{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-5-117.5","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-5-117.5","heading":"Employee health insurance plans","body":"A. The board of education of each school district in this state\n\nshall provide a health insurance plan for the employees of the\n\nschool district. School districts may obtain health and dental\n\ninsurance coverage as provided for in the State and Education\n\nEmployees Group Insurance Act or may obtain other health insurance\n\ncoverage. Any school district that does not participate in the\n\nhealth and dental insurance plans offered through the State and\n\nEducation Employees Group Insurance Act shall obtain health\n\ninsurance coverage for the employees which provides open enrollment,\n\nand provide for the continuation of health insurance coverage,\n\nincluding supplemental Medicare insurance coverage, for those\n\ndistrict employees who retire from said district after September 30,\n\n1991, with a vested benefit in the Teachers' Retirement System of\n\nOklahoma. A retired person who begins receiving benefits from the\n\nTeachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma after September 30, 1991,\n\nwho retires from a school district that provides other health\n\ninsurance coverage, and who elects to continue said health insurance\n\ncoverage shall pay to the school district the premium rate for the\n\nhealth insurance minus an amount equal to the premium rate of the\n\nMedicare supplement or the amount determined pursuant to subsection\n\n(4) of Section 1316.3 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes,\n\nwhichever is less, which shall be paid by the Teachers' Retirement\n\nSystem of Oklahoma to the school district. The school district\n\nshall remit to the health insurance coverage provider the total\n\npremium due less any uncollected amounts payable from retired school\n\ndistrict employees or their qualified survivors.\n\nB. A school district that participates in health insurance\n\ncoverage other than the health insurance plan offered by the State\n\nand Education Employees Group Insurance Act shall not be required to\n\npay any portion of the premiums for the employees or the dependents\n\nof the employees of said school district, except as may otherwise be\n\nprovided by law. Unless a school district negotiates an agreement\n\nwith its employees regarding health insurance pursuant to Sections\n\n509.1 through 509.9 of this title, and to the extent that the\n\nagreement provides for the members of the recognized bargaining\n\nunit, a school district that participates in health insurance\n\ncoverage other than the health insurance plan offered by the State\n\nand Education Employees Group Insurance Act is prohibited from\n\nacquiring additional or supplemental health or dental insurance for\n\nany board member, school superintendent or any other employee which\n\nis not available to all employees of said district, and said school\n\ndistrict shall not pay a greater portion of the employee or\n\ndependent premium for any health or dental insurance plan or plans\n\nprovided by said school district on behalf of any board member,\n\nschool superintendent or employee than that portion paid on behalf\n\nof all participating employees of said district.\n\nC. If a school district obtains health insurance coverage from\n\na source other than through the State and Education Employees Group\n\nInsurance Act, the employees of the school district who would be\n\neligible to participate in the health and dental plans may require\n\nthe board of education of the school district to call an election to\n\nallow said employees to vote as to whether the school district shall\n\nparticipate in the health and dental insurance plans offered through\n\nthe State and Education Employees Group Insurance Act. Upon the\n\nfiling with the board of education of a petition calling for such an\n\nelection which is signed by no less than thirty percent (30%) of the\n\neligible employees of the school district, the board of education\n\nshall call an election for the purpose of determining whether the\n\nschool district shall participate in the health and dental insurance\nte and Education Employees Group Insurance Act. Upon the\n\nfiling with the board of education of a petition calling for such an\n\nelection which is signed by no less than thirty percent (30%) of the\n\neligible employees of the school district, the board of education\n\nshall call an election for the purpose of determining whether the\n\nschool district shall participate in the health and dental insurance\n\nplans offered through the State and Education Employees Group\n\nInsurance Act. The election shall be held within thirty (30) days\n\nof the filing of the petition. If a majority of those eligible\n\nemployees voting at the election vote to participate in the health\n\nand dental insurance plans offered through the State and Education\n\nEmployees Group Insurance Act, the board of education of the school\n\ndistrict shall apply for such participation within thirty (30) days\n\nof the election.\n\nD. If a school district does not have any health insurance\n\ncoverage of the type required by this section, that school district\n\nshall immediately be enrolled in the health and dental insurance\n\nplans offered through the State and Education Employees Group\n\nInsurance Act.\n\nE. A carrier providing health insurance coverage for employees\n\nof a school district health insurance group which replaces a\n\nprevious carrier for such school district employees shall provide\n\ncoverage for each retired employee who is receiving a benefit or\n\nterminates employment with a vested benefit from the Teachers'\n\nRetirement System of Oklahoma and who is enrolled in the health\n\ninsurance group by the previous carrier at the time the previous\n\ncarrier providing health insurance coverage is replaced.\n\nNotwithstanding any provision in this section to the contrary, any\n\nperson who retires pursuant to the provisions of the Teachers'\n\nRetirement System of Oklahoma prior to May 1, 1993, or terminates\n\nservice with a vested benefit, pursuant to the provisions of the\n\nTeachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma prior to May 1, 1993, may\n\ncontinue to participate in the health and dental plans authorized by\n\nthe provisions of the State and Education Employees Group Insurance\n\nAct.\n\nF. In the event a school district ceases to exist, the assets\n\nand duties of said school district are transferred to one or more\n\nother school districts, said other school district or districts do\n\nnot agree to employ all of the former employees of the school\n\ndistrict that is ceasing to exist, and said former employees who are\n\nnot being reemployed have rights under federal or state law to\n\ncontinue group insurance coverage, the school district receiving all\n\nor a portion of the assets and duties of the annexing school\n\ndistrict having the largest general fund revenue for the most recent\n\npreceding fiscal year for which data is available shall provide\n\ngroup insurance coverage to said former employees not being retained\n\nduring the period as required by law.\n\nG. Any member of a district board of education who terminates\n\nservice on or after July 1, 2002, who has served ten (10) or more\n\nyears as a district board of education member in this state, and who\n\nis participating at the time of termination in a health and/or\n\ndental insurance plan offered by the school district, may elect upon\n\ntermination of such service to continue participation in the health\n\nand/or dental insurance plan that the member was participating in at\n\nthe time of termination. The election provided in this subsection\n\nshall be made within thirty (30) days from the date of the school\n\nboard member’s termination of service. The school board member\n\nshall pay the full cost of the insurance premium for such after-\n\ntermination coverage at the rate and pursuant to the terms and\n\nconditions of such health and/or dental plan.","path":["OK Code","Title 70"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os70.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"6462990fdd220b5b94a820007739b5b8de93570d3c132393d8ddee658c89123c","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-5-117.4","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-5-117.6"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}