(1) Any eligible employee may elect to have the employee's dependents covered by the group benefit plans. Such election shall be made at the time the employee becomes enrolled in the plan under such procedures as the director shall establish. If dependent coverage is not elected at the time that an employee becomes enrolled in an appropriate plan, any subsequent election of dependent coverage shall be made under such conditions as the director may impose.
(2) Any employee who elects coverage, as provided in subsection (1) of this section, and who has a change in the number of dependents may, at the time of such change, increase or decrease the number of dependents covered by the group benefit plans under procedures established by and subject to the approval of the director.
(3) Any employee who has no eligible dependents at the time the employee becomes enrolled in the group benefit plans and who later has an eligible dependent may, at the time the dependency status changes, elect appropriate coverage for such dependent under procedures established by and subject to the approval of the director.
(4) If a dependent is no longer eligible for coverage because the dependent turned twenty-six years old, the director shall remove the dependent from the group benefit plan by the end of the month in which the dependent turned twenty-six years old. If the director fails to remove the ineligible dependent, the employee and the employee's department shall not be directly financially liable for the premiums paid for the dependent coverage if no claims have been paid for the ineligible dependent. If the director fails to remove the ineligible dependent and a claim has been paid for the ineligible dependent, the employee and the employee's department shall not be directly financially liable for the paid claim. The costs for premiums and claims paid may be paid from the group benefit plans reserve fund established in section 24-50-613.
Source: L. 94: Entire part added with relocations, p. 1132, � 1, effective May 19. L. 2010: (4) added, (HB 10-1228), ch. 298, p. 1404, � 1, effective July 1. L. 2018: (4) amended, (SB 18-131), ch. 100, p. 775, � 4, effective August 8.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former � 10-8-210 as it existed prior to 1994.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 18-131, see section 1 of chapter 100, Session Laws of Colorado 2018.
24-50-609. State contributions - supplemental state contribution fund - creation - repeal.
(1) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 1934, � 10, effective May 22, 2003.)
(2) (a) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 1934, � 10, effective May 22, 2003.)
(b) (I) The total premium for each particular group benefit plan offered to state employees pursuant to this part 6 and for each tier of said plan shall be the same for all eligible employees. The amount of the state contribution for each tier shall be determined by the director in accordance with section 24-50-104 (4) and shall be the same for all eligible employees within the state personnel system; except that, beginning with the 2008-09 state fiscal year, the state contribution shall be supplemented for eligible state employees, as defined in section 24-50-609.5 (2)(a), in accordance with section 24-50-609.5. For purposes of this section, tier means the particular coverage options offered to eligible employees, including single employee, employee with one covered dependent, and employee with two or more covered dependents.
(II) Repealed.
(3) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2003, p. 1934, � 10, effective May 22, 2003.)
(4) For purposes of this section, employee does not include elected state officials who do not receive compensation other than expense reimbursements from state funds.
(5) (a) The supplemental state contribution fund is created in the state treasury. The principal of the fund consists of tobacco litigation settlement money transferred by the state treasurer to the fund pursuant to section 24-75-1104.5 (1.7)(j). The principal of the fund is continuously appropriated to the department of personnel and shall be expended in its entirety in each fiscal year by the department to pay the costs of increased nonsupplemental state contributions, as defined in section 24-50-609.5 (3)(c)(II), and supplement the state contribution, as defined in section 24-50-609.5 (2)(d), for each eligible state employee, as defined in section 24-50-609.5 (2)(a), enrolled in a qualifying group benefit plan, as defined in section 24-50-609.5 (2)(c), as required by section 24-50-609.5; except that the department shall expend no more than the amount needed to pay the costs of increased nonsupplemental state contributions and reduce the employee contribution, as defined in section 24-50-609.5 (2)(b), of each eligible state employee for all qualifying group benefit plans to zero. The principal of the fund remains in the fund until expended and shall not be transferred to the general fund or any other fund. Interest and income earned on the deposit and investment of money in the fund shall be used by the department, subject to annual appropriation, solely to pay the costs of the department related to the supplementation of the state contribution for each eligible state employee required by section 24-50-609.5.
(b) (I) For state fiscal years commencing on or before July 1, 2024, and on or after July 1, 2026, the state treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the supplemental state contribution fund to the supplemental state contribution fund.
(II) Notwithstanding subsection (5)(a) of this section, for the state fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2025, in accordance with section 24-36-114 (1), the state treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the supplemental state contribution fund to the general fund.
(III) (A) On June 30, 2025, the state treasurer shall transfer one hundred ninety-six thousand nine hundred nine dollars from the supplemental state contribution fund to the general fund.
(B) This subsection (5)(b)(III) is repealed, effective July 1, 2026.
(c) (I) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (5)(a) of this section to the contrary, on July 1, 2025, the state treasurer shall transfer five million dollars from the fund to the general fund.
(II) This subsection (5)(c) is repealed, effective July 1, 2026.
