(1) A retired employee, a retired school employee, or an eligible survivor of an employee, school employee, or retiree of an employer group as defined in WAC 182-12-109 who loses eligibility for public employees benefits board (PEBB) retiree insurance coverage due to the employer group ending participation in PEBB or school employees benefits board (SEBB) insurance coverage may continue enrollment in PEBB health plan coverage by self-paying the premium and applicable premium surcharges set by the health care authority (HCA). A retired employee, a retired school employee, or a survivor enrolled under this section is not eligible for any subsidy provided under RCW 41.05.085.

(2) A retired employee, a retired school employee, or a survivor as described in subsection (1) of this section may enroll in PEBB medical, dental, or vision.

(a) The required forms must be received by the PEBB program no later than 60 days after the employer group's date of termination. The effective date of enrollment in PEBB health plan coverage will be the first day of the month following the day eligibility for PEBB retiree insurance coverage ended.

Note:

Enrollment in the PEBB program's medicare advantage (MA) plan, medicare advantage prescription-drug (MA-PD) plan, or the Uniform Medical Plan (UMP) Classic medicare plan may not be retroactive.

(1) If a subscriber elects to enroll in a MA plan, and the required forms are received by the PEBB program after the date the PEBB health plan coverage is to begin, the subscriber and their enrolled dependents will be enrolled in a plan with the same contracted vendor during the gap month(s) prior to when the MA coverage begins.

(2) If a subscriber elects to enroll in a MA-PD plan, and the required forms are received by the PEBB program after the date the PEBB health plan coverage is to begin, the subscriber and their enrolled dependents will be enrolled in transitional coverage as designated by the director or designee during the gap month(s) prior to when the MA-PD coverage begins.

(3) If a subscriber elects to enroll in the UMP Classic medicare plan, and the required forms are received by the PEBB program after the date the PEBB health plan coverage is to begin, the subscriber and their enrolled dependents will be enrolled in transitional UMP coverage during the gap month(s) prior to when the UMP Classic medicare plan begins.

(b) The first premium payment and applicable premium surcharges are due to HCA no later than 45 days after the election period ends as described in (a) of this subsection. Following the first premium payment, premiums and applicable premium surcharges must be paid as described in WAC 182-08-180 (1)(c).

Note:

An employer group as defined in WAC 182-12-109 that enters into a contractual agreement with the HCA on or after May 4, 2023, and whose contractual agreement is subsequently terminated, shall make a one-time payment to the HCA for each of the employer group's retired or disabled employees who continue participation under this section as described in RCW 41.05.083.

(c) If a retired employee, a retired school employee, or a survivor elects to enroll a dependent in PEBB health plan coverage, the dependent must be enrolled in the same PEBB medical and PEBB dental plan as the retired employee, retired school employee, or survivor.

Exceptions:

(1) If a retired employee, a retired school employee, or a survivor selects a medicare supplement plan, a MA-PD plan, or the UMP Classic medicare plan, nonmedicare enrollees will be enrolled in the UMP classic. If a retired employee, a retired school employee, or a survivor selects any other medicare plan, they must also select a nonmedicare plan with the same contracted vendor available to nonmedicare enrollees.

(2) If a retired employee, a retired school employee, or a survivor selects a medicare supplement plan, MA-PD plan, or any other medicare plan, they may elect a PEBB vision plan available for any nonmedicare enrollees.

(3) A subscriber enrolled under this section may continue PEBB health plan coverage until they request to terminate enrollment as described in subsection (4) of this section, or premiums and applicable premium surcharges are no longer paid as described in WAC 182-08-180 (1)(c). If PEBB health plan coverage is terminated for these reasons, the subscriber and their enrolled dependents will not be eligible to reenroll under this section.

(4) A subscriber enrolled under this section who requests to voluntarily terminate their PEBB health plan coverage must do so in writing. PEBB health plan coverage will end on the last day of the month in which the PEBB program receives the termination request or on the last day of the month specified in the subscriber's termination request, whichever is later. If the termination request is received on the first day of the month, PEBB health plan coverage will end on the last day of the previous month.

Exception:

When a subscriber or their dependent is enrolled in a MA plan, a MA-PD plan, or the UMP Classic medicare plan, the enrollment in PEBB health plan coverage will terminate on the last day of the month when the plan disenrollment form is received.

PDFWAC 182-12-232

What options for continuing health plan enrollment are available to a retiree of an employer group that ended participation in public employees benefits board (PEBB) or school employees benefits board (SEBB) insurance coverage?