§ 165 — Termination of active employment

§ 165. Termination of active employment. 1. The health benefit\ncoverage of any employee and his or her dependents, if any, shall cease\nupon the discontinuance of his or her term of office or employment,\nsubject to regulations which may be prescribed by the president for\nextension of coverage and for conversion to an individual contract\nproviding for such of the benefits provided under this article as may be\nprovided under such individual contracts, under terms approved by the\npresident, the total cost of any such contract to be borne by the\nemployee.\n 2. In the event of death of an employee having coverage at the time of\ndeath for himself or herself and his or her dependents, and where the\ncircumstances of death are such that beneficiaries or dependents of such\ndeceased employee are entitled to an accidental death benefit payable by\na retirement system or pension plan administered by the state or a civil\ndivision thereof on account of death resulting from an accident\nsustained in the performance of his or her duties or to death benefits\nprovided for under the workers' compensation law, the unremarried spouse\nof such employee covered at the time of his or her death and his or her\ncovered dependents, for so long as they would otherwise qualify as\ndependents eligible for coverage under the regulations of the president,\nshall be eligible to continue full coverage under the health benefit\nplan upon payment at intervals determined by the president of the full\ncost of such coverage; provided, however, that the state shall pay and\nany participating employer may elect to pay the full cost of such\ncoverage, except that in the case of those enrolled in an optional\nbenefit plan, the employer shall contribute not more than the same\ndollar amount which would be paid if such unremarried spouse and\ndependents were enrolled in the basic statewide health benefit plan. The\npresident shall adopt such regulations as may be required to carry out\nthe provisions of this subdivision which shall include, but need not be\nlimited to, provisions for filing application for continued coverage,\nincluding reasonable time limits therefor, and provisions for continued\ncoverage of spouse and dependents pending determination of an\napplication for accidental death benefits from a retirement system or\npension plan administered by the state or a civil division thereof or\npending determination of a claim for death benefits under the workers'\ncompensation law.\n