805 CMR 8.03 - Eligibility, Conditions of Participation
(1) To be eligible for Health Coverage,
persons affiliated with Municipal Employers must be Employees, Retirees,
Survivors, or Dependents, as those terms are defined in
805 CMR 1.02:
Definitions.
(2)
For the purposes of implementing M.G.L. c. 32B, §§ 19 and 23, the
Commission interprets M.G.L. c. 32B, §§ 19(a) and (e) and 23(h) to
mean that eligibility for Health Coverage in political subdivisions that have
transferred subscribers to the Commission pursuant to M.G.L. c. 32B, § 19
or 23 remains subject to M.G.L. c. 32B. However, for those political
subdivisions, the Commission is the sole determinant of who is eligible for
Health Coverage. The Commission interprets eligibility under M.G.L. c. 32B to
be the same as eligibility under M.G.L. c. 32A, except where there is a clear
distinction between the two chapters. Therefore:
(a) Consistent with
805
CMR 9.08: Employees and Municipal
Insureds not Entitled to Receive a Pension or Retirement Allowance and
805 CMR 1.02:
Employee and Retiree, the
employees and retirees of a city, town, regional school district, or any other
statutorily authorized district shall not be eligible for Commission coverage
unless they are members of a Massachusetts public sector retirement system, are
receiving a pension from a public retirement system, or are Survivors of
Municipal Employees or Retirees (OBRA is not such a public retirement system
for this purpose).
(b) Municipal
Employees, except elected officials or others as expressly exempted by law,
must meet the requirement of a Regular Work Week, as defined in
805 CMR 1.02:
Definitions. For the purposes of M.G.L. c. 32B, §§
19 and 23, the reference to "20 hours" in M.G.L. c. 32B, § 2, "Employee"
means 20 hours out of a regular work week of 40 hours, or 18.75 hours out of a
regular work week of 37.5 hours.
(3) The following individuals are Municipal
Employees:
(a) Elected officials, without
regard to hours worked or to participation in a pension system, are Municipal
Employees at local option, consistent with
805 CMR 9.02:
Elected Officials and M.G.L. c. 32B, § 2,
"Employee".
(b) Members of call
fire departments or other emergency services, without regard to hours worked,
are Municipal Employees at local option, consistent with M.G.L. c. 32B, §
2, "Employee".
(c) Public school
employees are deemed to be Employees during the months of July and August
following the school year, without regard to hours worked or to method of
payment pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71, § 40 and eligible for coverage if
employee contributions for health insurance for those two months are deducted
from the compensation paid for services rendered during the previous school
year consistent with M.G.L. c. 32B, § 2.
(d) Traffic supervisors, without regard to
hours worked, are Municipal Employees at local option, consistent with M.G.L.
c. 32B, § 2A.
(e) Reserve,
permanent-intermittent, and call firefighters, without regard to hours worked,
are Municipal Employees and, upon retirement, Municipal Retirees, at local
option, consistent with M.G.L. c. 32B, § 2B.
(4) The Commission shall determine the
effective date for all matters pertaining to Municipal Insureds' Health
Coverage, including but not limited to their eligibility, effective dates of
coverage, termination, and status changes. The Commission determines whether
persons are eligible for Commission coverage as Municipal Insureds according to
M.G.L. c. 32A and c. 32B, and its eligibility decisions are final and binding.
Prior coverage through a Municipal Employer does not guarantee Commission
coverage.
(5) Municipal Employers
that do not meet the Commission's required deadlines during the implementation
period may, at the Commission's sole discretion, have their coverage effective
date pended until such time as the Commission can determine an appropriate
date.
(6) The Municipal Employer
shall submit all eligibility and enrollment information requested by the
Commission, including census data in a format specified by the Commission,
along with documentation that the Commission deems necessary to determine
eligibility.
(7) A Municipal
Employer's authorized individual shall certify the accuracy of the eligibility
information and shall submit the certification, signed under the pains and
penalties of perjury, with the eligibility data for the Commission's review and
decision. No persons shall be enrolled in Commission coverage without the prior
approval of the Commission.
