Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 67 - State Personnel Act
Section 5-257. - Group life insurance.

(a)(1) The Comptroller, with the approval of the Attorney General and the Insurance Commissioner, may revise the group insurance plan for employees of the state by amendment of any existing group life insurance policy or policies or by procuring from one or more life insurance companies authorized to do business in Connecticut a policy or policies of group life insurance covering employees of the state. Each employee in active state service shall be eligible for insurance under this section, provided the employee has completed more than six months' continuous state service, and each member of the General Assembly shall be eligible for insurance under this section six months after taking office. On and after July 1, 2005, no employee or member shall be eligible for a group life insurance policy under this section as both a retiree and an active employee or member, except that an employee, member or retiree may maintain any policy issued under this section, in such manner as may be provided in the policy, if the policy was in effect on June 30, 2005.

(2) Any such group policy may provide that each employee or member of the General Assembly eligible for insurance under the policy shall become insured on the date the employee or member becomes eligible unless the employee or member declines the insurance in such manner as may be provided in the policy.
(b) The amount of life insurance for any employee or member of the General Assembly insured under this section shall be based on the employee's or member's yearly gross compensation rate in accordance with the following schedule:


Notwithstanding the preceding schedule, the life insurance amounts for any employee who is not included in any prevailing bargaining unit contract and whose yearly gross compensation rate is $33,500 or more shall be based on the following schedule:


