§87A-40  Employee-beneficiary contributions; health benefit plans.  (a)  Each employee-beneficiary shall make a monthly contribution to the fund amounting to the difference between the monthly charge of the health benefits plan selected by the employee-beneficiary and the contribution made by the State or county for the employee-beneficiary to the fund.  Nothing in this section shall prohibit any employee-beneficiary from participating in a cafeteria plan authorized under Title 26 United States Code section 125, Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and section 78-30.

     (b)  Except as provided in subsection (c), during the period the health benefits plan selected by an employee-beneficiary is in effect, the employee-beneficiary, if allowed by law, shall authorize the employee-beneficiary's contribution to be withheld and transmitted to the fund monthly by the comptroller, employees' retirement system, or finance officer who disburses the employee-beneficiary's compensation, pension, or retirement pay.  If an employee-beneficiary's contribution to the fund is not withheld and transmitted to the fund, the employee-beneficiary shall pay the monthly contribution directly to the fund by the first day of each month.

     (c)  Each employee-beneficiary who retires after June 30, 2020, and each surviving spouse or surviving child who enrolls in a health plan offered by the fund as an employee-beneficiary after June 30, 2020, shall authorize their contribution to the fund to be electronically withheld or deducted and transmitted to the fund monthly by the employees' retirement system or the financial institution of the retirant or retirant's surviving beneficiary.  This method may be waived by the fund if another method is determined to be more appropriate.  If the contribution by the retirant or the retirant's surviving beneficiary is not electronically withheld, deducted, or transmitted to the fund, the retirant or the retirant's surviving beneficiary shall pay their monthly contribution directly to the fund by the first day of each month.

     (d)  Notwithstanding subsection (a), an employee-beneficiary's monthly contribution to the fund shall include the amount that would have been the employee-beneficiary's contribution if the employee-beneficiary had not elected to participate in the cafeteria plan. [L 2001, c 88, pt of §1; am L 2020, c 62, §2]