Source: L. 94: Entire part added with relocations, p. 1133, � 1, effective May 19. L. 98: Entire section amended, p. 306, � 2, effective August 5. L. 2000: Entire section amended, p. 1986, � 1, effective July 1. L. 2001, 2nd Ex. Sess.: (2) amended and (3) and (4) added, p. 17, � 2, effective November 6. L. 2002: (1), (2)(a)(II), (2)(b)(II), and (3) amended, p. 1949, � 1, effective June 8. L. 2003: (1), (2), and (3) amended, p. 1934, � 10, effective May 22. L. 2007: (2)(b)(I) amended and (5) added, p. 143, � 4, effective March 22; (2)(b)(I) and (5) amended, p. 1674, � 3, effective May 31. L. 2016: (5) amended, (HB 16-1408), ch. 153, p. 465, � 9, effective July 1. L. 2018: (2)(b)(II) repealed, (SB 18-131), ch. 100, p. 776, � 5, effective August 8. L. 2025: (5) amended, (SB 25-264), ch. 129, p. 504, � 29, effective April 25; (5) amended, (SB 25-317), ch. 385, p. 2156, � 34, effective June 3.
Editor's note: (1) This section was formerly numbered as 10-8-211.
(2) Amendments to subsection (5) by SB 25-264 and SB 25-317 were harmonized.
Cross references: (1) For the legislative declaration contained in the 2001 act amending this section, see section 1 of chapter 4, Session Laws of Colorado 2001, Second Extraordinary Session.
(2) For the legislative declaration in SB 18-131, see section 1 of chapter 100, Session Laws of Colorado 2018. For the legislative declaration in SB 25-317, see section 1 of chapter 385, Session Laws of Colorado 2025.
24-50-609.5. Supplemental state contribution for eligible state employees - legislative declaration - definitions. (1) (a) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:
(I) It is the intent of the general assembly that all children in the state, including lower-income children, have access to affordable and adequate health insurance.
(II) The children of state employees are ineligible for existing federal and state programs, including medicaid and the children's basic health plan, that provide health insurance to lower-income children whose families are not otherwise able to afford health insurance.
(III) Although the state pays a portion of the health insurance premiums for those state employees who enroll in a health insurance plan offered by the state, many lower-income state employees nonetheless cannot afford to pay the required employee contribution to the plan premiums for any plan or the higher employee contribution to a plan with a low deductible and therefore decline to enroll in a health insurance plan or enroll in a high deductible plan, leaving their children without adequate health insurance coverage.
(IV) In order to ensure that children of lower-income state employees have access to affordable and adequate health insurance, it is necessary, appropriate, and in the best interests of the state to encourage lower-income state employees who have dependents other than their spouses to enroll in health insurance plans offered by the state by supplementing the state contribution to their plan premiums in order to reduce the amount of their required employee contributions to plan premiums or to encourage them to enroll in low deductible plans.
(V) (A) By using disease management programs to reduce the costs of health care for state employees who are enrolled in state group benefit plans that provide medical benefits, the state can provide the group benefit plans to more state employees for less money and achieve better outcomes.
(B) National data indicates that the establishment of disease management programs can reduce by fifty percent asthma-related hospital admissions and thereby help the state provide lower cost group benefit plans for all state employees.
(C) The establishment of a pilot disease management program that includes, but is not limited to, a pilot childhood asthma program will maximize the use of moneys allocated for the purpose of supplementing existing health insurance plans for lower-income state employees.
(b) The general assembly further finds and declares that the intent of the general assembly in providing supplements as specified in this section, and the expectation of the general assembly with respect to the executive administration of the provision of supplements, is:
(I) To provide access to affordable and adequate health insurance to as many children of lower-income state employees as possible; and
(II) Because the high deductibles typical of health insurance plans that offer lower premiums can impair or destroy the economic self-sufficiency of lower-income families when health problems arise, to encourage lower-income state employees with dependents other than their spouses to enroll in higher premium plans with low deductibles.
(2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Eligible state employee means an employee, as defined in section 24-50-603 (7), who:
(I) Is eligible, by virtue of his or her state employment, to enroll in a group benefit plan that provides medical or dental benefits;
(II) Has an annual household income of less than three hundred percent of the federal poverty line; and
(III) Has at least one dependent other than the employee's legal spouse.
(b) Employee contribution means the amount contributed by an eligible state employee to pay part of the premium for a qualifying group benefit plan in which the eligible state employee is enrolled.
(c) Qualifying group benefit plan means a group benefit plan that provides medical or dental benefits.
(d) State contribution means the amount contributed by the state to pay part of the premium for a qualifying group benefit plan in which a state employee is enrolled.
