(A) There is established in the State Treasury separate and distinct from the general fund of the State and all other funds the South Carolina Long Term Disability Insurance Trust Fund (LTDI Trust Fund) to provide for the payment of benefits under the state's Basic Long Term Disability Income Benefit Plan. Earnings on the LTDI Trust Fund must be credited to it and unexpended funds carry forward in it to succeeding fiscal years.
(B) The board is the trustee of the LTDI Trust Fund and the State Treasurer is the custodian of the funds of the LTDI Trust Fund.
(C) The employee insurance program shall administer the LTDI Trust Fund.
(D) The employee insurance program shall engage actuarial and other services as required to transact the business of the LTDI Trust Fund. The actuary engaged by the employee insurance program shall provide technical advice to the board regarding operation of the LTDI Trust Fund.
(E) Upon recommendations of the actuary, the board shall adopt generally accepted and reasonable actuarial assumptions and methods for the operation and funding of the LTDI Trust Fund as it considers necessary and prudent. The actuarial assumptions and methods adopted by the board must be appropriate for the purposes at hand and must be reasonable, individually and in the aggregate, taking into account the experience of the plan and reasonable expectations. Utilizing the actuarial assumptions most recently adopted by the board, the actuary engaged by the employee insurance program shall set the annual actuarial valuations of normal cost, actuarial liability, actuarial value of assets, and related actuarial present values for the LTDI Trust Fund.
(F) The board may adopt policies and procedures and promulgate regulations as necessary for the proper administration of the LTDI Trust Fund.
(G)(1) The funds of the LTDI Trust Fund must be invested and reinvested by the State Treasurer in the manner allowed by law. The State Treasurer shall consult with the employee insurance program and the employee insurance program's actuary to develop an annual investment plan for the LTDI Trust Fund taking into account the cash flow needs of the employee insurance program with regard to payment of the employer share of premiums and claims for covered retirees.
(2) Effective beginning with the first fiscal year after the ratification of an amendment to Section 16, Article X of the Constitution of this State allowing funds in post-employment benefits trust funds to be invested in equity securities, the Retirement System Investment Commission (RSIC) established pursuant to Chapter 16 of Title 9, shall invest and reinvest the funds of the LTDI Trust Fund as assets of a retirement system are invested. The chief investment officer shall consult with the employee insurance program and the employee insurance program's actuary to develop an annual investment plan for the LTDI Trust Fund taking into account the cash flow needs of the employee insurance program with regard to payment of the employer share of premiums and claims for covered retirees. After the initial fiscal year the RSIC assumes this investing function, the annual investment plan for the LTDI Trust Fund must be approved by the commission no later than June first of each year for the fiscal year beginning July first of the same calendar year.
(H) The board annually shall determine the minimum annual required contributions to the LTDI Trust Fund on an actuarially sound basis in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 45, or any other Governmental Accounting Standards Board statements that may be applicable to the LTDI Trust Fund.
(I) The board shall increase the employer contributions used to fund the BLTD Plan by an amount equal to or greater than the minimum annual required contribution for the LTDI Trust Fund as determined in subsection (H) of this section. The increased employer contributions remitted to the employee insurance program under this subsection must be deposited in the LTDI Trust Fund.
(J) Each month, the employee insurance program shall transfer to the operating account from the LTDI Trust Fund the amount invoiced by the third-party administrator for the BLTD Plan for payment of LTDI claims, including reasonable expenses associated with claims administration of the BLTD Plan.
(K) The assets of the LTDI Trust Fund may only be used for the payment of the state's claims under the BLTD Plan along with reasonable expenses associated with the operation of the BLTD Plan, and the assets of the LTDI Trust Fund may not be used for any other purpose. The administrative costs related to the administration of the LTDI Trust Fund, and the investment and reinvestment of its funds, must be funded from the earnings of the LTDI Trust Fund.
(L) As a trust, the funds of the LTDI Trust Fund are not assets of the State or the school districts or their respective agencies. The contributions to the LTDI Trust Fund are irrevocable and may not revert to the employer except upon complete satisfaction of all liabilities and administrative expenses of the State Basic Long Term Disability Income Benefit Plan of other post-employment benefits provided pursuant to the State Basic Long Term Disability Income Benefit Plan.
HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 195, Section 3, eff May 1, 2008.
Editor's Note
2008 Act No. 195, Section 8, provides as follows:
"This act takes effect on the first day of the month following the month during which this act is approved by the Governor [approved April 2, 2008]."
2012 Act No. 278, Pt IV, Subpt 3, Section 65(C), provides as follows:
"(C) The Code Commissioner is directed to change or correct all references to the Employee Insurance Program, the Retirement Division, and the Deferred Compensation Commission to reflect its transfer to the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority. References to the name of the Employee Insurance Program, the Retirement Division, and the Deferred Compensation Commission in the 1976 Code or other provisions of law are considered to be and must be construed to mean appropriate references."