Definitions
HRS §87A-1
in effect87A-1. Definitions
As used in this chapter:
"Board" means the board of trustees
of the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund described in section
87A-5.
"Carrier" means a voluntary
association, corporation, partnership, or organization engaged in providing,
paying for, arranging for, or reimbursing the cost of, health benefits or
long-term care benefits under group insurance contracts.
"Contribution" means money payments
made to the fund by the State, the counties, an employee-beneficiary, or a
qualified-beneficiary.
"County" means the counties of
Hawaii, Honolulu, Kauai, and Maui, including their respective boards of water
supply and other quasi-independent boards, commissions, and agencies.
"Credited
service" means service as an officer or employee paid by the State or
county, service during the period of leave of absence or exchange if the
individual is paid by the State or county during the leave of absence or
exchange, and service during the period of unpaid leave of absence or exchange
if the individual is engaged in the performance of a governmental function or
if the unpaid leave of absence is an approved leave of absence for professional
improvement.
"Dependent-beneficiary"
means an employee-beneficiary's:
(1) Spouse;
(2) Child deemed eligible by the board, including a
legally adopted child, stepchild, foster child, or recognized natural child,
but excluding a child born or legally adopted more than ten months after the
date of the death of:
(A) An active employee killed in the
performance of duty;
(B) An active employee who was eligible to
retire on the date of death; or
(C) A retired employee-beneficiary; and
(3) Unmarried child regardless of age who is
incapable of self-support because of a mental or physical incapacity, which
existed prior to the unmarried child's reaching the age of nineteen years.
"Employee" means an employee or
officer of the State, county, or legislature,
(1) Including:
(A) An elective officer;
(B) An officer or employee
under an authorized leave of absence;
(C) An
employee of the Hawaii national guard although paid from federal funds;
(D) A
retired member of the employees' retirement system; the county pension system;
or the police, firefighters, or bandsmen pension system of the State or county;
(E) A salaried
and full-time member of a board, commission, or agency appointed by the
governor or the mayor of a county; and
(F) A
person employed by contract for a period not exceeding one year, where the
director of human resources development, personnel services, or civil service
has certified that the service is essential or needed in the public interest
and that, because of circumstances surrounding its fulfillment, personnel to
perform the service cannot be obtained through normal civil service recruitment
procedures,
(2) But excluding:
(A) A
designated beneficiary of a retired member of the employees' retirement system;
the county pension system; or the police, firefighters, or bandsmen pension
system of the State or county;
(B) Except as
allowed under paragraph (1)(F), a person employed temporarily on a fee or
contract basis; and
(C) A
part-time, temporary, and seasonal or casual employee.
"Employee-beneficiary"
means:
(1) An employee;
(2) The beneficiary of an
employee who is killed in the performance of the employee's duty, including:
(A) The surviving child, if there is no
surviving parent who is eligible to be an employee-beneficiary and the child is
unmarried and under the limiting age as defined by the board; and
(B) The surviving spouse, if the surviving
spouse does not subsequently remarry;
(3) An employee who retired
prior to 1961; and
(4) The beneficiary of a
retired member of the employees' retirement system; a county pension system; or
a police, firefighters, or bandsmen pension system of the State or a county,
upon the death of the retired member, including:
(A) The surviving
child, if there is no surviving parent who is eligible to be an
employee-beneficiary and the child is unmarried and under the limiting age as
defined by the board; and
(B) The surviving
spouse, if the surviving spouse does not subsequently remarry;
provided that the
employee, the employee's beneficiary, or the beneficiary of the deceased
retired employee is deemed eligible by the board to participate in a health
benefits plan or long-term care benefits plan under this chapter.
"Fund" means the Hawaii
employer-union health benefits trust fund established in section 87A-30.
"Health benefits plan" means:
(1) A group insurance contract or service agreement
that may include medical, hospital, surgical, prescribed drugs, vision, and
dental services, in which a carrier agrees to provide, pay for, arrange for, or
reimburse the cost of the services as determined by the board; or
(2) A similar schedule of benefits established by the
board and provided through the fund on a self-insured basis.
"Long-term care benefits plan" means:
(1) A group insurance contract or service agreement
in which a carrier agrees to provide, pay for, arrange for, or reimburse the
cost of long-term care benefits as determined by the board; or
(2) A similar schedule of benefits established by the
board and provided through the fund on a self-insured basis.
"Part-time, temporary, and seasonal or
casual employee" means a person employed for fewer than three months or
whose employment is less than one-half of a full-time equivalent position.
"Periodic charge" means the periodic
payment by the board to a carrier for any health benefits plan or long-term
care benefits plan.
"Qualified-beneficiary" means, for
purposes of the long-term care benefits plan, a former employee or an employee
who is not eligible for benefits due to a reduction in work hours, including
the spouse, divorced spouse, parents, grandparents, in-law parents, and in-law
grandparents of an employee or retiree; provided that the beneficiary was
enrolled in the plan before the employee or former employee became ineligible
for benefits.
"State agency" includes the office of
Hawaiian affairs.
"Trustee" means a trustee of the
board of trustees of the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund, as
described in section 87A-5.
[L 2001, c 88, pt of §1; am L 2003, c 152, §1; am L
2012, c 36, §1; am L 2019, c 51, §2]
Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol02_Ch0046-0115/HRS0087A/HRS_0087A-0001.htmFetched: 11/10/2026