HB 6231 — AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME FACULTY EMPLOYED BY THE CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.

House of Representatives General Assembly FileSubstitute Bill No.

3006231 January Session, 2021 SubstituteAN HouseACT BillCONCERNING No.HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR PART- TIME FACULTY EMPLOYED BY THE CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.

6231 House of Representatives, April 7, 2021 The Committee on Higher Education and Employment Advancement reported through REP.

ELLIOTT of the 88th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR PART- TIME FACULTY EMPLOYED BY THE CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.

(b) The Comptroller shall include any part-time professional employee of the Connecticut State University System in the group hospitalization and medical and surgical insurance plan established pursuant to subsection (a) of section 5-259 who (1) elects to participate in such plan pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, and (2) has taught sHB6231not /less Filethan No.ninety credit hours in aggregate during the preceding ten academic years at any state university within the Connecticut State University System.

300The 1state sHB6231shall Filepay for each such employee covered by such plan or plans the portion of the premium charged for such employee's coverage on the same terms and conditions offered to part- LCO \\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2021HB-06231-R031 of 2 HB.docx Substitute Bill No.

3006231 nottime lessprofessional thanemployees ninetyof credit hours in aggregate during the precedingConnecticut tenState academicUniversity yearsSystem atwho anyteach statenine universityor withinmore thecredit Connecticuthours Statein Universityaggregate System.each semester.

The state shall pay for each such employee covered by such plan or plans the portion of the premium charged for such employee's coverage on the same terms and conditions offered to part- time professional employees of the Connecticut State University System who teach nine or more credit hours in aggregate each semester.

sHB6231APP /Joint FileFavorable No.LCO R03-HB.docx }OUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2021HB-06231- 2 of 2

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300 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $ Board of Regents for Higher Various - Cost 1.6 million 1.6 million Education to 2.4 to 2.4 million million Note:

Various=Various Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill, which extends state employee healthbenefits to certain part- time experienced faculty who teach at a Connecticut state university, is anticipated to result in a cost to the Board of Regents of approximately $1.6 million to $2.4 million in both FY 22 and FY 23.

The bill's cost is due to the state newly paying the employer share of health insurance costs for part-time faculty members who:

(1) teach fewer than nine credits;

(2) have taught at least 90 credits cumulatively amongthefourConnecticutstateuniversities,overthelasttenacademic years;

and (3) choose to enroll in state health insurance coverage (and are not enrolled through other employment).

Currently, all part-time faculty members who teach fewer than nine credits are eligible for state employee health benefits but must pay the full cost, including the employer share, regardless of experience level.

(Part-time faculty members who teach more than nine credits across the CSUs are unaffected by this bill because they are already eligible to receive full state employee health benefits.) The bill is estimated to result in a cost to the Board of Regents of $1.6 sHB6231 / File No.

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300 million to $2.4 million annually, beginning in FY 22.

The estimate is based on an average cost to the state of $1,115 per month for state medical and dental benefits selected by currently employed part-time experienced CSU faculty who have chosen to enroll in state health coverage.

Seven months of coverage (fall and spring semesters) is assumed for a per-person average cost of $7,804.

Based on employee- level data provided by the Office of the State Comptroller, an estimated 210to310part-timeexperiencedfacultymaybenefitfromthebill,ifthey choose to enroll in coverage.

The resulting cost is approximately $1.6 million to $2.4 million annually.

The cost of the bill is borne by the Board of Regents, instead of the Office oftheState Comptroller (OSC),because ofhowfringe benefits are paidfor employeesoftheconstituent units.

Asthebilldoesnot dedicate additional General Fund block grant dollars to the constituent units, or appropriate additionalfunds to OSC, it is assumed the costs will be paid through non-General Fund revenues of the Board of Regents.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation in state health benefits costs as reflected in the employer share and changes in the number of eligible experienced part-time CSU faculty.

Part-time faculty members are eligible for health benefits only for the term of their contracts, according to a 2007 memo from the Office of the State Comptroller that continues to guide current policy.

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300 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 6231 AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR PART-TIME FACULTY EMPLOYED BY THE CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.

SUMMARY By law, any part-time, professional employee of the state’s public higher education system may choose to participate in the state’s group medical insurance plan.

Employees who participate must pay the premiumsfor thecoverage planthey select.In practice,these employees must meet a 20 hour per week employment threshold as established in the state comptroller’s issued guidance in order to be eligible to participate.

This bill extends eligibility for participating in the plan to part-time, professional employees of the Connecticut State University System (CSUS) who have taught at least 90 credit hours in the aggregate during the prior 10 academic years at any state university in the system.