Subd. 1. Plan created.

The Minnesota State Retirement System shall establish a plan or plans, known as health care savings plans, through which public employers and employees may save to cover health care costs. The Minnesota State Retirement System shall make available one or more trusts, including a governmental trust or governmental trusts, authorized under the Internal Revenue Code to be eligible for tax-preferred or tax-free treatment through which employers and employees can save to cover health care costs.

Subd. 2. Contracting authorized.

The Minnesota State Retirement System is authorized to administer the plan and to contract with public and private entities to provide investment services, record keeping, benefit payments, and other functions necessary for the administration of the plan. If allowed by the Minnesota State Board of Investment, the Minnesota State Board of Investment supplemental investment funds may be offered as investment options under the health care savings plan or plans.

Subd. 3. Contributions.

1. (a) Contributions to the plan must be determined through a personnel policy or in a collective bargaining agreement of a public employer with the exclusive representative of the covered employees in an appropriate unit. The Minnesota State Retirement System may offer different types of trusts permitted under the Internal Revenue Code to best meet the needs of different employee units.
2. (b) Contributions to the plan by or on behalf of the employee must be held in trust for reimbursement of employee and dependent health-related expenses following retirement from public employment or during active employment. The Minnesota State Retirement System shall maintain a separate account of the contributions made by or on behalf of each participant and the earnings thereon. The Minnesota State Retirement System shall make available a limited range of investment options, and each employee may direct the investment of the accumulations in the employee's account among the investment options made available by the Minnesota State Retirement System. At the request of a participating employer and employee group, the Minnesota State Retirement System may determine how the assets of the affected employer and employee group should be invested.
3. (c) This section does not obligate a public employer to meet and negotiate in good faith with the exclusive bargaining representative of any public employee group regarding an employer contribution to a postretirement or active employee health care savings plan authorized by this section and section 356.24, subdivision 1, clause (7). It is not the intent of the legislature to authorize the state to incur new funding obligations for the costs of retiree health care or the costs of administering retiree health care plans or accounts.

Subd. 4. Reimbursement for health-related expenses.

The Minnesota State Retirement System shall reimburse employees at least quarterly for submitted health-related expenses, as required by federal and state law, until the employee exhausts the accumulation in the employee's account. If an employee dies prior to exhausting the employee's account balance, the employee's spouse or dependents are eligible to be reimbursed for health care expenses from the account until the account balance is exhausted. If an account balance remains after the death of a participant and all of the participant's legal dependents, the remainder of the account must be paid to the employee's beneficiaries or, if none, to the employee's estate.

Subd. 5. Fees.

The Minnesota state retirement plan is authorized to charge uniform fees to participants to cover the ongoing cost of operating the plan. Any fees not needed must revert to participant accounts or be used to reduce plan fees the following year.

Subd. 6.

[Repealed, 2007 c 133 art 2 s 13]

Subd. 7. Contracting with private entities.

Nothing in this section prohibits employers from contracting with private entities to provide for health care reimbursement plans.

Subd. 8. Exemption from process.

Assets in a health care savings plan account described in this section must be used for the reimbursement of healthcare expenses and are not assignable or subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process, except as provided in section 518.58, 518.581, or 518A.53.