LD 1021 / Public Law Chapter 636
Retired County and Municipal Law Enforcement Officers and Municipal Firefighters Health Insurance Program

 FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT http://www.mmeht.org/benefit/retirees/QA.htm

Questions and Answers

What is the Retired County and Municipal Law Enforcement Officers and Municipal Firefighters Health Insurance Program, and how does it affect municipal and county employers?

This is a program enacted as the result of legislation (LD 1021) that will provide for partially-subsidized health insurance coverage for eligible county and municipal law enforcement officers and municipal firefighters as they move from active employment into retirement. The program also allows dependents to continue health insurance coverage, but without any subsidy.

How is health insurance provided under this program?

If the employee is covered under a Health Trust health insurance plan and meets the eligibility requirements for continued coverage as a retiree, he will be able to continue coverage in the same plan as provided to active employees of the former employer. For example, if the employee is covered under the Health Trust’s Point of Service B plan when he retires, he will be able to continue that coverage (provided the employer continues to participate in that Health Trust plan), until the retiree reaches age 65 or becomes eligible for Medicare.

If the employee is covered under an employer-sponsored, non-Health Trust health insurance plan, there are two possibilities. If the health insurance plan allows retirees to continue coverage, then coverage will be continued under the terms of that plan. If, however, the health insurance plan does not allow retirees to continue coverage, then the retirees will be able to enroll in the State of Maine Employee Health Plan. Such enrollment must be arranged through the State of Maine.

Benefits provided under this program are determined according to the health insurance plan in which the retiree is enrolled. A retiree enrolled in the Health Trust’s Traditional Indemnity plan, for example, will have different benefits than will a retiree enrolled in the Health Trust’s Point of Service B plan. There are no “standard” benefits under this program.

Who is eligible for this program?

In order to participate in this program, an individual (employee or retiree) must be:

Who is not eligible for this program?

Volunteer and call firefighters and reserve law enforcement officers are not eligible for this program.

Under the law, the subsidy is not available for dependents or for retirees with “supplemental health insurance coverage”. This means that retirees who are over the age of 65 and/or on Medicare, including those who are provided with Companion Plan and Major Medical coverage through the Health Trust, are not eligible to receive the premium subsidy.

• Once the individual retires, he must be receiving a retirement benefit from either MSRS or another defined contribution retirement plan (not Social Security). If the individual retires after less than 25 years of creditable service as a law enforcement officer or firefighter, the benefit received must be at least 50% of average final compensation, with no reduction for early retirement.

• • at least 50 years of age; and
  • a county or municipal law enforcement officer or municipal firefighter, or a retired county or municipal law enforcement officer or retired municipal firefighter (as defined in the statute); and
  • while actively employed by the county or municipality, a participant in the employer’s health insurance plan or other fully-insured health insurance plan; and
  • a participant in the employer-sponsored retirement plan, either the Maine State Retirement System (MSRS) or another defined contribution retirement plan (other than Social Security).

LD 1021.docx