1. (a) If they meet the applicable requirements set out in this section, the following persons are eligible to enroll in the Texas Public School Retired Employees Group Benefits Program (TRS-Care):

   1. (1) service retirees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) who are not eligible to enroll as an employee or retiree in a plan provided under the Texas Employees Group Benefits Act (Insurance Code, Chapter 1551), or under the State University Employees Uniform Insurance Benefits Act (Insurance Code, Chapter 1601);
   2. (2) disability retirees of TRS who are not eligible to enroll as an employee or retiree in a plan provided under the Texas Employees Group Benefits Act (Insurance Code, Chapter 1551) or under the State University Employees Uniform Insurance Benefits Act (Insurance Code, Chapter 1601);
   3. (3) surviving spouses of deceased service or disability retirees of TRS or of certain deceased active TRS members; and
   4. (4) surviving dependent children of deceased service or disability retirees of TRS or of certain deceased active TRS members.

2. (b) To be eligible to enroll in TRS-Care under this section, a service retiree of TRS who retires before September 1, 2004 must have 10 years of service credit for actual service in the public schools of Texas, which can include only the following types of service credit:

   1. (1) service credit for actual service in Texas public schools;
   2. (2) service credit transferred to TRS from the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS);
   3. (3) withdrawn service credit that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
   4. (4) service credit for unreported service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
   5. (5) service credit for substitute service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account; and
   6. (6) up to five years of out-of-state service credit that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account.

3. (c) To be eligible to enroll in TRS-Care under this section, a service retiree of TRS who retires after September 1, 2004 must meet the requirements of at least one of the following paragraphs:

   1. (1) at the time of retirement, a member:

      1. (A) is at least 65 years old; and

      2. (B) has at least 10 years of service credit in the system, which can include only the following types of service credit:

         1. (i) service credit for actual service in Texas public schools;
         2. (ii) service credit transferred to TRS from ERS;
         3. (iii) withdrawn service credit that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
         4. (iv) service credit for unreported service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
         5. (v) service credit for substitute service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
         6. (vi) up to five years of military service credit or re-employed veteran's (USERRA) service credit that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account; and
         7. (vii) any years of service credit that the member would have received but for the member's participation in the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP); or

   2. (2) at the time of retirement, a member:

      1. (A) meets the requirements of paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection; and
      2. (B) meets the TRS-Care Rule of 80, which is determined by having the sum of the individual's age and the amount of service credit described in paragraph (1)(B) of this subsection equal or exceed 80; or

   3. (3) a member:

      1. (A) purchased any of the following types of service credit:

         1. (i) out-of-state service credit;
         2. (ii) military service credit;
         3. (iii) re-employed veteran's (USERRA) service credit;
         4. (iv) developmental leave service credit;
         5. (v) sick leave service credit;
         6. (vi) service credit purchase; or
         7. (vii) service credit for work experience by a certified career or technology teacher;
      2. (B) had the service described in paragraph (3)(A) of this subsection credited by August 31, 2003;

      3. (C) except as provided by subsection (f) of this section, at the time of retirement, has the sum of the following equal or exceed 80 (the "Grandfathered TRS-Care Rule of 80"):

         1. (i) age;
         2. (ii) the service credit described in paragraph (3)(A) of this subsection;
         3. (iii) service credit for actual service in Texas public schools;
         4. (iv) service credit transferred to TRS from ERS;
         5. (v) withdrawn service credit that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
         6. (vi) service credit for unreported service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account; and
         7. (vii) service credit for substitute service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;

      4. (D) at the time of retirement, has at least 10 years of service credit in the system, which can include only the following types of service credit:

         1. (i) service credit for actual service in Texas public schools;
         2. (ii) service credit transferred to TRS from ERS;
         3. (iii) withdrawn service credit that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
         4. (iv) service credit for unreported service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
         5. (v) service credit for substitute service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account; and
         6. (vi) up to five years of out-of-state service credit limited to that out-of-state service credit that was credited by August 31, 2003; and
      5. (E) takes a normal age service retirement as determined under Government Code, Chapter 824, Subchapter C by August 31, 2009;

   4. (4) a member:

      1. (A) was employed in actual service in a Texas public school during or before the 2003-2004 school year; and

      2. (B) at the time of retirement, has at least 10 years of service credit in TRS, which can include only the following types of service credit:

         1. (i) service credit for actual service in Texas public schools;
         2. (ii) service credit transferred to TRS from ERS;
         3. (iii) withdrawn service credit that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
         4. (iv) service credit for unreported service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account; and
         5. (v) service credit for substitute service that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account;
         6. (vi) up to five years of out-of-state service credit that the member has purchased and that has been credited to the member's account.
4. (d) For purposes of this section, "public school" is an educational institution or organization in this state that is entitled to be supported in whole or in part by state, county, school district, or other municipal corporation funds.
5. (e) Service retirees who are eligible to enroll in TRS-Care under only subsection (c)(4) of this section are required to pay the total cost of their participation in TRS-Care until the date that they first qualify for TRS-Care under subsection (c)(1), (c)(2), or (c)(3) of this section.
6. (f) Service retirees who meet all of the requirements of subsection (c)(3) of this section except the Grandfathered TRS-Care Rule of 80 in subsection (c)(3)(E) of this section at the time of retirement can become eligible to enroll in TRS-Care under subsection (c)(3) of this section after retirement only if they meet the Grandfathered TRS-Care Rule of 80 by August 31, 2009.
7. (g) 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.
8. (h) 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 enrolled, eligible to enroll, or would have been eligible to enroll in TRS-Care at the time of the retiree's death.

9. (i) 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.

10. (j) A surviving dependent child of a deceased TRS retiree or deceased active TRS member is eligible to enroll in TRS-Care if the deceased retiree met the conditions of subsection (h) of this section or the deceased active member met the conditions of subsection (i) of this section. A surviving dependent child must also meet the following conditions:

    1. (1) the child must be a natural or adopted child of the deceased retiree or member or must be a foster child, stepchild, or other child who lived in a parent-child relationship with the retiree or member; and
    2. (2) the child must be unmarried and under age 25 or must be age 25 or older but still unmarried and fully disabled to such an extent as to have been dependent upon the deceased retiree or active member for support at the time of the retiree's or active member's death, as determined by TRS as trustee and as described by Insurance Code, §1575.003.

Source Note:The provisions of this §41.10 adopted to be effective January 24, 1992, 17 TexReg 255; amended to be effective March 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 2112; amended to be effective August 25, 2004, 29 TexReg 8128.