If you submit a completed Benefits Enrollment Form to the Trust Office before the first month of retirement, your coverage will be effective on the first day you begin early retirement. Coverage for enrolled family members begins when your coverage begins.

If you defer enrollment when you are initially eligible at retirement, you may enroll at a later date by submitting a completed Benefits Enrollment Form to the Trust Office. Under this scenario, coverage for you and your enrolled family members begins the first of the month after enrollment.

If you are eligible for a District contribution for retiree coverage and do not elect early retiree medical coverage within 60 days of the effective date of your retirement, your coverage will be deferred until you have submitted a completed enrollment form to the Trust Office.

If you retire before age 60 and do not elect to begin the District contribution immediately, you must maintain continuous heath coverage from the date your Trust coverage ends to be eligible for District contributions to begin at age 60. If you retire before age 60, however, you may elect to have the District contribution begin upon retirement, but the District's contribution will end after 60 months of contributions subject to the occurrence of an event that ends coverage before the 60-month maximum period.

Alternatively, you may defer participation in a Trust Early Retiree Medical Plan to a date after your retirement. To do this, you must notify the Trust Office of your election to defer coverage and you must maintain other health coverage from the time your active employee coverage ends until the District contribution begins. This is because coverage under the Trust Early Retiree Medical Plan and your other health coverage must be continuous. This other health coverage can be from outside the Trust or result from making self-payments to one of the Trust early retiree medical plan options or by making self-payments under the Continuation of Coverage provisions of the plan you had through the Trust while employed.

If you are eligible for a District contribution, the District will contribute toward early retiree medical coverage based on the requirements in the collective bargaining agreement covering the unit from which you retired.

You may suspend your District contribution once it starts if you have other group health coverage. To suspend payment of the District contribution, you must notify the Trust Office in writing when other coverage begins. You must then notify the Trust Office within 30 days of the other coverage ending for the contribution to resume.

Eligibility for a District contribution toward the cost of your coverage will end as provided for in the applicable collective bargaining agreement. Currently under the PAT collective bargaining agreements, this is after 60 months of contributions or, if earlier, when you or a covered dependent reaches age 65 or otherwise becomes eligible for Medicare.