Section 7000.

(a) Notwithstanding Article 1 (commencing with Section 53200) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, a county superintendent of schools, a school district, or a community college district, which provides health and welfare benefits or dental care benefits for the benefit of its certificated employees, shall permit enrollment in, respectively, the health and welfare benefit plan or dental care benefit plan currently provided for its current certificated employees by any former certificated employee thereof who retired therefrom under any public retirement system and his or her spouse and by any surviving spouse of a former certificated employee thereof who either retired therefrom under any public retirement system or was, at the time of death, both employed thereby in a position requiring contributions to the State Teachers' Retirement System and a member of the State Teachers' Retirement System.

This subdivision does not apply to either the new spouse upon the remarriage of a surviving spouse of a former certificated employee or the children of a certificated or former certificated employee.

(b) A county superintendent of schools or district may develop an experience claims rating for the persons specified in subdivision (a) and may, if appropriate, require those persons to pay different rates as a class. Any plan pursuant to this article shall provide separate single and two-party rates for at least the following classes: for those under 65, for those over 65 who have Medicare A and B, and for those over 65 who do not have Medicare A.

(c) The county superintendent of schools, school district, or community college district shall annually select a one-month period during which persons described by subdivision (a) may elect to enroll in, respectively, the health and welfare benefit plan or the dental care benefit plan or change their enrollment from one to another health and welfare plan or dental care benefit plan, respectively.

(d) A certificated school employee who retired on or before August 24, 1986, the effective date of Chapter 561 of the Statutes of 1986, or the surviving spouse of a certificated employee retired as of August 25, 1986, shall be permitted to enroll in any district health and dental care plan during the 1986, 1987, and 1988 enrollment periods.

(e) A certificated school employee who retires after August 24, 1986, the effective date of Chapter 561 of the Statutes of 1986, or the surviving spouse of a certificated employee retired as of August 25, 1986, shall be allowed to enroll in the coverage provided by this article within 30 days of losing active employee coverage, but if the retiree does not enroll in a district health or dental care plan during this initial enrollment period, the retiree may be denied further opportunity to do so.

The enrollment period for retirees under this subdivision shall correspond to that provided to active employees, unless a district chooses to offer an additional enrollment period.

(f) This article shall permit enrollment into any district health and dental care plan only once. A retiree or spouse or surviving spouse of a certificated employee who has been previously covered under this article and who has voluntarily terminated that coverage, thereafter may be excluded from obtaining coverage under this article. This subdivision does not apply to a person who is changing plans within a district during an open enrollment period.

(g) Retirees or surviving spouses of certificated employees may be enrolled in a medical care plan pursuant to this section during periods other than those specified therein if they lose their coverage. With documentation of prior coverage, they may be allowed to enroll in a medical care plan, if they do so within 31 days of losing their other coverage.

(h) Any person described by subdivision (a) who elects, pursuant to this article, to be covered by, respectively, a health and welfare benefit plan or dental care benefit plan, may be required to pay all premiums, dues, and other charges, including any increases in the rate of premiums or dues for these persons, and all costs incurred by the district or county superintendent of schools in administering this article.

(Amended by Stats. 1990, Ch. 1372, Sec. 42.)