(8)
Surviving Spouses of Municipal Employees and Municipal Retirees are eligible
for Commission coverage, subject to the provisions of
805 CMR 9.09:
Surviving Spouse. Health Coverage for Municipal Employees' and
Retirees' surviving spouses ends upon the surviving spouse's
remarriage.
(9) Municipal Insureds
and their eligible dependents shall be eligible for Health Coverage and shall
be subject to the same Health Coverage terms, conditions, carriers, schedules,
benefits and benefit levels as those provided to State Employees, Retirees,
Survivors, and their Dependents in the pool.
(10) The Commission may audit Municipal
Employers for compliance with the Commission's policies and procedures for
maintaining Municipal Insureds' Health Coverage.
(11) If they are eligible for Medicare Part A
for free, Municipal Retirees, their covered spouses, and Municipal Surviving
Spouses are required to enroll in Medicare Parts A and B in order to receive
health coverage through the Commission. They must enroll during Medicare's next
annual enrollment period. Municipal Employers shall be required to notify all
retirees of this obligation and of the next Medicare open enrollment period.
The Municipal Employer shall pay any new late entry penalties for its
Medicare-eligible Insureds who were required to join Medicare as a condition of
transfer to Health Coverage. The Commission shall not pay for or reimburse any
Part B premium. Municipal Employers shall reimburse retirees for penalties
incurred by their Medicare eligible insureds who are required to join Medicare
upon transferring to Commission coverage. A Municipal Employer is not required
to reimburse retirees for late enrollment penalties if the retiree did not
enroll in Medicare when required.
(12) Upon the Municipal Insureds' Coverage
effective date and for the duration of their Health Coverage, the Insureds
shall not receive health coverage pursuant to M.G.L. c. 150E, M.G.L. c. 32B or
any other arrangement with the Municipal Employer.
(13) The Municipal Employer shall perform all
administrative functions and shall process and provide all information that the
Commission deems is necessary to administer its Insureds' Health Coverage,
including monthly billing reconciliation.
(a)
The Municipal Employer and its Insureds, as the case may be, shall furnish all
information necessary to maintain its Insureds' Health Coverage in such form,
content and frequency as the Commission determines, including but not limited
to monthly reconciliation of the Commission's monthly billing file.
(b) The Municipal Employer shall gather
eligibility information for enrollment and status changes, and forward a copy
of all such documentation to the Commission with each application. Any
necessary translation shall be at the applicant's or Municipal Employer's
expense.
(14) Municipal
Insureds who terminate employment while in good premium payment standing and
begin employment with benefits with the same or another Employer before
Commission coverage under the prior Municipal Employer ends, shall continue to
be insured without a break in existing coverage and must remain in the health
plan they enrolled in with the first Municipal Employer consistent with
805 CMR
9.19(1). Such Municipal
Insureds who begin employment with benefits with the same or another Employer
after Commission coverage under their prior Municipal Employer has ended shall
be subject to
805 CMR
9.19(2).
(15) The Commission is not subject to the
provisions of M.G.L. c. 30A.
(16)
Prior to the effective date of transfer to the Commission's health coverage,
the Municipal Employer shall distribute enrollment materials, as provided by
the Commission, for health coverage enrollment to all prospective Insureds,
including those who currently are not enrolled in the said Municipal Employer's
health coverage. The Municipal Employer's Insureds shall be offered the same
health plan choices offered to state Insureds who reside in the same geographic
area.
(17) Coverage ends on the
last day of the calendar month following the month that an employee leaves the
service of his or her original Municipal Employer. Premiums shall be collected
for that last month by the Municipal Employer.
(18) If a former Spouse is eligible under the
terms of a divorce decree and enrolled under the insured's family plan,
coverage for the former Spouse under the insured's family plan will end upon
the remarriage of either the Insured or Spouse. The former Spouse may be
eligible for a divorced Spouse rider or COBRA coverage as determined by the
Commission depending upon the language in the divorce
decree.
Notes
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