Community College Part-Time Faculty Health Eligibility Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction
The Public Employees’ Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA) and Title 2, section 599.500 et seq. of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) govern the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) Health Program. CalPERS is providing this document to assist contracting agencies (community college districts) and labor groups to better understand part-time faculty health eligibility under PEMHCA.
Background
In 1996, California enacted legislation creating the Part-Time Faculty Community College Health Insurance (PTFH) Program (Education Code sections 87860 through 87868) to encourage community college districts to provide health benefits for their part-time faculty members. In September 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill (AB) 190, which increased state support for the PTFH Program from $490,000 to $200 million in ongoing funding. Districts are now eligible to receive 50-100% reimbursement for their part-time faculty healthcare costs.
In September 2023, Senate Bill 142 passed, adding Government (Gov.) Code section 22807.5 to PEMHCA, which allows contracting community college districts to adopt a resolution to deem certain part-time faculty members to be employees eligible for health coverage through the CalPERS Health Program.
Frequently Asked Questions
PEMHCA allows a person employed half time or more in a permanent position lasting at least six months and one day to enroll in a CalPERS health benefits plan. Therefore, some part-time employees may already qualify for enrollment.
There are two optional provisions a contracting community college district may adopt to provide part-time faculty healthcare. Districts can adopt one or both provisions.
Gov. Code Section 22807 Less Than Half Time
Gov. Code section 22807 Less Than Half Time is available to all contracting agencies and can be applied to any or all the agency’s medical groups. It extends eligibility to all employees who work less than half time (under 0.50 full-time equivalent or FTE).
Tenure Requirements
The tenure requirements for California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) are as follows:
“Regular, permanent, probationary, or temporary employees with appointments for at least a semester, 6 months, or half of school year, but employed less than half time” and ”Substitutes who have an appointment for 100 days or more in the school year.” Tenure requirements for all other retirement systems (e.g., CalPERS, Public Agency Retirement Services) are as follows: less than half-time employees must still have a permanent position lasting at least six months and one day.
Time Base Requirements
There are no time base requirements. This provision covers everyone working under 0.50FTE.
Contribution
All employees within a medical group receive the same designated employer contribution regardless of working less than half time or greater than half time.
Gov. Code Section 22807.5 Part-Time Faculty
Gov. Code section 22807.5 Part-Time Faculty is available only to contracting community college districts and can be applied to only the agency’s part-time faculty medical group. This extends eligibility to only part-time faculty of a community college district with an appointment of at least one semester and whose teaching assignment with one or more community college districts equals or exceeds two courses or 40% of the cumulative equivalent of a minimum full-time teaching assignment.
Tenure and Time Base Requirements
Employees must have at least one semester. Time-base requirements require two or more courses or 0.40FTE or more.
Contribution
All employees within the Part-Time Faculty Medical group receive the same designated employer contribution regardless of working 0.40FTE or more.
If an employer wants to provide CalPERS health to its part-time faculty, it must file a new group resolution to elect participation for this employee group. The employer may also file a less than half-time resolution to adopt section 22807 and/or a part-time faculty resolution to adopt section 22807.5 to extend coverage to part-time faculty. Health contract details vary by employer, so it's important that each contracting agency contact CalPERS Health Resolution and Compliance Unit at Health_Contracts@calpers.ca.gov to determine which resolution is most appropriate.
No. PEMHCA section 22772 defines an “employee” as a person “who is employed by a contracting agency and participates in a publicly funded retirement system provided by the contracting agency.” This can be CalPERS, CalSTRS, or another qualified retirement system to which the agency makes an employer contribution. If part-time faculty members don't participate in any retirement system, then they wouldn't qualify for CalPERS health under section 22772.
Eligibility will depend on the resolution provision the contracting agency has adopted.
- Under section 22807 – Less Than Half Time provision, only CalSTRS members have special tenure considerations, which allow for appointments of a semester, six months, or half of school year. Non-CalSTRS members must have a permanent position lasting at least six months and one day. Consequently, they wouldn't qualify for CalPERS health benefits under section 22807.
- Under section 22807.5 – Part-Time Faculty provision, part-time faculty employees with semester appointments who opted to remain in CalPERS are eligible.
CalSTRS members participating in its Defined Benefit Plan or Cash Balance Benefit Program are eligible to participate. Other CalSTRS retirement programs don't meet CalPERS criteria.
Yes, only if you adopt a resolution under section 22807.5 Part-Time Faculty. Under this provision, only part-time faculty whose teaching assignment with one or more community college districts equals or exceeds two courses or 40% of the cumulative equivalent of a minimum full-time teaching assignment are eligible.
Eligible employees and annuitants can enroll immediately upon the effective date of the resolution. Employees have sixty (60) calendar days from their appointment date to request enrollment – there is no waiting period. The effective date is the first of the month following the date the employing office receives the enrollment request. Employees may request to cancel coverage at any time.
If employees decline to enroll within this 60-day window, they may elect to enroll, re-enroll, or change plans due to a qualifying event, or during our annual CalPERS Open Enrollment in the fall. Transactions keyed during CalPERS Open Enrollment are effective January 1. We don't permit employers to have multiple open enrollment periods throughout the year.
Many school employers provide year-round health coverage for their instructors by collecting additional monies to cover the summer months in which they aren't actively teaching. Similarly, community colleges may take additional health deductions from part-time faculty members to cover extra months of coverage, to prevent a lapse in coverage between semesters.
For employees on an “off pay” status due to leave of absence, refer to the Public Agency & Schools Health Benefits Guide (PDF, 1.14 MB) Direct Pay Authorization section.
A contracting agency may file a termination resolution to end PEMHCA participation for its part-time faculty group. 2 CCR section 599.515 requires agencies to file termination resolutions no later than 60 days after CalPERS announces the health plan premium rates for the following calendar year. Termination resolutions are effective January 1 (coverage ceases at the end of the current calendar year/December 31). Once filed, the election to terminate is irrevocable and the employer may not elect participation for this group within five years of the termination date.