22869.5.
(a) The board shall offer a Health Savings Account option to all employees and annuitants. In addition to the basic health benefit plans described in Sections 22830 and 22850, and notwithstanding any other provision of this part, the board shall approve at least one high deductible health plan, as defined in Section 223(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code.(b) The design and administration of the Health Savings Account option shall comply with the standards provided in Section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code and any other applicable revenue procedures or provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(c) (1) An employee or annuitant who qualifies as an eligible individual, as defined in Section 223(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code, and who elects to participate in the Health Savings Account option shall enroll in a high deductible health plan offered by the board and shall contribute the total cost per month of the benefit coverage afforded him or her under that plan less the portion thereof to be contributed by the employer.
(2) The employee or annuitant shall also designate an additional amount to be deducted from his or her salary or retirement allowance for qualified medical expenses. The amount shall be no less than fifty dollars ($50) per month. The amount shall be deposited into the Public Employees’ Health Savings Fund and shall be credited to a nominal, interest-bearing account in the name of the employee or annuitant.
(3) For purposes of this section, “qualified medical expenses” means those expenses as defined in Section 223(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(d) (1) The employer of an employee or annuitant who elects to participate in the Health Savings Account option shall contribute a portion, pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 22870) or Article 8 (commencing with Section 22890), of the cost of providing the benefit coverage under the high deductible health plan.
(2) The employer shall also contribute an amount equal to the difference between the amount contributed pursuant to paragraph (1) and the weighted average of the health benefit plan premiums the employer would have paid if the employee or annuitant had enrolled in a plan other than the high deductible health plan, and that amount shall be deposited into the Public Employees’ Health Savings Fund and shall be credited to a nominal account in the name of the employee or annuitant.
(e) The limit on contributions made to an employee’s or annuitant’s Health Savings Account by the employee, annuitant, or the employer of the employee or annuitant shall not exceed the maximum limit set by the Internal Revenue Code for a Health Savings Account.
(f) Moneys credited to the employee’s or annuitant’s nominal account in the Public Employees’ Health Savings Fund shall be disbursed to pay qualified medical expenses incurred by the employee or annuitant, in accordance with Section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code.
(g) The board shall adopt regulations necessary to implement this section.