79.080 Retirement, disability, health maintenance organization coverage, or hospitalization benefits for employees and elected officers -- Participation in state health insurance coverage program for state employees -- Termination of participation -- Coverage provided in County Employees Retirement System after August 1, 1988. (1) The term "health maintenance organization" for the purposes of this section, means a health maintenance organization as defined in KRS 304.38-030, which has been issued a certificate of authority by the Department of Insurance as a health maintenance organization and which is qualified under the requirements of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, except as provided in subsection (4) of this section. (2) Cities of all classes, counties, and urban-county governments and the agencies of cities, counties, charter county, and urban-county governments are authorized to establish and operate plans for the payment of retirement, disability, health maintenance organization coverage, or hospitalization benefits to their employees and elected officers, and health maintenance organization coverage or hospitalization benefits to the immediate families of their employees and elected officers. The plan may require employees to pay a percentage of their salaries into a fund from which coverage or benefits are paid, or the city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or agency may pay out of its own funds the entire cost of the coverage or benefits. A plan may include a combination of contributions by employees and elected officers and by the city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or agency into a fund from which coverage or benefits are paid, or it may take any form desired by the city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or agency. Each city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or agency may make rules and regulations and do all other things necessary in the establishment and operation of the plan. (3) Cities of all classes, counties, charter counties, urban-county governments, the agencies of cities, counties, charter counties, and urban-county governments, and all other political subdivisions of the state may provide disability, hospitalization, or other health or medical care coverage to their officers and employees, including their elected officers, through independent or cooperative self-insurance programs and may cooperatively purchase the coverages. (4) Any city, county, charter county, or urban-county government which is a contributing member to any one (1) of the retirement systems administered by the state may participate in the state health insurance coverage program for state employees as defined in KRS 18A.225 to 18A.229. Should any city, county, charter county, or urban-county government opt at any time to participate in the state health insurance coverage program, it shall do so for a minimum of three (3) consecutive years. If after the three (3) year participation period, the city, county, charter county, or urban-county government chooses to terminate participation in the state health insurance coverage program, it will be excluded from further participation for a period of three (3) consecutive years. If a city, county, charter county, or urban- county government, or one (1) of its agencies, terminates participation of its active employees in the state health insurance coverage program and there is a state appropriation for the employer's contribution for active employees' health insurance coverage, neither the unit of government, or its agency, nor the employees shall receive the state-funded contribution after termination from the state employee health insurance program. The three (3) year participation and exclusion cycles shall take effect each time a city, county, charter county, or urban-county government changes its participation status. (5) Any city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or other political subdivision of the state which employs more than twenty-five (25) persons and which provides hospitalization benefits or health maintenance organization coverage to its employees and elected officers, shall annually give its employees an option to elect either standard hospitalization benefits or membership in a qualified health maintenance organization which is engaged in providing basic health services in a health maintenance service area in which at least twenty-five (25) of the employees reside; except that if any city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or agencies of any city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or any other political subdivision of the state which does not have a qualified health maintenance organization engaged in providing basic health services in a health maintenance service area in which at least twenty-five (25) of the employees reside, the city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or agencies of the city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or any other political subdivision of the state may annually give its employees an option to elect either standard hospitalization benefits or membership in a health maintenance organization which has been issued a certificate of authority by the Department of Insurance as a health maintenance organization and which is engaged in providing basic health services in a health maintenance service area in which at least twenty- five (25) of the employees reside. Any premium due for health maintenance organization coverage over the amount contributed by the city, county, charter county, urban-county government, or other political subdivision of the state which employs more than twenty-five (25) persons for any other hospitalization benefit shall be paid by the employee. (6) If an employee moves his place of residence or employment out of the service area of a health maintenance organization, under which he has elected coverage, into either the service area of another health maintenance organization or into an area of the state not within a health maintenance organization service area, the employee shall be given an option, at the time of the move or transfer, to elect coverage either by the health maintenance organization into which service area he moves or is transferred or to elect standard hospitalization coverage offered by the employer. (7) Any plan adopted shall provide that any officer or member of a paid fire or police department who has completed five (5) years or more as a member of the department, but who is unable to perform his duties by reason of heart disease or any disease of the lungs or respiratory tract, is presumed to have contracted his disease while on active duty as a result of strain or the inhalation of noxious fumes, poison or gases, and shall be retired by the pension board under terms of the pension system of which he is a member, if the member passed an entrance physical examination and was found to be in good health as required. (8) The term "agency" as used herein shall include boards appointed to operate waterworks, electric plants, hospitals, airports, housing projects, golf courses, parks, health departments, or any other public project. (9) After August 1, 1988, except as permitted by KRS 65.156, no new retirement plan shall be created pursuant to this section, and cities which were covered by this section on or prior to August 1, 1988, shall participate in the County Employees Retirement System effective August 1, 1988. Any city, county, charter county, urban-county, or agency thereof which provided a retirement plan for its employees, pursuant to this section, on or prior to August 1, 1988, shall place employees hired after August 1, 1988, in the County Employees Retirement System. The city, county, charter county, urban-county, or agency thereof shall offer employees hired on or prior to August 1, 1988, membership in the County Employees Retirement System under the alternate participation plan as described in KRS 78.530(3), but such employees may elect to retain coverage under this section. Effective: July 14, 2018 History: Amended 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 112, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2018. -- Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 24, sec. 74, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 438, sec. 5, effective April 21, 2000. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 350, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1994. -- Amended 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 11, sec. 7, effective July 15, 1988. -- Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 292, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1986. -- Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 177, sec. 10, effective July 13, 1984. -- Amended 1976 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 35, sec. 3. -- Amended 1970 Ky. Acts ch. 212, sec. 1. -- Amended 1966 Ky. Acts ch. 10, sec. 1. -- Created 1948 Ky. Acts ch. 129, sec. 1.