1. (a) The following persons are eligible to be enrolled in the Texas Public School Retired Employees Group Insurance Program (TRS-Care):

   1. (1) service retirees of the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) who are not eligible to be enrolled as an employee or retiree by a plan provided under the Texas Employees Uniform Group Insurance Benefits Act (Texas Insurance Code, Article 3.50-2), or under the Texas State College and University Uniform Insurance Benefits Act (Texas Insurance Code, Article 3.50-3);
   2. (2) disability retirees of the Teacher Retirement System who are not eligible to be enrolled as an employee or retiree by a plan provided under the Texas Employees Uniform Group Insurance Benefits Act (Texas Insurance Code, Article 3.50-2), or under the Texas State College and University Uniform Insurance Benefits Act (Texas Insurance Code, Article 3.50-3);
   3. (3) surviving spouses of deceased service or disability retirees of the Teacher Retirement System; and
   4. (4) surviving dependent children of a deceased service or disability retiree or of a deceased active TRS member.
2. (b) To be eligible for coverage under TRS-Care under this section, a service retiree of the Teacher Retirement System must have 10 years of service credit for actual service in the public schools of Texas.
3. (c) A disability retiree with less than 10 years of service credit will not be eligible for coverage under TRS-Care when disability retirement benefits terminate.
4. (d) A surviving spouse of a deceased TRS service or disability retiree is eligible to enroll in TRS-Care if the deceased TRS service or disability retiree was eligible to enroll or would have been eligible to enroll in TRS-Care at the time of the retiree's death.

5. (e) A surviving spouse of a deceased active TRS member is eligible to enroll in TRS-Care if the deceased active member:

   1. (1) died on or after September 1, 1986;
   2. (2) had 10 or more years of actual service credit in TRS; and
   3. (3) made contributions to TRS-Care at the member's last place of employment in public education in Texas.

6. (f) Surviving dependent children of deceased TRS retirees or deceased active TRS members are eligible to enroll in TRS-Care if the deceased retiree met the conditions of subsection (d) of this section or the deceased active member met the conditions of subsection (e) of this section. Surviving dependent children must also meet the following conditions:

   1. (1) the child(ren) must be a natural or adopted child(ren) of the deceased retiree or member or must be a foster, stepchild(ren), or other child(ren) who lived in a parent-child relationship with the retiree or member; and
   2. (2) the child(ren) must be unmarried and under age 25 or must be age 25 or older but still unmarried and mentally retarded or physically disabled to such an extent as to have been dependent upon the deceased retiree or member for support at the time of the retiree's or member's death.
7. (g) If a service or disability retiree has a legal spouse or if a retiree or surviving spouse has an eligible child or children when the retiree or surviving spouse becomes eligible but does not elect to cover that spouse or that child or children within 31 days, TRS-Care coverage may not be obtained for the spouse or child(ren) until a subsequent enrollment period.
8. (h) If a service or disability retiree has no spouse or if a retiree or surviving spouse has no eligible child or children when he or she first becomes eligible, but acquires a spouse or child or children at a later date, the retiree can obtain spouse or child or children coverage if he or she makes application within 31 days of the date the spouse or first eligible child is acquired.

Source Note:The provisions of this §41.10 adopted to be effective January 24, 1992, 17 TexReg 255.