Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act: employer contributions.

Existing law requires the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System to administer the Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act. Existing law permits a contracting agency to elect to be subject to the act for its employees and annuitants, provided that the contracting agency and each employee or annuitant contribute a portion of the cost of providing the benefit coverage afforded under the health benefit plan approved or maintained by the board in which the employee or annuitant may be enrolled. Existing law specifies that the employer contribution of a contracting agency begins on the effective date of enrollment and is the amount fixed from time to time by resolution of the governing body of the agency. The resolution is required to be filed with the board and the contribution amount shall be effective on the first day of the second month following the month in which the resolution is received by the system. Existing law provides an optional vesting schedule, for contracting agencies, that links the employer contribution, as specified, to percentages associated with an employee's credited years of service. Under this formulation, the employer contribution for the contracting agency reaches 100% of a specified amount when the employee attains 20 years of credited service, with certain exceptions. This bill would require the employer contribution for postretirement health benefit coverage for an annuitant of the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority who is first hired on or after November 1, 2004, to be based on percentages associated with the annuitant's credited years of service. Under this formulation, the employer contribution for the contracting agency would reach 100% of a specified amount if the annuitant attained 15 years of credited service, with certain exceptions. The bill would define credited service and would require that at least 5 years of credited service to have been performed with the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority. The bill would require that employer to provide any information requested by the board that the board deems necessary to implement the section. The bill would except from the formulation described above annuitants who have retired for disability. The bill would also except annuitants who have 15 or more years of service entirely with the authority and would require the board to establish application procedures and eligibility criteria to implement this provision.