbursement plan as described in subsection (7) of this section.

(2) Each employer participating in the State Police Retirement System as provided for in KRS 16.510 to 16.652, each employer participating in the County Employees Retirement System as provided in KRS 78.510 to 78.852, and each employer participating in the Kentucky Employees Retirement System as provided for in KRS 61.510 to 61.705 shall contribute to the Kentucky Retirement Systems insurance fund the amount necessary to provide hospital and medical insurance as provided for under this section. Such employer contribution rate shall be developed by appropriate actuarial method as a part of the determination of each respective employer contribution rate to each respective retirement system determined under KRS 61.565.

(3) (a) For persons hired before July 1, 2003, the premium required to provide hospital and medical benefits under this section shall be paid:

1. Wholly or partly from funds contributed by the recipient of a retirement allowance, by payroll deduction, or otherwise;

2. Wholly or partly from funds contributed by the Kentucky Retirement Systems insurance fund;

3. Wholly or partly from funds contributed by another state-administered retirement system under a reciprocal arrangement, except that any portion of the premium paid from the Kentucky Retirement Systems insurance fund under a reciprocal agreement shall not exceed the amount that would be payable under this section if all the member's service were in one (1) of the systems administered by the Kentucky Retirement Systems;

4. Partly from subparagraphs 1., 2., or 3., except that any premium for hospital and medical insurance over the amount contributed by the Kentucky Retirement Systems insurance fund or another state-administered retirement system under a reciprocal agreement shall be paid by the recipient. If the board provides for cross-referencing of insurance premiums, the employer's contribution for the working member or spouse shall be applied toward the premium, and the Kentucky Retirement Systems insurance fund shall pay the balance, not to exceed the monthly contribution.

5. In full from the Kentucky Retirement Systems insurance fund for all recipients of a retirement allowance from any of the three (3) retirement systems where such recipient is a retired former member of one (1) or more of the three (3) retirement systems (not a beneficiary or dependent child receiving benefits) and had two hundred and forty (240) months or more of service upon retirement. Should such recipient have less than two hundred forty (240) months of service but have at least one hundred eighty (180) months of service, seventy-five percent (75%) of such premium shall be paid from the insurance fund provided such recipient agrees to pay the remaining twenty-five percent (25%) by payroll deduction from his retirement allowance or by another method. Should such recipient have less than one hundred eighty (180) months of service but have at least one hundred twenty (120) months of service, fifty percent (50%) of such premium shall be paid from the insurance fund provided such recipient agrees to pay the remaining fifty percent (50%) by payroll deduction from his retirement allowance or by another method. Should such recipient have less than one hundred twenty (120) months of service but have at least forty-eight (48) months of service, twenty-five percent (25%) of such premium shall be paid from the insurance fund provided such recipient agrees to pay the remaining seventy-five percent (75%) by payroll deduction from his retirement allowance or by another method. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection, an employee participating in one (1) of the retirement systems administered by the Kentucky Retirement Systems who becomes disabled in the line of duty as defined in KRS 16.505(19) or KRS 61.621, shall have his premium paid in full as if he had two hundred forty (240) months or more of service. Further, an employee participating in one (1) of the retirement systems administered by the Kentucky Retirement Systems who is killed in the line of duty as defined in KRS 16.505(19) or KRS 61.621, shall have the premium for the beneficiary, if the beneficiary is the member's spouse, and for each dependent child paid so long as they individually remain eligible for a monthly retirement benefit. "Months of service" as used in this section shall mean the total months of combined service used to determine benefits under any or all of the three (3) retirement systems, except service added to determine disability benefits shall not be counted as "months of service."

(b) For an employee hired on or after July 1, 2003, the retirement system's contribution toward the premium required to provide hospital and medical benefits under this section shall be paid as follows:

1. For a retired member, the maximum monthly contribution shall be two hundred dollars ($200), effective July 1, 2003. The maximum monthly contribution shall be adjusted annually on July 1 of each year thereafter to reflect the percent change in the annual average consumer price index.

a. Where the recipient is a retired former member of one (1) or more of the three (3) retirement systems and had twenty-five (25) or more years of service upon retirement, the retired member shall be entitled to the maximum monthly contribution if the recipient agrees to pay the difference in the cost of his or her insurance selection and the maximum monthly contribution by payroll deduction or otherwise.

b. If the recipient had less than twenty-five (25) years but twenty (20) or more years, a monthly contribution of one hundred sixty dollars ($160) shall be paid from the insurance fund if the recipient agrees to pay the difference in the cost of his or her insurance selection by payroll deductions from his or her retirement allowance or by another method.

c. If the recipient had less than twenty (20) years but fifteen (15) or more years, a monthly contribution of one hundred twenty dollars ($120) shall be paid from the insurance fund if the recipient agrees to pay the difference in the cost of his or her insurance selection by payroll deductions from his or her retirement allowance or by another method.

d. If the recipient had less than fifteen (15) years but ten (10) or more years, a monthly contribution of eighty dollars ($80) shall be paid from the insurance fund if the recipient agrees to pay the difference in the cost of his or her insurance selection by payroll deductions from his or her retirement allowance or by another method.

e. If the recipient had less than ten (10) years but four (4) or more years, a monthly contribution of forty dollars ($40) shall be paid from the insurance fund if the recipient agrees to pay the difference in the cost of his or her insurance selection by payroll deductions from his or her retirement allowance or by another method.

f. If the recipient had less than four (4) years of service, the recipient shall not be entitled to a monthly contribution by the retirement system.

