1. (a) Retirees, surviving spouses, and surviving dependent children or their representative (collectively, "participants") shall pay monthly contributions as set by the trustee for their and their dependents' participation in TRS-Care.
2. (b) To be eligible for TRS-Care coverage, a participant must authorize the trustee in writing to deduct the contribution amount from the annuity payment. After such authorization, the trustee may deduct the amount of the contribution from the annuity payment.
3. (c) If the amount of the contribution is more than the amount of the annuity payment, the participant will be billed directly by TRS or the TRS-Care administrator for the entire contribution amount.
4. (d) Failure to make any required contribution for coverage of a dependent or a surviving dependent child will result in termination of coverage at the end of the month for which the last contribution was made.
5. (e) Failure to make any required contribution for coverage of a retiree or a surviving spouse enrolled in TRS-Care 2 or TRS-Care 3 will result in termination of coverage in TRS-Care 2 or TRS-Care 3, as applicable, and enrollment in TRS-Care 1, resulting in a decrease in coverage at the end of the month for which the last contribution was made. The retiree or surviving spouse will not be able to change his or her TRS-Care coverage tier unless and until the retiree or surviving spouse has an additional enrollment opportunity as set out in §41.2 of this title (relating to Additional Enrollment Opportunity) or some other opportunity under Insurance Code, §1575.161.

Source Note:The provisions of this §41.5 adopted to be effective April 7, 1987, 12 TexReg 1000; amended to be effective November 6, 1987, 12 TexReg 3926; amended to be effective March 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 2112; amended to be effective February 9, 2006, 31 TexReg 709.