{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-6.577","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 6.577","heading":"Group hospital and medical insurance -- Employer's and recipients'","body":"contributions -- Payment for dependents -- Exemption from premium taxation\n-- Eligibility of members with required amount of legislative service.\n(1) The board of trustees of the Judic ial Form Retirement System shall arrange by\nappropriate contract or on a self -insured basis to provide a group hospital and\nmedical insurance plan for present and future recipients of a retirement allowance\nfrom the Legislators' Retirement Plan. The board may authorize present and future\nrecipients of a retirement allowance from the Legislators' Retirement Plan who are\nunder age sixty -five (65) to be included in the state employees group for hospital\nand medical insurance and shall provide benefits for reci pients equal to those\nprovided to state employees having the same Medicare hospital and medical\ninsurance eligibility status. For recipients of a retirement allowance who are not\neligible for the same level of hospital and medical benefits as recipients li ving in\nKentucky, the board shall provide a medical insurance premium reimbursement\nplan as described in subsection (5) of this section.\n(2) Each employer participating in the Legislators' Retirement Plan shall contribute to\nthe plan the amount necessary t o provide hospital and medical insurance as\nprovided for under this section. The employer contribution rate shall be developed\nby appropriate actuarial method as a part of the determination of the total employer\ncontribution rate to the Legislators' Retirement Plan.\n(3) (a) Depending on the months of service credit on which the retirement allowance\nwas based, provided that there are at least forty -eight (48) months, all or a\nportion of the premium required to provide hospital and medical benefits\nunder this section shall be paid in full from the insurance fund established by\nKRS 6.575 for all recipients of a retirement allowance from the Legislators'\nRetirement Plan as follows:\nMonths of Service     Percentage Paid\n48 to 119, inclusive  `    25%\n120 to 131, inclusive      50%\n132 to 143, inclusive      55%\n144 to 155, inclusive      60%\n156 to 167, inclusive      65%\n168 to 179, inclusive      70%\n180 to 191, inclusive      75%\n192 to 203, inclusive      80%\n204 to 215, inclusive      85%\n216 to 227, inclusive      90%\n228 to 239, inclusive      95%\n240 or more       100%\nThis paragraph shall not apply to members who begin participating in the\nLegislators' Retirement Plan on or after January 1, 2014.\n(b) For members who begin participating in the Legislators' Retirement Plan on or\nafter January 1, 2014:\n1. Participation in the health insurance coverage and benefits provided\nunder this section shall not be allowed until the member has earned at\nleast one hu ndred eighty (180) months of service credited under KRS\n6.500 to 6.577 or another state-administered retirement system.\n2. A member who meets the minimum service requirements as provided by\nsubparagraph 1. of this paragraph shall be eligible for a monthly\ninsurance benefit upon retirement of ten dollars ($10) for each year of\nservice as a participating member of the Legislators' Retirement Plan.\n3. The minimum service required to participate in benefits as provided by\nsubparagraph 1. of this paragraph shall  be waived for a member who is\ndisabled in the line of duty as defined in KRS 61.621, and the member\nshall be entitled to the health benefits payable under this subsection as\nthough the member has twenty (20) years of service in the Legislators'\nRetirement Plan.\n4. The minimum service required to participate in benefits as provided by\nsubparagraph 1. of this paragraph shall be waived for a member who is\nkilled in the line of duty as described in KRS 61.621, and the member's\nspouse and eligible dependents shall be entitled to the health benefits the\nmember would have received if he or she had retired with twenty (20)\nyears of service in the Legislators' Retirement Plan.\n5. The monthly insurance benefit amount provided by this paragraph shall\nbe increased July 1 of each year by one and one-half percent (1.5%). The\nincrease shall be cumulative and shall continue to accrue after the\nmember's retirement for as long as a monthly insurance benefit is\npayable to the retired member.\n(c) The payments for health insuran ce provided by this subsection shall be made\nfrom the fund only if the recipient agrees to pay the remaining amount, if any,\nfrom his monthly retirement allowance or by any other method equally\ninsuring payment by him. \"Months of service\" as used in this s ection shall not\ninclude service added to determine disability benefits.\n(4) Provided the member began participating in the Legislators' Retirement Plan prior\nto January 1, 2014, the insurance fund shall pay the same percentage of the\npremium for the spous e and dependents of a recipient, or the beneficiary of the\nrecipient, as the fund pays or paid for the member. No payment shall be made under\nthis section to a spouse, dependent, or beneficiary of a member who begins\nparticipating in the Legislators' Retir ement Plan on or after January 1, 2014, except\nas authorized by subsection (3)(b)4. of this section.\n(5) The board shall establish a medical insurance premium reimbursement plan for\nrecipients of a retirement allowance who are not eligible for the same lev el of\nhospital and medical benefits as recipients living in Kentucky having the same\nMedicare hospital and medical insurance eligibility status. An eligible recipient\nshall file proof of payment for hospital and medical insurance premiums at the\nretirement office. Reimbursement to eligible recipients shall be made on a quarterly\nbasis. The recipient shall be eligible for reimbursement of substantiated medical\ninsurance premiums for an amount not to exceed the total monthly contribution\ndetermined by the boa rd of trustees. The plan shall not be made available if all\nrecipients are eligible for the same level of coverage as recipients living in\nKentucky.\n(6) Premiums paid for hospital and medical insurance coverage procured under\nauthority of this section shal l be exempt from any premium tax which might\notherwise be required under KRS Chapter 136. The payment of premiums by the\ninsurance fund shall not constitute taxable income to an insured recipient. No\ncommission shall be paid for hospital and medical insura nce procured under\nauthority of this section.\n(7) Notwithstanding any other statute to the contrary, any member with the minimum\nnumber of months of legislative service required by subsection (3) of this section\nwho is also eligible for benefits, or who is  receiving benefits from any retirement\nplan or system administered by the Commonwealth shall be entitled to hospital and\nmedical benefits as described in subsection (3) of this section, except that the\nnumber of months of service credit used in calculatin g the level of benefits shall be\nthe sum of the service credited to the member in all the state -administered\nretirement systems or plans.\n(a) Upon request of the member, the Legislators' Retirement Plan shall compute\nthe member's combined service in all th e state -administered retirement\nsystems or plans, and calculate the portion of the member's premium to be\npaid by the Legislators' Retirement Plan, according to the criteria established\nin subsection (3) of this section. For members who begin participating  in the\nLegislators' Retirement Plan prior to January 1, 2014, the state -administered\nretirement systems or plans shall pay to the Legislators' Retirement Plan the\napplicable percentage of the plan's costs of the retiree's hospital and medical\npremium which shall be equal to the percentage of the member's number of\nmonths of service in the applicable state -administered retirement system\ndivided by his total combined service. The amounts paid by all the state -\nadministered retirement systems or plans shall no t be more than one hundred\npercent (100%) of the premium amount adopted by the respective boards of\ntrustees.\n(b) A member who elects hospital and medical benefits under this section shall\nlose any claim to insurance benefits under any of the other state -administered\nretirement systems or plans.","path":["KRS Chapter 6"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=44939","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:48:24Z","sha256":"3fc907633b8bc5caa8c1fa127e9a89df24afb396b653001417263f5c5698975e","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-6.575","next":"us-ky/krs-6.601"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}