New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 17 - TREASURY - GENERAL › Chapter 6 - DEFINED CONTRIBUTION RETIREMENT PROGRAM › Subchapter 18 - DEFINED CONTRIBUTION RETIREMENT PROGRAM GROUP DISABILITY BENEFIT PLAN › Section 17:6-18.1 - Benefit

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The Group Disability Benefit Plan shall
				provide disability benefit coverage under a group policy or policies issued by
				one or more insurance company providers as shall be selected from time to time
				by the Treasurer. The benefit shall provide a monthly income if the participant
				becomes totally disabled (within the meaning of
				N.J.A.C.
				17:6-18.3) from occupational or
				non-occupational causes for a period of at least six consecutive months
				following the effective date of the coverage. The monthly disability benefit
				may be paid by the insurance company so long as the participant remains
				disabled up to the participant's 70th birthday. The benefit shall terminate
				when the participant is no longer considered totally disabled or begins to
				receive his or her benefit under the Retirement Plan.
(b) A participant shall be deemed to be in
				service and covered by the Group Disability Benefit Plan for a period of no
				more than six months while on official leave of absence without pay if
				satisfactory evidence is presented to the Plan Administrator that such leave of
				absence without pay is due to illness and that the participant was not actively
				engaged in any gainful occupation during such period of leave of absence
				without pay.
(c) Disability benefit
				insurance provisions of the group policy or policies shall not cover disability
				resulting from or contributed to by pregnancy, act of war, intentionally
				self-inflicted injury, or attempted suicide whether or not sane. For purposes
				of such disability benefit coverage, the participant shall not be considered to
				be disabled while the participant is imprisoned or while outside the United
				States and its territories or possessions.
(d) If the participant has recovered from the
				total disability for which the participant had received benefits and again
				becomes totally disabled while insured, the later disability shall be regarded
				as a continuation of the prior one unless the participant has returned to
				full-time covered employment for at least six months. If the later absence is
				due to an unrelated cause and the participant had returned to full-time work,
				it shall be considered a new disability. The disability benefit insurance
				cannot be converted to an individual policy.
(e) No participant shall be covered by the
				disability benefit provision of the group policy or policies except upon the
				completion of one year of full-time continuous employment in a position
				eligible for participation in the Program. For an eligible employee who is a
				participant pursuant to
				17:6-4.1(a)5,
				completion of one year of full-time continuous employment in a position
				eligible for membership in the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund, Police and
				Firemen's Retirement System, State Police Retirement System, or the Public
				Employees' Retirement System shall also be considered in determining if the
				participant met the requirements of this subsection.