Any increase in the amount of life insurance arising from an increase in compensation shall take effect on the first day of April or the first day of October, whichever date first occurs following the day preceding the date on which the increase in compensation shall become effective, except that increases of life insurance arising from retroactive salary increases shall take effect on the first day of April or October subsequent to the approval date of such increases, but no reduction in the amount of life insurance shall be required on account of a reduction in compensation. For the purposes of this section, yearly gross compensation shall consist only of payments to an employee on the basis of allocation of his position to the compensation schedule and shall not include overtime payments, longevity payments pursuant to section 5-213, lump-sum payments for outstandingly meritorious service or one-time bonus payments pursuant to subsection (d) of section 5-210. In the case of hourly workers, yearly gross compensation shall be computed on the basis of scheduled required work hours. In the case of members of the General Assembly yearly gross compensation shall be the compensation established in section 2-8.
(c) Each employee and each member of the General Assembly insured under subsection (b) of this section shall contribute to the cost of the life insurance a sum equal to twenty cents biweekly for each thousand dollars of life insurance. The State Comptroller shall deduct such amount from the employees' or members' pay and shall pay the premiums on such policy or policies. Any dividends or other refunds or rate credits shall inure to the benefit of the state and shall be applied to the cost of such insurance.
(d) The insurance of any employee insured under this section shall cease on termination of employment, and of any member of the General Assembly at the end of such member's term of office, subject to any conversion privilege provided in the group life insurance policy or policies. Notwithstanding any provision of this section, the amounts of life insurance of insured employees retired in accordance with any retirement plan for state employees shall be as follows: The amount of life insurance of an insured employee retired before, on or after July 1, 1998, with twenty-five or more years of state service, as defined in section 5-196, or a member of the General Assembly who is retired on or after July 1, 1988, with twenty-five or more years of service, shall be one-half of the amount of life insurance for which the employee was insured immediately before retirement, provided in no case shall the amount be less than ten thousand dollars, those with less than twenty-five years of service shall receive the proportionate amount that such years of service is to twenty-five years rounded off to the nearest hundred dollars of coverage, except that the amount of life insurance of an insured employee who is retired on or after July 1, 1982, under the provisions of section 5-173 shall be one-half of the amount of life insurance for which the employee was insured immediately before retirement, regardless of the number of years of service by such employee. In no case shall a retired employee be required to contribute to the cost of any such reduced insurance. For the purposes of this section, no employee shall be deemed to be retired as long as such employee's employment continues under subsections (b) and (e) of section 5-164.
(e) In addition to any life insurance coverage available pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, optional group life insurance coverage up to a maximum of fifty thousand dollars may be purchased by any employee who is not included in any prevailing bargaining unit contract and whose yearly gross compensation is at least forty-five thousand five hundred dollars. The actual cost of such optional coverage shall be fully borne by the employee. The State Comptroller shall deduct the necessary amount from the employees' pay and shall pay the premiums on such policy or policies. Any dividends or other refunds or rate credits shall inure to the benefit of the state and shall be applied to the cost of such insurance. Such optional coverage shall not be included when calculating the amount of reduced life insurance coverage due retired employees pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.
(f) Commencing November 1, 1989, as used in this section, “employee” includes an elected official in the executive branch.
(1967, P.A. 657, S. 64; 1969, P.A. 560, S. 1, 2; P.A. 77-614, S. 163, 610; P.A. 78-103, S. 2, 3; P.A. 79-621, S. 21, 24; P.A. 80-482, S. 7, 348; P.A. 81-457, S. 9; 81-472, S. 110, 159; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-27, S. 1; P.A. 85-510, S. 8, 35; P.A. 87-403, S. 1, 2; P.A. 88-349, S. 3, 5; P.A. 96-168, S. 25, 34; P.A. 98-106, S. 1, 2; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 04-2, S. 7; P.A. 05-63, S. 1; P.A. 06-196, S. 35; P.A. 13-247, S. 337.)
History: 1969 act amended table in Subsec. (b) by raising base amount of life insurance in each class by $2,000 starting at $8,000, changing class 20 to read “$22,500 but less than” rather than “$22,500 and over” and adding all data for classes 21 to 31, inclusive; P.A. 77-614 made insurance department a division within the department of business regulation, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-103 replaced “section 5-154” with “subsection (x) of section 5-196” in Subsec. (d); P.A. 79-621 changed requirement regarding date for increase in life insurance from first days of January or July to first days of April or October in Subsec. (b); P.A. 80-482 deleted reference to abolished department of business regulation; P.A. 81-457 amended Subsec. (b) to require that gross compensation shall not include lump sum payments made under Sec. 5-210(d); P.A. 81-472 made technical changes; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-27 amended Subsec. (b) to establish a separate schedule of life insurance amounts for any state employee who is not included in any prevailing bargaining unit contract and who earns at least $33,500, to provide that life insurance amounts shall not be increased because of retroactive salary increases until the first day of April or October following approval of the increase; P.A. 85-510 amended Subsec. (d) by adding provision that the amount of life insurance of an insured employee who is retired on or after July 1, 1982, under the provisions of Sec. 5-173 shall be one-half of the amount of insurance for which the employee was insured immediately before retirement, regardless of the employee's number of years of service; P.A. 87-403 amended Subsec. (b) to increase the life insurance maximum to $85,000 for certain employees not in collective bargaining, and added Subsec. (e) which established a supplemental life insurance plan for employees not in collective bargaining who earn at least $45,500 per year; P.A. 88-349 expanded eligibility for insurance under section to include each member of the general assembly, six months after taking office; P.A. 96-168 amended Subsec. (d) changing reference to “subsection (x)” to “subdivision (25)”, effective July 1, 1996; P.A. 98-106 amended Subsec. (d) to increase the life insurance minimum to $10,000 for certain employees retired before, on or after July 1, 1998, effective July 1, 1998; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 04-2 added Subsec. (f) defining “employee”, for purposes of section, to include an elected official in the executive branch, effective May 12, 2004; P.A. 05-63 amended Subsec. (a) to make technical changes, insert Subdiv. designators (1) and (2), and add provision in Subdiv. (1) that no employee or member shall be eligible for a policy as both a retiree and an active employee or member, but may maintain existing policies, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsec. (d), effective June 7, 2006; P.A. 13-247 made a technical change in Subsec. (d), effective July 1, 2013.
Cited. 213 C. 54.

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