HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY

(Public Employees Benefits Board)

[Admin #2024-03.04—Filed August 23, 2024, 12:12 p.m., effective August 24, 2024]

Effective Date of Rule: August 24, 2024.

Purpose: The health care authority is refiling WAC 182-12-5200 When is a retiring employee or a retiring school employee who separates from employment eligible to enroll in public employees benefits board (PEBB) retiree insurance coverage?, as authorized in HB 1008, chapter 164, Laws of 2023, 68th legislature, 2023 regular session.

Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: New WAC 182-12-5200.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: HB 1008, chapter 164, Laws of 2023, 68th legislature, 2023 regular session.

Other Authority: RCW 41.05.021 and 41.05.160.

Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.

Reasons for this Finding: This emergency rule making is necessary to implement HB 1008, chapter 164, Laws of 2023, while the authority conducts the permanent rule-making process.

This filing continues the emergency rules filed under WSR 24-10-057, filed on April 26, 2024. Since the filing of this emergency rule, the agency filed CR-102 on the proposed rules and conducted a public hearing on August 6, 2024, and is preparing to file CR-103P under permanent rule making shortly. The text (OTS-4906.3) included with this filing differs from the text included in the second emergency rule filing (OTS-4906.2) filed under WSR 24-10-057. The proposed text under this emergency filing includes a reference to WAC 182-12-5110 (4)(b), which is a newly proposed WAC section, also filed under emergency rule filing as WSR 24-11-151.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Date Adopted: August 23, 2024.

WAC 182-12-5200When is a retiring employee or a retiring school employee who separates from employment eligible to enroll in public employees benefits board (PEBB) retiree insurance coverage?

(1) A retiring employee or a retiring school employee who meet the definition of a separated employee as defined in RCW 41.05.011 (25)(a) or (b) is eligible to continue enrollment or defer enrollment in public employees benefits board (PEBB) insurance coverage as a retiree if they meet procedural and substantive eligibility requirements as described in WAC 182-12-171 (1), (2), and (3), except as described in subsection (2) of this section.

(2) Effective January 1, 2024, the exceptions for a retiring employee and a retiring school employee to immediately begin receiving a monthly retirement plan payment to meet the substantive eligibility requirements as described in WAC 182-12-171 (2)(a), (c)(ii), and (d), and 182-12-5110 (4)(b), will include the following:

(a) A retiring employee or a retiring school employee who is a member of a Plan 3 retirement plan, also called a separated employee, must meet their Plan 3 retirement eligibility criteria; and

(b) A retiring employee or a retiring school employee who is a member of the teachers' retirement system Plan 2, school employees' retirement system Plan 2, or public employees' retirement system Plan 2, also called a separated employee, who separates from employment on or after January 1, 2024, and who is at least age 55 and have at least 20 years of service.

(3) The exceptions described in subsection (2) of this section apply to an employee or a school employee who is determined to be retroactively eligible for a disability retirement as described in WAC 182-12-211 (1)(c).