KRS § 79.080 — KY Code / Title IX / Chapter 79 / Section 79.080
79.080 Retirement, disability, health maintenance organization coverage, or hospitalization benefits for employees and elected officers -- Participation in state health insurance coverage program for state employees -- Termination of participation -- Coverage provided in County Employees Retirement System after August 1, 1988
Status: in_force

79.080 Retirement, disability, health maintenance organization coverage, or

hospitalization benefits for employees and elected officers -- Participation in

state health insurance coverage program for state employees -- Termination of

participation -- Coverage provided in County Employees Retirement System

after August 1, 1988.

(1) The term "health maintenance organization" for the purposes of this section, means

a health maintenance organization as defined in KRS 304.38-030, which has been

issued a certificate of authority by the Department of Insurance as a health

maintenance organization and which is qualified under the requirements of the

United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, except as provided in

subsection (4) of this section.

(2) Cities of all classes, counties, and urban-county governments and the agencies of

cities, counties, charter county, and urban-county governments are authorized to

establish and operate plans for the payment of retirement, disability, health

maintenance organization coverage, or hospitalization benefits to their employees

and elected officers, and health maintenance organization coverage or

hospitalization benefits to the immediate families of their employees and elected

officers. The plan may require employees to pay a percentage of their salaries into a

fund from which coverage or benefits are paid, or the city, county, charter county,

urban-county government, or agency may pay out of its own funds the entire cost of

the coverage or benefits. A plan may include a combination of contributions by

employees and elected officers and by the city, county, charter county, urban-county

government, or agency into a fund from which coverage or benefits are paid, or it

may take any form desired by the city, county, charter county, urban-county

government, or agency. Each city, county, charter county, urban-county

government, or agency may make rules and regulations and do all other things

necessary in the establishment and operation of the plan.

(3) Cities of all classes, counties, charter counties, urban-county governments, the

agencies of cities, counties, charter counties, and urban-county governments, and all

other political subdivisions of the state may provide disability, hospitalization, or

other health or medical care coverage to their officers and employees, including

their elected officers, through independent or cooperative self-insurance programs

and may cooperatively purchase the coverages.

(4) Any city, county, charter county, or urban-county government which is a

contributing member to any one (1) of the retirement systems administered by the

state may participate in the state health insurance coverage program for state

employees as defined in KRS 18A.225 to 18A.229. Should any city, county, charter

county, or urban-county government opt at any time to participate in the state health

insurance coverage program, it shall do so for a minimum of three (3) consecutive

years. If after the three (3) year participation period, the city, county, charter county,

or urban-county government chooses to terminate participation in the state health

insurance coverage program, it will be excluded from further participation for a

period of three (3) consecutive years. If a city, county, charter county, or urban-

county government, or one (1) of its agencies, terminates participation of its active

employees in the state health insurance coverage program and there is a state

appropriation for the employer's contribution for active employees' health insurance

coverage, neither the unit of government, or its agency, nor the employees shall

receive the state-funded contribution after termination from the state employee

health insurance program. The three (3) year participation and exclusion cycles shall

take effect each time a city, county, charter county, or urban-county government

changes its participation status.

(5) Any city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or other political

subdivision of the state which employs more than twenty-five (25) persons and

which provides hospitalization benefits or health maintenance organization

coverage to its employees and elected officers, shall annually give its employees an

option to elect either standard hospitalization benefits or membership in a qualified

health maintenance organization which is engaged in providing basic health

services in a health maintenance service area in which at least twenty-five (25) of

the employees reside; except that if any city, county, charter county, urban-county

government, or agencies of any city, county, charter county, urban-county

government, or any other political subdivision of the state which does not have a

qualified health maintenance organization engaged in providing basic health

services in a health maintenance service area in which at least twenty-five (25) of

the employees reside, the city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or

agencies of the city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or any other

political subdivision of the state may annually give its employees an option to elect

either standard hospitalization benefits or membership in a health maintenance

organization which has been issued a certificate of authority by the Department of

Insurance as a health maintenance organization and which is engaged in providing

basic health services in a health maintenance service area in which at least twenty-

five (25) of the employees reside. Any premium due for health maintenance

organization coverage over the amount contributed by the city, county, charter

county, urban-county government, or other political subdivision of the state which

employs more than twenty-five (25) persons for any other hospitalization benefit

shall be paid by the employee.

(6) If an employee moves his place of residence or employment out of the service area

of a health maintenance organization, under which he has elected coverage, into

either the service area of another health maintenance organization or into an area of

the state not within a health maintenance organization service area, the employee

shall be given an option, at the time of the move or transfer, to elect coverage either

by the health maintenance organization into which service area he moves or is

transferred or to elect standard hospitalization coverage offered by the employer.

(7) Any plan adopted shall provide that any officer or member of a paid fire or police

department who has completed five (5) years or more as a member of the

department, but who is unable to perform his duties by reason of heart disease or

any disease of the lungs or respiratory tract, is presumed to have contracted his

disease while on active duty as a result of strain or the inhalation of noxious fumes,

poison or gases, and shall be retired by the pension board under terms of the

pension system of which he is a member, if the member passed an entrance physical

examination and was found to be in good health as required.

(8) The term "agency" as used herein shall include boards appointed to operate

waterworks, electric plants, hospitals, airports, housing projects, golf courses, parks,

health departments, or any other public project.

(9) After August 1, 1988, except as permitted by KRS 65.156, no new retirement plan

shall be created pursuant to this section, and cities which were covered by this

section on or prior to August 1, 1988, shall participate in the County Employees

Retirement System effective August 1, 1988. Any city, county, charter county,

urban-county, or agency thereof which provided a retirement plan for its employees,

pursuant to this section, on or prior to August 1, 1988, shall place employees hired

after August 1, 1988, in the County Employees Retirement System. The city,

county, charter county, urban-county, or agency thereof shall offer employees hired

on or prior to August 1, 1988, membership in the County Employees Retirement

System under the alternate participation plan as described in KRS 78.530(3), but

such employees may elect to retain coverage under this section.