[§87D-9]  State and county contributions to
the trust; retired employees.  (a)  Any individual who becomes a retiree on
or after the establishment of a voluntary employees' beneficiary association
trust, and who, immediately prior to retirement, was a member of the bargaining
unit of the sponsoring employee organization, shall be enrolled in that
voluntary employees' beneficiary association trust.  Upon the establishment of
a voluntary employees' beneficiary association trust, the State, through the
department of budget and finance, and the counties through their respective
departments of finance, shall pay to the trust for each retiree who retires on
or after July 1, 2005, a monthly contribution pursuant to the applicable
collective bargaining agreement that shall not exceed the base monthly
contributions or the specific contribution limits set forth in chapter 87A.



(b)  Any retiree who, immediately prior to
retirement, was a member of an employee organization prior to the establishment
of a voluntary employees' beneficiary association trust by the employee
organization, and who was previously covered by a collective bargaining
agreement, shall be given a one-time option to transfer participation from the
Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund established under chapter 87A
to the organization's voluntary employees' beneficiary association trust once
the latter is established.  Upon the establishment of the voluntary employees'
beneficiary association trust, the State, through the department of budget and
finance[,] and the counties, through their respective departments of finance,
shall pay to the trust for each retiree who opts to transfer into a voluntary
employees' beneficiary association trust, a monthly contribution equal to the
contribution paid on behalf of a similarly situated retiree under the Hawaii
employer-union health benefits trust fund.



(c)  Medicare part B reimbursements established
pursuant to section 87A-23(2) shall be directly disbursed by the State, through
the department of budget and finance, and the counties, through their
respective departments of finance, to those retirees and their beneficiaries
who qualify and are covered by a voluntary employees' beneficiary association
trust to the same extent retirees and their beneficiaries under the Hawaii
employer-union health benefits trust fund receive those reimbursements.



(d)  For the purposes of this chapter, a
collective bargaining agreement shall include provisions specifying
contributions to a voluntary employees' beneficiary association trust. [L 2005,
c 245, pt of §2]