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Board asks staff for comprehensive report on Medicare reimbursements for surviving spouses
Summary
After receiving a survivor letter, the board directed staff to prepare a comprehensive report, including coordination with the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB), to determine whether surviving spouses of line-of-duty deaths should be reimbursed for Medicare premiums and related coverage gaps.
The LEOFF Plan 2 Board voted July 23 to request a comprehensive report on whether the board can or should reimburse surviving spouses of line-of-duty deaths for Medicare premiums and other medical insurance costs. The motion, made by board member Wolf and seconded, asked staff to coordinate specifically with the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB).
Jacob White, presenting the item, said the issue arose after a surviving spouse wrote that she had been required to enroll in Medicare when eligible but was not reimbursed for Medicare Part A or Part B premiums. “There is no statute that authorizes reimbursement for Medicare premiums from LEOFF 2,” White told the board, adding that surviving spouses continue to be reimbursed for PEBB (PEP/PEBB) premiums but that Medicare itself is not listed as reimbursable in the statute the board administers. White also noted a difference between statutory language for catastrophic disability and for surviving spouses: the catastrophic statute explicitly lists Medicare Parts A and B as reimbursable while the surviving-spouse language does not.
White said he had obtained Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) data showing about 30 surviving spouses currently enrolled in Medicare and that the costs varied by PEBB plan and family plan type. One letter in the board packet described a surviving spouse who paid COBRA while awaiting a line-of-duty determination and later sought reimbursement when her case was eventually found to be a line-of-duty death; White said DRS currently lacks statutory authority to reimburse those COBRA payments.
Board members asked that the comprehensive report analyze the statutory and administrative interactions between Medicare and PEBB, whether statutory change is required to reimburse Medicare premiums, and whether any remedy should be retroactive for affected survivors. Senator [title used in transcript] and other board members emphasized the need to understand the interplay between enrolling in Medicare Parts A/B and maintaining or coordinating PEBB coverage. The board approved the motion by voice vote with no recorded opposition.
