(a) Effective January 1, 2000, a qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner of a deceased member of the Fire and Police Pension Plans shall be entitled to a health insurance subsidy if, at the time of the member’s death, the member was retired and receiving a health subsidy. Effective January 1, 2000, if a member dies after retirement, but prior to receiving a health subsidy, or if the member dies prior to retirement, then the qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner shall be eligible to receive a health insurance subsidy upon the date when the member would have attained age 55, or on January 1, 2000, whichever occurs later, provided the member had a minimum of 10 years of service in the retirement system. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner of a deceased Tier 6 Plan Member retired under the provisions of 1706(a) with less than ten (10) years of service shall not be eligible for a health insurance subsidy.
(b) The maximum health subsidy payment available for a qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner shall not exceed the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS) Kaiser single-party premium for retired members without Part A and B of Medicare nor may such subsidy payment be in excess of any amounts allowed active members of the Fire and Police Pension Plans.
(c) The health subsidy provided to a qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner who does not qualify for Part A of Medicare shall be 4% of the maximum survivor subsidy for each year of the retired member’s service, up to 100% of the maximum survivor subsidy.
(d) The health subsidy provided to a qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner with both Parts A and B of Medicare shall be as follows:
(1) For ten (10) to fourteen (14) years of service by the member, 75% of the qualifying monthly premium.
(2) For fifteen (15) to nineteen (19) years of service by the member, 90% of the qualifying monthly premium.
(3) For twenty (20) or more years of service by the member, 100% of the qualifying monthly premium.
(e) The qualifying monthly premium for qualified surviving spouses and qualified surviving domestic partners, as used in Subsection (d), shall mean the single party monthly premium of the qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner’s approved plan. However, if the monthly premium exceeds the highest single party monthly premium of Medicare A & B plans available to retired members of LACERS, then the premium for the latter shall be the qualifying monthly premium.
(f) A qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner who receives a health subsidy pursuant to Subsection (d) above shall also receive a subsidy for reimbursement of the Medicare Part B basic premium on the terms set forth in Section 4.1162 of this chapter.
(g) As a prerequisite to receiving the health subsidy, a qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner must enroll in Medicare to the full extent of their entitlement at the earliest date of eligibility.
(h) A qualified surviving spouse or qualified surviving domestic partner who is also entitled to a health subsidy pursuant to the provisions for active death health benefits from any Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) shall not be entitled to the health subsidy provided herein for as long as they shall receive that other health subsidy.
(i) The health subsidy provided in this section shall only be used to pay the single party premium cost for approved health insurance plans. Any unused subsidy amount can not be received as cash compensation.
(j) This health insurance subsidy will also be provided to current qualified surviving spouses of deceased members who are receiving monthly survivorship benefits on the effective date of this section.
(k) For purposes of this section, the term “qualified surviving spouse” shall also include an eligible widow as defined in the Charter provisions dealing with the Fire and Police Pension Plans.
SECTION HISTORY
Added by Ord. No. 173,028, Eff. 1-17-00.
Amended by: Sec. Number, Ord. No. 173,136, Eff. 3-24-00; Subsec. (f), Ord. No. 179,538, Eff. 3-2-08; Last Sentence of Subsec. (a) added, Ord. No. 181,770, Eff. 7-8-11.