2. If an employee is awarded disability benefits due to an injury in the line of duty as defined in KRS 16.505(19), or due to a duty-related injury as described in KRS 61.621, he or she shall receive the maximum monthly contribution from the insurance fund.

3. An employee who is killed in the line of duty as defined in KRS 16.505(19), or who dies as a result of a duty-related injury as described in KRS 61.621, shall have the maximum monthly contribution for the beneficiary, if the beneficiary is the member's spouse, and for each dependent child paid so long as they individually remain eligible for a monthly retirement benefit.

4. As used in this paragraph, "years of service" means the total years of combined service used to determine benefits under any or all of the three (3) retirement systems, except that service added to determine disability shall not be counted.

(c) For a member electing insurance coverage through the Kentucky Retirement Systems, "months of service" shall include, in addition to service as described in paragraphs[paragraph] (a) and (b) of this subsection, service credit in one of the other state-administered retirement plans.

1. Effective August 1, 1998, the Kentucky Retirement Systems shall compute the member's combined service, including service credit in another state-administered retirement plan, and calculate the portion of the member's premium to be paid by the insurance fund, according to the criteria established in paragraphs[paragraph] (a) and (b) of this subsection. Each state-administered retirement plan annually shall pay to the insurance fund the percentage of the system's cost of the retiree's monthly contribution for single coverage for hospital and medical insurance which shall be equal to the percentage of the member's number of months of service in the other state-administered retirement plan divided by his total combined service. The amounts paid by the other state-administered retirement plans and the insurance fund shall not be more than one hundred percent (100%) of the monthly contribution adopted by the respective boards of trustees.

2. A member may not elect coverage for hospital and medical benefits under this subsection through more than one (1) of the state-administered retirement plans.

3. A state-administered retirement plan shall not pay any portion of a member's monthly contribution for medical insurance unless the member is a recipient or annuitant of the plan.

(4) (a) Group rates under the hospital and medical insurance plan shall be made available to the spouse, dependents, and disabled children, regardless of the disabled child's age, of a recipient who is a former member or the beneficiary, if the premium for the spouse, dependent, disabled child, or beneficiary hospital and medical insurance is paid by payroll deduction from the retirement allowance or by another method. A child shall be considered disabled if he has been determined to be eligible for federal Social Security disability benefits.

(b) For persons hired before July 1, 2003, the other provisions of this section notwithstanding, the insurance fund shall pay a percentage of the monthly contribution for the spouse and dependents of a recipient who was a member of the General Assembly and is receiving a retirement allowance based on General Assembly service, of the Kentucky Employees Retirement System and determined to be in a hazardous position, of the County Employees Retirement System, and determined to be in a hazardous position or of the State Police Retirement System, or the beneficiary of the member, if the member designated only one (1) person as beneficiary. The percentage of the monthly contribution paid for the spouse and dependents of a recipient who was in a hazardous position shall be based solely on the member's service with the State Police Retirement System or service in a hazardous position using the formula in subsection (3)(a) of this section, except that for any recipient of a retirement allowance from the County Employees Retirement System who was contributing to the system on January 1, 1998, for service in a hazardous position, the percentage of the monthly contribution shall be based on the total of hazardous service and any nonhazardous service as a police or firefighter with the same agency, if that agency was participating in the County Employees Retirement System but did not offer hazardous duty coverage for its police and firefighters at the time of initial participation.

(c) The insurance fund shall continue the same level of coverage for a recipient who was a member of the County Employees Retirement System after the age of sixty-five (65) as before the age of sixty-five (65), if the recipient is not eligible for Medicare coverage. If the insurance fund provides coverage for the spouse or dependents or beneficiary of a former member of the County Employees Retirement System, the insurance fund shall continue the same level of coverage for the spouse or dependent or beneficiary after the age of sixty-five (65) as before the age of sixty-five (65), if the spouse or dependent or beneficiary is not eligible for Medicare coverage.

(5) After July 1, 1998, notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, a member who holds a judicial office but did not elect to participate in the Judicial Retirement Plan and is participating instead in the Kentucky Employees Retirement System, the County Employees Retirement System, or the State Police Retirement System, as provided in KRS 61.680, and who has at least twenty (20) years of total service, one-half (1/2) of which is in a judicial office, shall receive the same hospital and medical insurance benefits, including paid benefits for spouse and dependents, as provided to persons retiring under the provisions of KRS 21.427. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall pay the cost of the medical insurance benefits provided by this subsection.

(6) Premiums paid for hospital and medical insurance coverage procured under authority of this section shall be exempt from any premium tax which might otherwise be required under KRS Chapter 136. The payment of premiums by the insurance fund shall not constitute taxable income to an insured recipient. No commission shall be paid for hospital and medical insurance procured under authority of this section.

(7) The board shall promulgate an administrative regulation to establish a medical insurance reimbursement plan to provide reimbursement for hospital and medical insurance premiums of recipients of a retirement allowance who are not eligible for the same level of hospital and medical benefits as recipients living in Kentucky and having the same Medicare hospital and medical insurance eligibility status. An eligible recipient shall file proof of payment for hospital and medical insurance at the retirement office. Reimbursement to eligible recipients shall be made on a quarterly basis. The recipient shall be eligible for reimbursement of substantiated medical insurance premiums for an amount not to exceed the total monthly premium determined under subsection (3) of this section. The plan shall not be made available if all recipients are eligible for the same coverage as recipients living in Kentucky.