Ohio Administrative Code|Rule 145-4-27 | Health reimbursement arrangement.

                                                
(A) As used in this rule:
(1) "Health
			 reimbursement arrangement" or "HRA" means the public employees
			 retirement system of Ohio health reimbursement arrangement plan, effective
			 November 1, 2021, funded by the 115 trust or such other funding vehicle or
			 mechanism established by the retirement system, from which the reimbursement of
			 qualifying medical expenses may be made. The HRA may have component plans as
			 determined by the public employees retirement board. The text of the public
			 employees retirement system of Ohio health reimbursement arrangement plan shall
			 not be incorporated into this or any other rule of the Administrative Code. The
			 current version is available at www.opers.org.
(2) "Pre-Medicare
			 health reimbursement arrangement" or "PMCR" means the public
			 employees retirement system of Ohio pre-medicare health reimbursement
			 arrangement plan, a component plan of the HRA, effective November 1, 2021,
			 funded by the 115 trust or such other funding vehicle or mechanism established
			 by the retirement system, from which the reimbursement of qualifying medical
			 expenses may be made. The text of the public employees retirement system of
			 Ohio pre-medicare health reimbursement arrangement plan shall not be
			 incoporated into this or any other rule of the Administrative Code. The current
			 version is available at www. opers.org.
(3) "Medicare health
			 reimbursement arrangement" or "MCR" means the public employees
			 retirement system of Ohio medicare health reimbursement arrangement plan, a
			 component plan of the HRA, effective October 1, 2015, and restated January 1,
			 2022, funded by the 115 trust or such other funding vehicle or mechanism
			 established by the retirement system, from which the reimbursement of
			 qualifying medical expenses may be made. The text of the public employees
			 retirement system of Ohio medicare health reimbursement arrangement plan shall
			 not be incorporated into this or any other rule of the Administrative Code. The
			 current version is available at www. opers.org.
(4) "Monthly health
			 care allowance" or "monthly allowance" means the monthly amount
			 that is allocated to each individual enrolled in the HRA. The monthly allowance
			 shall be determined by the board and offered in the form of a notional credit
			 to the health reimbursement arrangement consistent with the provisions of that
			 plan.
(5) "Qualified years
			 of employer contributions" shall mean years of employer contributions and
			 the years purchased or transferred under section 145.295, 145.2911, or 145.37
			 of the Revised Code that, if earned or obtained in the public employees
			 retirement system, would be the equivalent of the years of employer
			 contributions. Qualified years of employer contributions do not include the
			 contributions that are the basis of a lump sum pursuant to division (I)(2)(b)
			 or (I)(3)(b) of section 145.332 of the Revised Code, unless the lump sum is
			 issued pursuant to division (N)(3) of section 145.332 of the Revised
			 Code.
(6) "Years of
			 employer contributions" means the years or portions of a year for which
			 the member's employer contributed to the public empoyees retirement system
			 under section 145.302, 145.48, or 145.483 of the Revised Code, section 3.02 of
			 the combined plan document, or article VI of the combined or member-directed
			 plan document. Beginning January 1, 2014, "years of employer
			 contributions" means the years or portions of a year described in this
			 paragraph for which the member's monthly earnable salary on and after
			 January 1, 2014, is one thousand dollars or greater.
(B) Except as provided in this rule, the
		  rights of an individual participating in the PMCR or MCR to a monthly allowance
		  or to reimbursement under the PMCR or MCR, including eligibility to participate
		  and coordination of coverage, shall be governed exclusively by the provisions
		  of the health reimbursement arrangement plans described in paragraph (A)(2) or
		  (A)(3) of this rule.
(1) Eligibility to
			 participate shall be set by the board and described in the PMCR and MCR and
			 shall be based upon qualified years of employer contibutions, age, and medicare
			 eligibility. The board shall set the minimum required qualified years of
			 employer contibutions subject to the following:
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (B)(1)(c) of this rule,
				the board shall require at least ten years of service credit, as described in
				paragraph (A)(1) of former rule 145-4-06 of the Administrative Code, for
				individuals with a benefit effective date prior to January 1,
				2015.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (B)(1)(c) of this rule,
				the board shall not set the minimum required qualified years of employer
				contributions below twenty years of qualified years of employer contributions
				for individuals with a benefit effective date on or after January 1,
				2015.
(c) The following individuals shall not be subject to the
				requirements of paragraphs (B)(1)(a) and (B)(1)(b) of this rule:
(i) A disability benefit
				  recipient with a benefit effective date prior to January 1, 2014;
(ii) A disability benefit
				  recipient with a benefit effective date on or after Januray 1, 2014, who has
				  been receiving disability benefits for less than five years;
(iii) A disability
				  benefit recipient that is eligible for medicare prior to age 65 on the basis of
				  disability.
(C) For purposes of determining
		  eligibility, the retirement system shall aggregate years of employer
		  contributions earned and purchased in both the traditional pension plan and the
		  combined plan if both of the following apply:
(1) The member is
			 eligible to retire independently from both the traditional pension plan and the
			 combined plan;
(2) The member applies
			 for retirement under both the traditional pension plan and the combined plan
			 with the same effective date of benefits under both plans.
(D) Any person eligible to receive a
		  monthly allowance or reimbursement under the PMCR or MCR shall inform the
		  retirement system, in writing, not later than thirty days after the person no
		  longer meets the requirements of the health reimbursement arrangement plans
		  described in paragraphs (A)(2) or (3) of this rule.


Last updated January 3, 2022 at 9:10 AM