A. All eligible employers shall participate in the Retiree Health Care Act except as provided in Subsection D or Subsection E of this section. Participating employers are required to continue existing group health insurance coverages until such time as similar coverages are offered by the board.

B. Participation in the basic health insurance coverages provided by the authority shall be conditioned upon receipt by the board of a certificate of eligibility from the educational retirement director, the executive secretary of the public employees retirement association, the executive director of the public school insurance authority or the governing body of an independent public employer. Once eligibility is established for each eligible retiree, the board shall contribute from money in the fund the authority's portion of the premium for the basic plan of benefits commencing no earlier than January 1, 1991 plus the balance of the premium, which shall be collected from the retiree.

C. Each eligible retiree shall accept or reject enrollment in the basic plan of benefits on an enrollment form provided by the board. An eligible retiree who rejects enrollment or fails to return a properly executed enrollment form within the open enrollment period as established by the board forfeits all entitlement and eligibility for benefits under the Retiree Health Care Act until the next open enrollment period as established by the board.

D. On or before January 1, 1991, municipalities, counties and institutions of higher education that are retirement system employers may at their option determine by ordinance, or for institutions of higher education, by resolution, to be excluded from coverage under the Retiree Health Care Act; that determination shall be subject to the following conditions:

(1) any contributions paid into the fund by a municipality, county or institution of higher education that exercises timely an irrevocable option not to participate in the Retiree Health Care Act under this subsection shall be returned without interest to that municipality, county or institution of higher education for return of the employee contributions to the employees and for crediting of the employer contributions to the appropriate fund of the municipality, county or institution of higher education. If the determination to be excluded from coverage is exercised by a municipality, county or institution of higher education prior to July 1, 1990, then that municipality, county or institution of higher education shall not be required to make the contributions that would otherwise be required by Section 10-7C-15 NMSA 1978;

(2) any municipality, county or institution of higher education, in addition to complying with all other required notice and public hearing or meeting requirements, shall, no less than thirty days prior to the public hearing or public meeting on a proposed ordinance or proposed resolution, notify the authority of the public hearing or public meeting by certified mail; and

(3) in the event that:

(a) the number of active employees employed by municipalities contributing to the fund reaches a number equaling sixty percent or more of all active employees employed by all municipalities that are retirement system employers, the municipal position on the board of the authority shall be restored within sixty days of the date that percentage is reached; provided, however, that if a municipality with a population greater than one hundred thousand that is located in a class A county exercises this option, then the sixty-percent requirement shall be applied to the remaining municipalities only;

(b) the number of active employees employed by counties contributing to the fund reaches a number equaling sixty percent or more of all active employees employed by all counties that are retirement system employers, the county position on the board of the authority shall be restored within sixty days of the date that percentage is reached; provided, however, that if a class A county exercises this option, then the eighty-percent requirement shall be applied to the remaining counties only; or

(c) the number of active employees employed by institutions of higher learning contributing to the fund reaches a number equaling seventy percent or more of all active employees employed by an institution of higher education contributing to the educational retirement fund, the institution of higher education position on the board shall be restored within sixty days of the date that percentage is reached.

E. An independent public employer may become a participating employer if that employer satisfies the requirements imposed pursuant to Subsection M of Section 10-7C-7 NMSA 1978 and if that employer also files with the authority on or prior to January 1, 1991 or prior to July 1, 1993 or July 1 of any year a written irrevocable election by the governing body of that employer to participate in the Retiree Health Care Act. Any such independent public employer or retirement system employer, as defined in Subsection G of Section 10-7C-4 NMSA 1978 that chooses to become a participating employer after January 1, 1998 shall begin making the appropriate employer and employee contributions to the fund on the July 1 immediately following the adoption of the ordinance or resolution. On the following January 1, eligible retirees of those participating employers and their eligible dependents shall be eligible to receive group health insurance coverage pursuant to the provisions of the Retiree Health Care Act.

F. A municipality or county that enacted an ordinance or an institution of higher education that enacted a resolution prior to January 1, 1991 pursuant to Subsection D of this section to be excluded from coverage under the Retiree Health Care Act may become a participating employer if that employer satisfies the requirements imposed pursuant to Subsection M of Section 10-7C-7 NMSA 1978 and if that employer also enacts an ordinance or resolution, as applicable, after a public hearing and published notice of the hearing, prior to July 1, 1993 or July 1 of any year to choose to become a participating employer under the Retiree Health Care Act. Any such municipality, county or institution of higher education that chooses to become a participating employer after January 1, 1998 shall begin making the appropriate employer and employee contributions determined by the board to the fund on the July 1 immediately following the adoption of the ordinance or resolution. On the following January 1, eligible retirees of those participating employers and their eligible dependents shall be eligible to receive group health insurance coverage pursuant to the provisions of the Retiree Health Care Act.

History: Laws 1990, ch. 6, § 9; 1993, ch. 362, § 3; 1998, ch. 45, § 3.

Compiler's notes. — The phrase "effective date of the Retiree Health Care Act", referred to in this section, means February 13, 1990, the effective date of Laws 1990, ch. 6.

The 1998 amendment, effective May 20, 1998, in Subsection A, deleted "under the Retiree Health Care Act" following "board"; in Subsection B, deleted "who retires on or after the effective date of the Retiree Health Care Act" following "retiree"; in Subsection E, inserted "or retirement system employer, as defined in Subsection G of Section 10-7C-4 NMSA 1978", substituted "1998" for "1993" and inserted "the appropriate"; deleted Subsection F; renumbered the remaining subsection accordingly; and in present Subsection F, substituted "1998" for "1993", inserted "the appropriate" and "determined by the board".

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection D, deleted "shall be irrevocable and" following "determination" in the introductory language, changed the style of the statutory reference at the end of Paragraph (1), added "and" to the end of Paragraph (2), rewrote Paragraph (3), and deleted Paragraph (4), which read: "any reduction in the size of the board pursuant to this subsection of the Retiree Health Care Act shall be effective January 1, 1991"; in Subsection E, changed the style of the statutory reference and inserted "or prior to July 1, 1993 or July 1 of any year" in the first sentence and added the second and third sentences; and added Subsection G.