(a) Expenses of administration. Any expenses incurred
in the administration of the flexible benefits plan will be paid from
the State Employees Cafeteria Trust Fund. An administrative fee to
defray costs of administering the plan may be imposed on any, or each,
reimbursement account as the board of trustees determines to be necessary.
(b) Employee Contributions.
(1) Contributions to the flexible benefits plan by
active duty employees may be made only through payroll salary reduction.
An employee who elects to participate in the health care and dependent
care reimbursement plans must authorize, on an election form, the
exact amount of salary reduction, in addition to any monthly administrative
fee.
(2) Eligible health care reimbursement account participants
on inactive employment status must continue to contribute to their
health care reimbursement account with after-tax dollars paid directly
to the Employees Retirement System of Texas in the exact amount of
the election, plus any administrative fees.
(3) The minimum amount a participant may elect to reduce
his salary on a monthly basis for each reimbursement account is $15.
The maximum amount an employee may elect to reduce his salary on a
monthly basis for each reimbursement account is limited to the amount
stipulated in §85.5(b) and (c) of this title (relating to Benefits).
Any administrative fee for a reimbursement account is in addition
to these minimum and maximum amounts.
(4) When a participant receives no salary in a pay
period, no salary reduction will be made for that pay period and no
catch-up salary reduction will subsequently be permitted, except as
described in §85.9(d)(2) of this title (relating to Payment of
Claims from Reimbursements Accounts) for health care reimbursement
account participants.
(5) In situations where there are insufficient salary
dollars to fund the amount of the salary reduction and fees, no salary
reduction will be made, except as indicated in paragraph (6) of this
subsection, for that pay period and no catch-up reduction will subsequently
be permitted, except as described in §85.9(d)(2) of this title
for health care reimbursement account participants.
(6) In the event an employee has elected to participate
in more than one flexible benefits plan optional benefit and the employee's
pay is sufficient to pay for one or more, but not all of the flexible
benefits plan contributions, then payment of the flexible benefits
plan contributions shall be made in the following order: health care
reimbursement and dependent care reimbursement.
(7) If a participant elects to change contributions
due to a qualifying life event (QLE), the plan administrator shall
reimburse eligible claims based on the contribution in place when
they occurred. Claims incurred during the initial enrollment period
shall be reimbursed up to the amount of the participant's original
contribution election. The plan administrator shall treat the remainder
of the plan year following the QLE as a new coverage period, and claims
incurred in this time period shall be reimbursed up to the amount
of the new contribution election.
(c) Employer Contributions. The employer contributions
referenced in §85.8(b) of this title made to active duty employees'
health care reimbursement accounts or limited purpose health care
reimbursement accounts in connection with the HealthSelectShoppERS
program are the only Employer Contributions available under the TexFlex
Program.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §85.13 adopted to be effective August 12, 1988, 13 TexReg 3754; amended to be effective September 1, 1990, 15 TexReg 4646; amended to be effective September 1, 1992, 17 TexReg 2874; amended to be effective February 12, 1998, 23 TexReg 1313; amended to be effective September 16, 1999, 24 TexReg 7276; amended to be effective July 17, 2003, 28 TexReg 5539; amended to be effective May 29, 2005, 30 TexReg 3022; amended to be effective March 14, 2016, 41 TexReg 1860; amended to be effective September 8, 2020, 45 TexReg 6240 |