§ 4-6.03 EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

a. Any medical/hospitalization benefit program provided for state employees shall include the following provision: any state employee, as defined in § 2.1-20.1 2.2-2818, Code of Virginia, shall have the option to accept or reject coverage.

b. Except as provided for sworn personnel of the Department of State Police, no payment of, or reimbursement for, the employer paid contribution to the State Police Officers' Retirement System, or any system offering like benefits, shall be made by the Compensation Board of the Commonwealth at a rate greater than the employer rate established for the general classified workforce of the Commonwealth covered under the Virginia Retirement System. Any cost for benefits exceeding such general rate shall be borne by the employee or, in the case of a political subdivision, by the employer.

c. Each agency may, within the funds appropriated by this act, implement a transit and ridesharing incentive program for its employees. With such programs, agencies may reimburse employees for all or a portion of the costs incurred from using public transit, car pools, or van pools. The Secretary of Transportation shall develop guidelines for the implementation of such programs and any agency program must be developed in accordance with such guidelines. The guidelines shall be in accordance with the federal National Energy Policy Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-486), and no program shall provide an incentive that exceeds the actual costs incurred by the employee.

d. Any hospital with fewer than 105 beds and which has a minority patient population in excess of 75 percent shall be allowed to participate in the Employee Health Insurance Program pursuant to § 2.1-20.1 2.2-2818, Code of Virginia, provided that such hospital enters into a written agreement to accept the same level of reimbursement as the participating hospitals in the same geographic region.

e. Any hospital that serves as the primary medical facility for state employees may be allowed to participate in the State Employee Health Insurance Program pursuant to § 2.1-20.1 2.2-2818, Code of Virginia, provided that (1) such hospital is not a participating provider in the network, contracted by the Department of Personnel and Training Human Resource Management, that serves state employees and (2) such hospital enters into a written agreement with the Department of Personnel and Training Human Resource Management as to the rates of reimbursement. The Department shall accept the lowest rates offered by the hospital from among the rates charged by the hospital to (1) its largest purchaser of care, (2) any state or federal public program, or (3) any special rate developed by the hospital for the state employee health benefits program which is lower than either of the rates above. If the Department and the hospital cannot come to an agreement, the Department shall reimburse the hospital at the rates contained in its final offer to the hospital until the dispute is resolved. Any dispute shall be resolved through arbitration or through the procedures established by the Administrative Process Act, as the hospital may decide, without impairment of any residual right to judicial review.

f. Any classified employee of the Commonwealth who (i) is compensated on a salaried basis and (ii) works at least twenty hours per week shall be considered a full-time employee for the purposes of participation in the Virginia Retirement System's group life insurance and retirement programs. Any part-time magistrate hired prior to July 1, 1999, shall have the option of participating in the programs under this provision.

g. Provided however, that notwithstanding Notwithstanding the provisions of § 51.1-306 A 2, Code of Virginia, any member of the Judicial Retirement System in service on the effective date of this Act act who has attained his fifty-fifth birthday and has at least twenty-five years of actual un-weighted service in the Judicial Retirement System shall be eligible for a full unreduced retirement based upon his actual age and service in the Judicial Retirement System. Members of the Judicial Retirement System must exercise their option under this provision no later than February 1, 2001.