{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-23-108","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 11-23-108","heading":"Hospital, health, life and accident insurance for","body":"municipal employees and retirees.\n\nA. A municipality may provide hospital and medical benefits,\n\naccident, health, and life insurance, or any of the aforesaid,\n\nthrough any company authorized to do business in Oklahoma, for any\n\nor all of its officers or employees and their dependents, whether\n\nthe officers or employees are engaged in a governmental or\n\nnongovernmental function of the municipality. A municipality may\n\nalso provide such benefits when an officer or employee is ordered by\n\nproper authority to active duty in the National Guard or Reserve\n\nCorps of the Armed Forces of the United States. The municipality\n\nmay pay a portion or all of the premiums from any municipal general\n\nfunds, and may deduct from the wages or salary of any such officer\n\nor employee, upon written authority signed by the officer or\n\nemployee, amounts for the payment of all or any portion of the\n\nmonthly premium for same.\n\nB. 1. For the purposes of and as used in this subsection:\n\na. \"affected municipality\" means a municipality that\n\nprovides hospital and medical benefits, accident and\n\nhealth insurance, or any of the aforesaid, for any or\n\nall of its officers or employees and their dependents\n\npursuant to the provisions of subsection A of this\n\nsection,\n\nb. \"health insurance plan\" means the hospital and medical\n\nbenefits, accident and health insurance, or any of the\n\naforesaid, provided by an affected municipality to its\n\nofficers or employees pursuant to the provisions of\n\nsubsection A of this section,\n\nc. \"retired employee\" means any officer or employee of an\n\naffected municipality who receives a continuing\n\nbenefit pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma\n\nPublic Employees Retirement System, a municipal\n\nretirement system authorized pursuant to the\n\nprovisions of Section 48-101 et seq. of this title,\n\nthe Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement\n\nSystem, or the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement\n\nSystem, and who began receiving the benefits\n\nimmediately after termination of employment, taking\n\ninto consideration any administrative delays in\n\nestablishing said continuing benefits, with an\n\naffected municipality, provided that the phrase\n\n\"retired employee\" shall include elected officers that\n\nhave served eight (8) or more years with an affected\n\nmunicipality and the survivor of the elected officer\n\nor officer or employee, and\n\nd. \"survivor\" means a survivor of a retired employee who\n\nwould have been eligible to make the election\n\nauthorized by this subsection and shall be determined\n\nin accordance with the applicable rules of the\n\nretirement system from which said retired employee\n\nqualified to receive benefits. Provided, \"survivor\"\n\nshall also mean the surviving spouse or the surviving\n\nminor child or children of a person who was an\n\nemployee or elected official of an affected\n\nmunicipality on or after July 1, 1992, and who\n\ncontinuously participated in the hospital and medical\n\nbenefits insurance plan of the affected municipality\n\nat the time of the death of the employee.\n\n2. Notwithstanding any other state or federal law, a retired\n\nemployee may continue to elect coverage under any health insurance\n\nplan offered by the affected municipality that last employed the\n\nretired employee, including any health plans targeted for retirees\n\nand Medicare eligible retirees.\n\n3. To participate in the health insurance plan offered by a\n\nretired employee's affected municipality, the retired employee shall\n\nelect to participate in the health insurance plan within thirty (30)\n\ndays from the date of termination of employment with the affected\n\nmunicipality.\n\n4. The retired employee who participates in the health\n\ninsurance plan pursuant to this subsection shall pay up to the full\n\ncost of the health insurance plan at the rates and pursuant to the\n\nterms and conditions established by the affected\nwithin thirty (30)\n\ndays from the date of termination of employment with the affected\n\nmunicipality.\n\n4. The retired employee who participates in the health\n\ninsurance plan pursuant to this subsection shall pay up to the full\n\ncost of the health insurance plan at the rates and pursuant to the\n\nterms and conditions established by the affected\n\nmunicipality,provided the amount of the retired employee's premiums\n\nand dependent premiums for said health insurance plan paid by said\n\nretired employee who is under sixty-five (65) years of age shall be\n\nno greater than one hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the amount\n\nof the officer or employee premiums and dependent premiums for the\n\nhealth insurance plan paid by or on behalf of an officer or employee\n\nwho is currently employed by the affected municipality.\n\n5. An affected municipality that offers a health insurance plan\n\nin accordance with this section to its officers or employees and\n\ndependents shall offer a health insurance plan to those retired\n\nemployees and their dependents who elect to participate in the\n\nhealth insurance plan in accordance with this subsection unless the\n\nretired employee or dependent is sixty-five (65) years of age or\n\nolder and/or qualifies for Medicare.\n\n6. An affected municipality that provides a health insurance\n\nplan to retired employees pursuant to this subsection may offer one\n\nor more, or a combination of one or more of the following health\n\ncare options or plans in supplement or as an alternate to\n\ntraditional Medicare coverage: a coordination of benefits plan, a\n\nMedicare supplement (Medigap) plan, a Medicare Advantage plan (with\n\nor without an optional Medicare Part D prescription drug plan), a\n\nMedicare Part D prescription drug plan, or other similar health care\n\noptions or plans approved by the federal government's Centers for\n\nMedicare and Medicaid Services, to those retired employees and their\n\ndependents who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older and/or\n\nqualify for Medicare.\n\n7. An affected municipality which participates in the plan or\n\nplans offered by the State and Education Employees Group Insurance\n\nBoard shall not be subject to the provisions of this subsection so\n\nlong as the participation continues.\n\n8. If a retired employee who retires from an affected\n\nmunicipality that participates in a municipal retirement system\n\nauthorized pursuant to the provisions of Section 48-101 et seq. of\n\nthis title does not receive a continuing benefit from the municipal\n\nretirement system because of a lump sum distribution from the\n\nretirement system to the retired employee or because the municipal\n\nretirement system is discontinued, the retired employee shall be\n\nentitled to make the election authorized pursuant to this subsection\n\nif the retired employee was employed by the affected municipality\n\nfor at least eight (8) years or was disabled due to a line-of-duty\n\ninjury while employed by and unable to continue similar employment\n\nwith the affected municipality.\n\nC. Public and private educational institutions of the state not\n\nsupported by any state appropriated funds may purchase annuity\n\ncontracts for any of their full-time officers and employees from any\n\ninsurance company organized and operated without profit to any\n\nprivate shareholder or individual exclusively for the purpose of\n\naiding and strengthening educational institutions, whether or not\n\nsuch company be authorized to do business in Oklahoma.","path":["OK Code","Title 11"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os11.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"05456e02f707ba527dae7be10cba11f9ffb46f1e9b22f78254d33a55472cca4c","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-23-105","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-23-109"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}