Premium contributions and withholdings described at §§ 890.501 and 890.502 must be paid by the tribal employer and the tribal employee, except that the term OPM as used in § 890.502(c) is deemed to be a reference to the paymaster, as appropriate, for purposes of this subpart. There is no Government contribution as that term is used in 5 U.S.C. 8906.

Contribution requirements. (1) A tribal employer must contribute at least the monthly equivalent of the minimum Government contribution for a specific FEHB plan as described in 5 U.S.C. 8906;

There is no cap on the percentage of premium that a tribal employer may contribute, as long as the contribution and withholding arrangement is not designed to encourage or discourage enrollment in any particular plan or plan option;

A tribal employer may vary the contribution amount by type of FEHB enrollment (self only, self plus one, self and family), providing it is done in a uniform manner and meets the requirements described in § 890.1413(b)(1) and (2); and

A tribal employer may vary the contribution amount by billing unit, providing each billing unit meets the requirements described in § 890.1413(b)(1) through (3).

A tribal employer may, but is not required to, prorate the tribal employer and tribal employee share of premium attributable to enrollment of its part-time tribal employees working between 16 and 32 hours per week by prorating shares in proportion to the percentage of time that a tribal employee in a comparable full time position is regularly scheduled to work.

Tribal employee and tribal employer contributions to premiums under this subpart will be aggregated by the tribal employer. The tribal employee and tribal employer contributions must be available for receipt by the paymaster on an agreed upon date. The paymaster will receive the premium contributions together with the fee described at paragraph (e) of this section and will deposit only the premium payment into the Employees Health Benefits Fund described in 5 U.S.C. 8909.

A fee determined annually by OPM will be charged in addition to premium for each enrollment of a tribal employee. The fee may be used for other purposes as determined by OPM. The fee must be paid entirely by the tribal employer as part of the payment to purchase FEHB for tribal employees, and must be available for collection by the paymaster, together with the aggregate tribal employee and tribal employer contributions.