Gen. 149 149

1 The full t

ext of SPP §2-5 08(b)(1 ) is as follows: Aretiree may enroll a nd parti cip ate in the health insurance benefit options established under the Prog ram if the retiree : (i) ended

State servicewith at le ast

10 years of credita bleserviceand within 5 years be fore the age at which a vested

retirement

allowanc e would normally begin; (ii) ended

State service with at least sixteen years of creditable service; (continued...) RETI REMENT SY ST EMS C OURTS AND J UDGES

) P ERSONNE L

) E LIGI BILI TY OF M ASTERS FOR S TATE H EALTH I NSURANCE B ENEFITS April 16, 1997 The Honorable James P. Casey Master for J

uvenile Causes You have req uested ou r opinion w hether retired m asters who are mem bers of the Ju dges’ R etirement System a re eligible for h ealth insurance benefit s underthe S tate Em ployee a nd R etiree H ealth and We lfare Benefits Program est ablis hed by Ti tle 2, Subtit le 5 of th e State Personn el and Pe nsions (“SP P”) A rticle, Maryland Co de. In our opi nio n, th ey are . I

Curren t St atut ory Text Certa in indivi duals ar e authori zed bySPP §2-5 08(b ) to “en roll and particip ate in th e hea lth in surance bene fit options establis hed underthe [State Employ ee and Retiree H ealth and W elfare Benefits] Program

... .” To qualify, an indi vidual must be a “retiree” and must me et the oth er cr iteria in S PP §2- 508 (b)(1 ). For example, aretiree is eligible if

the retire e “en ded S tate serv ice w ith at le ast 16 year s of creditable service.” S PP §2 -508(b)(1)(ii). 1150 [82 O p. Att’y

1 (...continued)

(iii) ended

Stateservice on or

before June 30, 1984; (iv) retired

directly from

Stateservice with a S tatere ti re me nt al lo wa nc e o n o r a ft erJu ly 1 , 1984, an d had at le ast 5 y ears of credita ble service; or (v) retired

directly from

Stateservice with a Statedi sab ility retirement allowanc e on or after July 1, 1984. Your letter

indicates that s ome retired m asters who are mem bers of the Judges ’ Retir ement Sys tem would meet the criter ia relat ed to “Stat e servi ce” and “creditabl e se rvice.” The term “cred itable servi ce” includes “service while a member of the Judges’ Retire ment System ....” SPP §2-5 08(a )(2)(ii ). Th e term “State servi ce” include s “servi ce with the State by . .. a mem b er of the Judges’ Retire ment Sys tem ....” SPP §2-508(a)( 4)(i i). The mem bersh ip of the Judges’ Ret irement Syst em includes “a mas ter in chance ryor a master

in ju ven ile ca use s w ho ... w as a ppo inted

... on or before June 30 , 1989" and “s erves fullti me as a mas ter .” SPP §27-20 1(a)(3). The only am bigu ity about th e ma sters’ elig ibility for State health insura nce is wh ether th ey are “re tirees.” In releva nt part, the defini tionof “ reti ree” is “a former State employee who receives a retirementallowance under Divisi on II of t

his articl e.” SP P §2- 508(a)( 3)(i )1. SPP Division I I includes Titl e 27. Thus, a mast er who qualif

ies as a member of the Judges ’ Retir ement Sys tem under SPP Titl e 27 “recei ves a retirement al lowance underDivisi on II of this arti cle. ” The questi on, the n, is whether a mast er is “a former State employe e.” The term “for mer State employe e” is not defined. II Evo lution of the Statute The predecess or of SPP §2-508 was en acted as pa rt of Chapter 290 of th e Laws of Maryland 1984. The 1984 legis lati on, codi fied in for me r Art icle 64A, §48B, allowed mo st pension beneficiari es, “as defined in Art icl[ e] 73 B,” to “partic ipate ... in the State Employees Health Ins urance Progr am provided t hatthe beneficiary

... retired from State servi ce with a St ate re tir ement all owance fromGen. 149 151

2 Other eligibility

criteri a were termination from

State ser vice with 16 years or

more of creditable service; terminat ion from Sta

te service prior to July 1 , 1984; and termination f rom State service with ten years of credita blese rv ic e w it hi n f

iv e ye ars of

normal retirement age. Forme r Article 64A, §48B(b)(2), (3) and (4)

. July 1, 1984" and “had at lea st 5 y ears of St ate ser vice. ” Former Article 64A, §48B(b). The t erm “Stat e servi ce” was defined t o mean “servi ce with the S tate as an e mp loyee , judge , te acher, or correctional officer as defined in Article 73B , §§1 (3), 55(f) , 81(3), 111(4), 140(4), and 156(a), and Articl e 88B, §49(3). ” When Chapter 290 was enacted, the te rm “judge, ” as defined in form er A rticle 73B , §55( f), inclu ded “ any ma ster in chancery or master in juveni le cause s appoint ed in any co unty by the circuit court for that county and who serves on a

full- time basi s as a m aste r ....” Therefore, these mast ers were engaged in “State servi ce” as that term was d efine d in former Article 64A, §48B(a), and, aft er becoming pension “bene fici aries ” with at least fi ve y ears o f State serv ice, a lso b eca me eligi ble for S tate h ealth insu ran ce b ene fits. The next y ear, in Chapter745 of the Laws of Maryland 1985, the General Assembly

