Board highlights passage of bill expanding medical‑premium reimbursements for surviving spouses
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Summary
The board reviewed passage of House Bill 2,441, which closes two gaps in surviving‑spouse medical‑premium reimbursements — restoring reimbursements when a surviving spouse becomes Medicare‑eligible and covering premiums between a member's death and a line‑of‑duty determination — and instructed staff to coordinate retroactive claims with DRS.
The Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' Plan 2 Retirement Board on Tuesday reviewed the passage of House Bill 2,441, which expands medical‑insurance premium reimbursements for surviving spouses of line‑of‑duty deaths.
Jacob, the board's staff presenter, said the bill fixes two coverage gaps identified in letters from surviving spouses. "Once surviving spouses became Medicare‑eligible, they went from being fully reimbursed to being partially reimbursed because the law did not allow reimbursement for the Medicare component," Jacob said, adding the bill allows for those Medicare‑related reimbursements going forward. He also said the bill makes survivors eligible to be reimbursed for premiums incurred between the time a member died and the time the death was determined to be line‑of‑duty, a process that sometimes took months or longer.
Jacob said the retroactive period is tied to the original legislation that first made surviving spouses eligible for premium reimbursement; staff identified 2010 as the retroactive starting point and will coordinate with the Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) to reach surviving spouses and outline the paperwork needed for retroactive claims. "We'll be partnering with the Department of Retirement Systems on how to reach out to these surviving spouses," he said.
The board did not take formal votes on the bill at the meeting; Jacob described next steps as administrative outreach and coordination with DRS to process retroactive claims. The board asked staff to bring updates as the DRS outreach and claim processing proceed.
