Existing law requires the Office of Finance to establish an assessment to pay for a portion of the costs of the premiums or contributions for the Public Employees' Benefits Program on behalf of persons who were initially hired before January 1, 2012, and have retired with state service, which must be: (1) deposited in the State Retirees' Health and Welfare Benefits Fund to pay a portion of the current and future health and welfare benefits of those retirees; and (2) based upon a base amount approved by the Legislature each session. Existing law also requires that, for retirees who receive health coverage through Medicare, the portion paid to the Program from the Retirees' Fund on behalf of these retirees must be: (1) for persons who retired before January 1, 1994, the base funding level defined by the Legislature multiplied by 15; and (2) for persons who retired on or after January 1, 1994, the base funding level multiplied by the years of service of the person, excluding service purchased, up to a maximum of 20 years. (NRS 287.046) Section 1 of this bill requires the Board of the Program to report, before August 31 of every even-numbered year, to the Governor and the Interim Retirement and Benefits Committee of the Legislature the typical full cost for such retirees to obtain actuarially comparable health insurance as state retirees enrolled in the plan offered by the Program. If the Board pays the subsidy for retirees enrolled in the federal TRICARE program or Medicare into a health reimbursement arrangement, section 3 of this bill prohibits the Board, unless otherwise required by federal law, from: (1) establishing limits on the yearly balance of a health reimbursement arrangement for a person who is enrolled in Medicare that is less than the total amount of the subsidy paid by the Board in the immediately preceding 5 fiscal years; and (2) reverting money in a health reimbursement arrangement to the Retirees' Fund unless the retiree has died or, for more than 2 consecutive years, elected coverage other than coverage provided through TRICARE, Medicare or the plan offered by the Program. Under existing law, a retired public officer or employee or the surviving spouse of a retired public officer or employee who is deceased may reinstate any insurance under the Program, except life insurance, if the public officer or employee did not have more than one period during which the retired public officer or employee was not covered by insurance under the Program on or after the later of October 1, 2011, or the date of retirement of the public officer or employee, and the officer or employee retired from: (1) a participating state or local governmental agency under certain circumstances or was enrolled in the retirement program established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada for professional staff of the Nevada System of Higher Education; or (2) a nonparticipating local governmental agency, under certain circumstances. (NRS 287.046) To reinstate insurance, the public officer or employee or surviving spouse must provide written notice to the Program not later than 31 days before the commencement of the plan year. (NRS 287.0475) Section 4 of this bill: (1) removes the prohibition that the retired public officer or employee not have more than one period during which he or she was not covered by insurance under the Program to reinstate insurance; and (2) instead provides that if a person has more than one period during which he or she was not covered by insurance under the Program, the Board may require the person to provide evidence of continuous coverage provided under another health insurance plan during any period other than the first period in which he or she was not covered to reinstate insurance under the Program. Section 4 also: (1) authorizes the public officer or employee or surviving spouse to reinstate coverage during any open enrollment period for the plan of insurance; and (2) provides that the retired public officer or employee is eligible, upon reinstatement, to receive the subsidy provided for certain retired employees. Existing law establishes for the 2025-2027 biennium the share of the cost of qualified medical expenses for individual Medicare insurance plans through the Program that is required to be paid by the State and local governments for retired public officers and employees. (Chapter 57, Statutes of Nevada 2025) Section 4.1 of this bill increases those amounts for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. Section 4.3 of this bill makes an appropriation to pay for the increases. Section 4.5 of this bill requires the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Government Affairs to conduct a study during the 2025-2026 interim concerning the Public Employees' Benefits Program. Section 2 of this bill applies certain definitions in existing law relating to the Program to the provisions of section 1.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 287.0402, 287.046, 287.0475
Reprint 1: 287.0402, 287.046, 287.0475
Reprint 2: 287.0402, 287.046, 287.0475
Reprint 3: 287.0402, 287.046, 287.0475
As Enrolled: 287.0402, 287.046, 287.0475
BDR: 287.0402, 287.046, 287.0475