alte red the e ligibili ty

cr i teri a under former Article 64A, §48B. Chapter 745 r etai ned the pri or defini tion of “State servic e” bu t al so m or e f ul ly d ef in ed th e te rm “b en ef

ici ar y” and intr oduced the concept of “credi table servi ce.” So, for example, a “benefici ary ” was made eligible for Sta te hea lth insu rance bene fits if the beneficiary “retire d directly fro m S tate serv ice w ith a Sta te retirementallowance fr om July1, 1984" and “had at l east 5 y ears of credita ble s e rvice.” Form er Article 64A , §48B (b)(1). 2 As n ew ly defined, the te rm “ ben efic iary” in clud ed a “jud ge .. . recei ving a retirementallowance und er th e pr ovi sion s of Ar ticle 7 3B ....” §48B (a)(1). The term “ credita ble ser vice” wa s def ined a s, in relev ant p art, “s erv ice a s a ju dge .” §4 8B (a)(2 )(ii). The term “j udge ” was not define d separat ely for purpose s of §48 B. In our vi ew, the Legis latur e inte nded that the defi niti on of “judge” in the p ensio n law wo uld carry over to t his sec tion as we ll. “It is pre sumed that the Ge neral A ssem bly acted wit h full knowle dge of prior legis lati on and inte nded stat utes t hataffect t

he same subject matter to blend into a consi stent and harmonious body

of law.” State v. Bricker , 321 Md. 86, 93, 581 A.2d 9 (1990). Indeed, t he152 [82 O p. Att’y

3 We were not asked to address the eligibility of other masters fo r State health insurance benefits. We express no view on that question.

4 The 1993 recodification place d provisions rega rding he alth benefits, including the retirees’ health insurance law, in SPP Title 8, Sub title 1 . Chapter

347 of the

Law s of Mary

land 1996moved the se provisions into SPP Title 2, Subtitle 5. unchanged defini tion of “ State s ervice ,” with its referenc e to the defini tionof “judge” i n Ar ticl e 73B, §55(f), made this us age explic it. Because, for

pension pur

poses, the te rm “judge” i ncluded ful l- ti me masters , the 1985 legis lati on did not ch ange the elig ibility of r etire d m aste rs fo r Sta te he alth i nsu ran ce. In 1989, the General Assembly made a major chang e in the pensionstat

us of m aste rs. Newly appoint ed masters were no longer to be pa rt o f th e J ud ge s’ R eti re m en t S yste m . In ste ad , th ey w ere to bec ome part of t

he State Employees Pension Sy stem. Thi s poli cy was carri ed out in part by redefi ning the t erm “judge” in former Article 73B, §55 to li mit the defini tion t o those mast ers ser ving pri or to the effective dat e of the new law: “‘ Judge’ . .. includes . .. any master in chancer

y or master in juvenil e causes app ointed on or before June 30, 1989 i n any count y by the ci rcuit

cour t for t

hat county and who serves on afull- time bas is as a ma ster....” Former Article 73B , §55(h ). M asters appointed after June 3 0, 1989, w ere added to the d efinition of “e mp loyee” in §111(4)(b) andso b ecame me mb ers o f the Em plo yees P ens ion Syste m. These changes, however , did not affect t he eli gi bili ty

of masters in the Judges’ Retire ment Sys tem for Stat e healt h insurance benefits. 3 These master s were sti ll “j udges ,” for purposes of t he defini tions of “bene ficia ry,” “cred itable se rvice, ” and “Stat e servi ce” in fo rme r A rticle 64A , §48 B(a ). Subsequentrecodif

icat ion of the retirees ’ health insurance law was not int ended t o have the substantive effect of depriving these masters of the eligibility that t heyhad prior to the recodification. In Chapter10 o f the L aw s of M aryland 1 993 , the G enera l Ass emb ly enactedpro visi ons g over ning retirees’ e ligibility for S tate he alth insurance benefit s that

are subst antia lly

identi cal t o the provi sions now codifi ed at SPP §2-508. 4 The 1993 ena ctment use d the term “retiree” and defined i t exa ctly a s it now appear s inSP P §2- 508(a)(3). This defi niti on, accor ding to t he Re visor’ s Note, wasGen. 149 153

5 When the General Assembly decided to end the e ligi bility of a class of retiree s for State health insurance , it legis lated tha t result explicitly. SeeChapter 218 of the Laws of Ma ryland 1986. “new language derived without s ubstant ive change from formerArt. 64A, §48B ... .” To sum mariz e, in 19 84 m asters in the Ju dges’ Retirement Syst em who met the statutory criteria were eligible for Sta te hea lth insuranc e ben efit s. They remained el igibl e after the 1985 ame ndm ents to th e sta tute. Neither t he 1989 change in t

he pension law affecting masters nor the 1993 r ecodifi cati on of the retire es’ health in su ra nc e la w en de d t he ir e lig ib ilit y. 5 For p urposes of eligibility for Stat e healt h insurance benefit s, r etir ed mas ter s who were members of the Judge s’ Retirement Sy stem are prop erl y view ed a s “f

orm er S tate e mp loyee s” a nd t her efo re as “reti rees .”

III Conclusion In summary, it i s our opini on that masters i n the Judge s ’ Retire ment Syst em who mee t the statu tory criteria for Stat e servi ce and credit able ser

vice ar e eli gible f

or Stat e healt

h insurance benefits. J. Joseph C urran, Jr. AttorneyGeneral Jack Sch wa rtz Chief Counsel Opinions and Advic e