(3) (a) For the 2008-09 state fiscal year and for each state fiscal year thereafter, the state, after first allocating the interest and income and next allocating the principal of the supplemental state contribution fund created in section 24-50-609 (5) to pay the costs of increased nonsupplemental state contributions, shall expend the available principal of the state supplemental contribution fund to pay a monthly supplement to the state contribution for each eligible state employee who timely applies for the supplement pursuant to subsection (4) of this section and enrolls in a qualifying group benefit plan in order to reduce the eligible state employee's employee contribution by the amount of the supplement. The amount of the supplement shall be the amount that reduces the aggregate amount of the eligible state employee's employee contribution for all qualifying group benefit plans to zero; except that, if the available principal of the supplemental state contribution fund is insufficient to provide full supplements for all eligible state employees as specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection (3):
(I) The available principal shall first be used to provide each eligible state employee who has an annual household income of less than two hundred percent of the federal poverty line a supplement in an amount equal to the lesser of the equivalent percentage of the applicable employee contribution for each such eligible state employee that uses all of the available principal or the amount needed to reduce the employee contribution of each such eligible state employee for all qualifying group benefit plans to zero.
(II) Remaining available principal next shall be used to provide each eligible state employee who has an annual household income of two hundred percent or more of the federal poverty line but less than two hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty line a supplement in an amount equal to the lesser of the equivalent percentage of the applicable employee contribution for each such eligible state employee that uses all of the available principal or the amount needed to reduce the employee contribution of each such eligible state employee for all qualifying group benefit plans to zero.
(III) Remaining available principal last shall be used to provide each eligible state employee who has an annual household income of at least two hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty line a supplement in an amount equal to the lesser of the equivalent percentage of the applicable employee contribution for each such eligible state employee that uses all of the available principal of the fund or the amount needed to reduce the employee contribution of each such eligible state employee for all qualifying group benefit plans to zero.
(b) All supplements shall be paid from the available principal of the supplemental state contribution fund created in section 24-50-609 (5). The total amount of all supplements paid for any given fiscal year shall be the lesser of the amount of all available principal of the supplemental state contribution fund or the amount of the available principal needed to reduce the employee contribution of each eligible state employee for all qualifying group benefit plans to zero. If an eligible state employee who receives a supplement is enrolled in separate qualifying group benefit plans for medical and dental benefits, the state shall supplement the state contribution to the plan that provides medical benefits until the employee contribution for that plan is reduced to zero before supplementing the state contribution to the plan that provides dental benefits.
(c) For purposes of this subsection (3):
(I) Available principal of the supplemental state contribution fund or available principal means, for any given fiscal year, the sum of the amount of tobacco litigation settlement moneys transferred by the state treasurer to the fund on July 1 of the fiscal year and any other principal of the fund minus the amount of principal allocated during the fiscal year to pay the costs of increased nonsupplemental state contributions pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (3).
(II) Increased nonsupplemental state contributions means, for any given fiscal year, the aggregate amount of increases in state contributions, excluding supplements, resulting from:
(A) Enrollment in qualifying group benefit plans of eligible state employees who applied for supplements for the fiscal year and were not enrolled in qualifying group benefit plans during the prior fiscal year; and
(B) Addition of dependents who were not covered by a qualifying group benefit plan during the prior fiscal year to the qualifying group benefit plans of eligible state employees who applied for supplements during the fiscal year.
(4) A state employee shall apply to the department of personnel for a supplement. The application shall be on a form prescribed by the director, and the employee shall provide any supporting information that the director may reasonably require to allow the department to verify that the state employee is an eligible state employee. A state employee shall file an application for a supplement annually during the open enrollment period or open enrollment grace period for enrolling in group benefit plans for the next state fiscal year, and, if the applicant is an eligible state employee and enrolls in a qualifying group benefit plan, the applicant shall receive a supplement for the next state fiscal year. A newly hired state employee shall not be eligible for a supplement in the state fiscal year in which he or she is hired, but may apply for a supplement during the open enrollment period or open enrollment grace period for enrolling in group benefit plans for the next state fiscal year.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 24-1-136 (11)(a), no later than January 15, 2009, and no later than each succeeding January 15, the department of personnel shall report to the health and human services committees of the house and senate and the joint budget committee of the general assembly or any successor committees regarding the supplemental state contribution program established in this section. The report shall include, at a minimum, information regarding:
(a) The number of eligible state employees receiving supplements in the current state fiscal year and any prior state fiscal years in which supplements were provided;
(b) The total amount of supplements that have been or will be paid in the current state fiscal year and that were paid in any prior state fiscal years in which supplements were provided;
(c) The average monthly and yearly amounts of the individual supplements provided for the current state fiscal year and for any prior state fiscal years in which supplements were provided;
(d) The number of dependent children of eligible state employees receiving supplements covered by a qualifying group benefit plan during the current state fiscal year and for any prior state fiscal years in which supplements were provided; and
(e) The amount of increased nonsupplemental state contributions, as defined in subparagraph (II) of paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of this section, for the current state fiscal year and for any prior state fiscal years in which supplements were provided.
Source: L. 2007: Entire section added, p. 1669, � 1, effective May 31. L. 2010: (2)(a)(II), (3)(a)(I), (3)(a)(II), and (3)(a)(III) amended, (HB 10-1422), ch. 419, p. 2085, � 70, effective August 11.