South Carolina Code 1-11-705. South Carolina Retiree Health Insurance Trust fund established; administration
(B) The board is the trustee of the SCRHI Trust Fund and the State Treasurer is the custodian of the funds of the SCRHI Trust Fund.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 1-11-705
- Actuarial assumptions: means assumptions regarding the occurrence of future events affecting costs of the SCRHI Trust Fund or LTDI Trust Fund such as mortality, withdrawal, disability, and retirement; changes in compensation; aging effects and cost trends for post-employment benefits; benefit election rates; rates of investment earnings and asset appreciation or depreciation; procedures used to determine the actuarial value of assets; and other such relevant items. See South Carolina Code 1-11-703
- Actuarially sound: means that calculated contributions to the SCRHI Trust Fund or LTDI Trust Fund are sufficient to pay the full actuarial cost of these trust funds. See South Carolina Code 1-11-703
- Administrative expenses: means all expenses incurred in the operation of the SCRHI Trust Fund and LTDI Trust Fund, including all investment expenses. See South Carolina Code 1-11-703
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Board: means the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority. See South Carolina Code 1-11-703
- Employee: includes an individual who contracts with an agency for personal services. See South Carolina Code 1-6-10
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- IBNR: means unpaid health claims incurred but not reported. See South Carolina Code 1-11-703
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Operating account: means the health insurance program's business operating activities account maintained by the State Treasurer in which are deposited all premiums for enrollees in self-funded health plans authorized in this article, along with employer contributions for active employees covered by such self-funded health plans, and from which claims and administrative expenses of the self-funded health and dental plans administered by the employee insurance program are paid. See South Carolina Code 1-11-703
- SCRHI Trust Fund: means the South Carolina Retiree Health Insurance Trust Fund established pursuant to § 1-11-705 to fund the employer cost for health benefits for retired state employees and retired public school district employees. See South Carolina Code 1-11-703
- State health and dental plans: means any insurance program administered by the employee insurance program pursuant to this article. See South Carolina Code 1-11-703
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(C) The employee insurance program shall administer the SCRHI Trust Fund.
(D) The employee insurance program shall engage actuarial and other services as required to transact the business of the SCRHI Trust Fund. The actuary engaged by the employee insurance program shall provide technical advice to the board regarding operation of the SCRHI Trust Fund.
(E) Upon recommendations of the actuary, the board shall adopt generally accepted and reasonable actuarial assumptions and methods for the operation and funding of the SCRHI Trust Fund as it considers necessary and prudent. The actuarial assumptions and methods adopted by the board must be appropriate for the purposes at hand and must be reasonable, individually and in the aggregate, taking into account the experience of the plan and reasonable expectations. Utilizing the actuarial assumptions most recently adopted by the board, the actuary engaged by the employee insurance program shall set the annual actuarial valuations of normal cost, actuarial liability, actuarial value of assets, and related actuarial present values for the SCRHI Trust Fund.
(F) The board may adopt policies and procedures and promulgate regulations as necessary for the proper administration of the SCRHI Trust Fund.
(G)(1) The funds of the SCRHI Trust Fund must be invested and reinvested by the State Treasurer in the manner allowed by law. The State Treasurer shall consult with the employee insurance program and the employee insurance program’s actuary to develop an annual investment plan for the SCRHI Trust Fund taking into account the cash flow needs of the employee insurance program with regard to payment of the employer share of premiums and claims for covered retirees.
(2) Effective beginning with the first fiscal year after the ratification of an amendment to Section 16, Article X of the Constitution of this State allowing funds in post-employment benefits trust funds to be invested in equity securities, the Retirement System Investment Commission (RSIC) established pursuant to Chapter 16 of Title 9, shall invest and reinvest the funds of the SCRHI Trust Fund as assets of a retirement system are invested. The chief investment officer shall consult with the employee insurance program and the employee insurance program’s actuary to develop an annual investment plan for the SCRHI Trust Fund taking into account the cash flow needs of the employee insurance program with regard to payment of the employer share of premiums and claims for covered retirees. After the initial fiscal year the RSIC assumes this investing function, the annual investment plan for the SCRHI Trust Fund must be approved by the commission no later than June first of each year for the fiscal year beginning July first of the same calendar year.
(H) The board annually shall determine the minimum annual required contributions to the SCRHI Trust Fund on an actuarially sound basis in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 45, or any other Governmental Accounting Standards Board statements that may be applicable to the SCRHI Trust Fund.
(I) The board shall fund the SCRHI Trust Fund:
(1) through the employer contributions for the South Carolina Retirement Systems as provided in § 1-11-710(A)(2). The total employer contributions collected from the State and school districts for post-employment benefits must be transferred immediately to the SCRHI Trust Fund for investment, reinvestment, and the payment of post-employment benefits;
(2) by transfer of the Employee Insurance Program as of January thirty-first of each calendar year to the trust fund from the employee insurance program’s operating account, the cash balance in the operating account in excess of one hundred forty percent of the actuarially-determined IBNR reserves of the state’s health plans as of December thirty-first of the preceding year. On May 1, 2008, an initial transfer must take place applicable to the cash balance as of December 31, 2007; and
(3) with funding as authorized by the General Assembly pursuant to § 1-11-710(D).
(J) Each month, the employee insurance program shall determine the monthly amount of the state-funded employer premium with respect to retired state employees and retired public school district employees who are eligible for state-paid employer premiums pursuant to § 1-11-730, and shall transfer this amount to the operating account from the SCRHI Trust Fund. In addition, the employee insurance program shall transfer the total cost of post-employment benefits for retirees and their dependents, net of premium contributions made on behalf of retirees and other sources of revenue attributable to retirees, in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statements Nos. 43 and 45 and the Implementation Guide.
(K) The funds of the SCRHI Trust Fund may only be used for the payment of employer-provided other post-employment benefits under the terms of the state health and dental plans. The administrative costs related to the administration of the SCRHI Trust Fund, and the investment and reinvestment of its funds, may be funded from the earnings of the SCRHI Trust Fund.
(L) As a trust, the funds of the SCRHI Trust Fund are not assets of the State or the school districts or their respective agencies. The contributions to the SCRHI Trust Fund are irrevocable and may not revert to the employer except upon complete satisfaction of all liabilities and administrative expenses of the state health and dental plans of other post-employment benefits provided pursuant to the state health and dental plans.