1. The governing body of any county, school district, municipal corporation, political subdivision, public corporation or other local governmental agency of the State of Nevada may:

(a) Adopt and carry into effect a system of group life, accident or health insurance, or any combination thereof, for the benefit of its officers and employees, and the dependents of officers and employees who elect to accept the insurance and who, where necessary, have authorized the governing body to make deductions from their compensation for the payment of premiums on the insurance.

(b) Purchase group policies of life, accident or health insurance, or any combination thereof, for the benefit of such officers and employees, and the dependents of such officers and employees, as have authorized the purchase, from insurance companies authorized to transact the business of such insurance in the State of Nevada, and, where necessary, deduct from the compensation of officers and employees the premiums upon insurance and pay the deductions upon the premiums.

(c) Provide group life, accident or health coverage through a self-insurance reserve fund and, where necessary, deduct contributions to the maintenance of the fund from the compensation of officers and employees and pay the deductions into the fund. The money accumulated for this purpose through deductions from the compensation of officers and employees and contributions of the governing body must be maintained as an internal service fund as defined by NRS 354.543. The money must be deposited in a state or national bank or credit union authorized to transact business in the State of Nevada. Any independent administrator of a fund created under this section is subject to the licensing requirements of chapter 683A of NRS, and must be a resident of this State. Any contract with an independent administrator must be approved by the Commissioner of Insurance as to the reasonableness of administrative charges in relation to contributions collected and benefits provided. The provisions of NRS 687B.408, 689B.030 to 689B.050, inclusive, 689B.287 and 689B.500 apply to coverage provided pursuant to this paragraph, except that the provisions of NRS 689B.0378, 689B.03785 and 689B.500 only apply to coverage for active officers and employees of the governing body, or the dependents of such officers and employees.

(d) Defray part or all of the cost of maintenance of a self-insurance fund or of the premiums upon insurance. The money for contributions must be budgeted for in accordance with the laws governing the county, school district, municipal corporation, political subdivision, public corporation or other local governmental agency of the State of Nevada.

2. If a school district offers group insurance to its officers and employees pursuant to this section, members of the board of trustees of the school district must not be excluded from participating in the group insurance. If the amount of the deductions from compensation required to pay for the group insurance exceeds the compensation to which a trustee is entitled, the difference must be paid by the trustee.

3. In any county in which a legal services organization exists, the governing body of the county, or of any school district, municipal corporation, political subdivision, public corporation or other local governmental agency of the State of Nevada in the county, may enter into a contract with the legal services organization pursuant to which the officers and employees of the legal services organization, and the dependents of those officers and employees, are eligible for any life, accident or health insurance provided pursuant to this section to the officers and employees, and the dependents of the officers and employees, of the county, school district, municipal corporation, political subdivision, public corporation or other local governmental agency.

4. If a contract is entered into pursuant to subsection 3, the officers and employees of the legal services organization:

(a) Shall be deemed, solely for the purposes of this section, to be officers and employees of the county, school district, municipal corporation, political subdivision, public corporation or other local governmental agency with which the legal services organization has contracted; and

(b) Must be required by the contract to pay the premiums or contributions for all insurance which they elect to accept or of which they authorize the purchase.

5. A contract that is entered into pursuant to subsection 3:

(a) Must be submitted to the Commissioner of Insurance for approval not less than 30 days before the date on which the contract is to become effective.

(b) Does not become effective unless approved by the Commissioner.

(c) Shall be deemed to be approved if not disapproved by the Commissioner within 30 days after its submission.

6. As used in this section, “legal services organization” means an organization that operates a program for legal aid and receives money pursuant to NRS 19.031.

[1:27:1947; 1943 NCL § 3655.05] — (NRS A 1960, 76; 1963, 214; 1969, 888; 1977, 389; 1979, 973; 1981, 1770; 1983, 616; 1985, 1449; 1989, 1274; 1991, 451; 1995, 1011; 1999, 1467, 2005, 3106; 2001, 141, 144, 1925; 2003, 115, 3260, 3372, 3535; 2005, 2347; 2007, 908; 2009, 1825; 2013, 3655; 2015, 211, 628, 2130; 2017, 1802, 3928; 2019, 315, 2165, effective January 1, 2020)