SECTIONS 22920-22939 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 22920-22939

22920. The following entities are eligible to become subject to
this part:
(a) A contracting agency, as defined in Section 20022, a county or
special district subject to the County Employees Retirement Law of
1937 (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 31450) of Part 3 of Division
4 of Title 3), and a school employer.
(b) A public body or agency of or within the state that is not
subject to Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of the Government
Code or the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 31450) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 3),
and that provides a retirement system for its employees funded wholly
or in part by public funds.
(c) The protection and advocacy agency described in subdivision
(h) of Section 4900 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, if the
agency obtains a written advisory opinion from the United States
Department of Labor stating that the organization is an agency or
instrumentality of the state or a political subdivision thereof
within the meaning of Chapter 18 (commencing with Section 1001) of
Title 29 of the United States Code.

22922. (a) A contracting agency and its employees and annuitants
shall be subject to this part upon filing with the board a resolution
of its governing body electing to be so subject. The resolution
shall be adopted by a majority vote and shall be effective at the
time provided in board regulations.
(b) A contracting agency may become subject to this part with
respect to a recognized employee organization. The resolution filed
with respect to a contracting agency pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall specify the recognized employee organizations to which the
resolution applies.
(c) Pursuant to Section 22796 and subdivision (g) of Section
22934, the board may by regulation require any contracting agency
that elects to become subject to this part to meet certain
board-determined criteria, including, but not limited to, additional
requirements for any contracting agency that elects to become subject
to this part that previously terminated coverage pursuant to Section
22938.

22927. Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, a
contracting agency that is a city and county shall be subject to this
part only with respect to employees who upon entering city and
county employment from state employment had an option under state
statutes to continue enrollment under this part.

22928. When a hospital becomes a contracting agency pursuant to
subdivision (p) of Section 20057, its employees shall be deemed city
employees for purposes of this part until the hospital enacts its own
resolution or acts officially to terminate its participation under
this part.

22930. If the board administers a specialized health benefit plan,
it may offer coverage in the specialized health benefit plan to a
contracting agency that also provides coverage for its employees in a
health benefit plan under this part.

22931. Annuitants that receive benefits under this part and are
former certificated employees that retired from a school employer,
including the spouses and surviving spouses, are not subject to
Article 1 (commencing with Section 7000) of Chapter 1 of Part 5 of
Division 1 of the Education Code. The school employer is also not
subject to Article 1 (commencing with Section 7000) of Chapter 1 of
Part 5 of Division 1 of the Education Code with respect to those
annuitants.

22932. A contracting agency shall perform the functions necessary
to enroll its employees and submit reports as may be required by the
board. A county superintendent of schools shall have the
responsibility of providing all information concerning the school
districts within his or her jurisdiction to the board.

22934. (a) A contracting agency that has elected to be subject to
this part may not maintain any other health benefit plan or program
offering hospital and medical care for its employees.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a plan operating on July 1,
2002, shall be permitted to continue as long as it meets the
requirements of subdivision (e). A material change in the plan,
including a change in carriers, shall be permitted. Notwithstanding
any other provision of this part, a contracting agency may include a
dependent of an employee or retiree who is not eligible for coverage
as a family member or a domestic partner, as provided in this part,
if the employee or retiree is also enrolled in the alternative plan.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a self-insured plan operating
on January 1, 2003, shall be permitted to continue as long as it
meets the requirements of subdivision (e). The board may extend the
deadline contained in this subdivision for good cause.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an alternative plan
established by a contracting agency and approved by the board after
July 1, 2002, shall be permitted to continue until December 31, 2004.
The plan may only be offered in an area in which there is no
board-approved health maintenance organization or exclusive provider
organization plan available for enrollment, or there is only one
board-approved health maintenance organization plan available for
enrollment, and that plan has less than 55 percent of the primary
care physicians in its provider network available for new patients.
The contracting agency shall reimburse the board for reasonable
administrative expenses incurred as a result of enrollment activities
outside of the system's open enrollment period caused by the
creation or termination of a plan offered pursuant to this
subdivision. A contracting agency providing a plan pursuant to this
subdivision shall notify the board by June 1, 2004, of its intent to
either terminate that plan or to terminate its participation under
this part as of January 1, 2005. On or after June 1, 2004, the board
may extend the termination date contained in this subdivision for a
contracting agency at its discretion, based on compelling
circumstances in the region in which the contracting agency is
located.
(e) A plan maintained pursuant to this section shall meet and
maintain the minimum standards for approved health benefit plans
prescribed by the board pursuant to the requirements of this part.
(f) An election of a contracting agency to be subject to this part
is not effective prior to the termination of any health benefit plan
maintained in violation of this section. The establishment of any
plan thereafter in violation of this section shall terminate
participation of the agency and all of its employees under this part
as of the end of the contract year.
(g) Nothing in this part may be construed to prohibit a
contracting agency from offering health plans, including collectively
bargained union health and welfare trust plans, to employees and
annuitants of employee groups, including collective bargaining units,
if the contracting agency has not elected to provide coverage for
that group under this part.

22937. A contracting agency may elect, by amending its contract
with the board, to participate in a Medicare reimbursement program
for its employees, annuitants, or family members who are enrolled in
a Medicare health benefit plan under this part, as prescribed by
board regulations.

22938. A contracting agency that has elected to be subject to this
part may elect to cease to be so subject by resolution adopted by a
majority vote of its governing body and filed with the board on or
before the deadline provided in board regulations, to be effective at
the end of the current contract year. Coverage of employees and
annuitants of the contracting agency shall also terminate at the end
of the current contract year.

22939. The board may terminate the participation of a contracting
agency if it fails for three months after a demand to perform any act
required by this part or by board rules or regulations.