Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1948 )

EATTORNEY GENERAL .CD,PTEXAS AUSTIN ~~.TEXAS PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY GENERAL January 28, 1948 Hon. Sam Lee, Opinlan ,Mo. v&38 County Attorney, Brazorla County, Re: Construction and consti- Angleton, Texas tutionality of R. B. 665, 50th Legislature, concem- ing group #wurance for public employees. Dear Sir: We refer to your letter of Bovember 26, 1947 in which you startit the rollowing quesltionsr 1. “Does H. 1). 665, as passid by the 50th Legislature, apply to the counties of the state as well as to the. state and the specific governmental agenc%es men- tioned III Section 1 of said b,lll? 2. “If H. B. 665 does app,ly to coun- ties, Is it constitutional? 3. “1s Broztwia County, Texas auth- orized to pay the prani(laa or any part thereof for the benefit of its empl for the insurance available unc?er 88 T-*d bill? 4. MIs there any authority for this county to obtain wo~knea’s compensation lneti&nce for its employees in lieu of thr health and accident insurance as pro- vided undsr said bill?” 8. B;~ 665 now appears in Vernon’s Civil Stat- utes as Art, 5053a. It reads:~ 1. .~.~ “Sectton~ lL. ,Tbe State of Texas and each of its political vemmental ana ~dqbirrlratfte subdlv~s r ens depastuats~ ~agtiaeles, as~swiatlon d ptkic errployeos , and the omrning beards and authorities . of each ittate university college, coWa and fndependekt school districts ar, of an$ Hon. Sam Lee - Page 2 (V-488) other agency or subdivision of the nub- 11~ schoel sybtem of the State of Texa8 are authorized to procure contracts In- suring their respective employees or any class or classes thereof under a policy or policies of group health accident, accidental death and dismem6 erment, and ~hospital, surgical and/or medical ex- pense’ insurance e The dependents of any such eaployees may be insured under.group, polic%ea which prwide hospital, surreal and/or mdical expense insurance. lmployeesl contributions to the premiums for such insurance issued to the employer or to an assoalatlon of public employees. as the policyholder may be deducted by the employer from the smployessl salutes when authorized in writing by the respec- tive, employee’s so to do. *Gel 2. All group insurance con- tracts erfected pursuant hereto shall con- form and be subject to all the provisions af any existing or future laws conoernlng groups lnsurance,n It is elementary that a county is a political subdivision, of the State. Robblns v. Limestone County, 268 81 w. 915. ‘ We are of the opinion that c&Me8 are lnclud~ ed ln the authorization ivea in Article 5053pj therefore cur answer to your Quest f on No. 1 is in the affirmative. The ~language of the Article Is that the enunier-: ated employers “tie authorized to procure contrc)cts insuring their respective em#loyees or any class or claasra there&f under a policy or,policies of group health, reel&ant, ace& dental death and dismemberment,, and hospital surgical and/& medical expense fnsurance. . . It is provided that upon wrft- ten consent of employees deductions may be made by the employ- er from their salaries to pay “‘employees contributions.” If then quoted language means that pubU.c money may be used,, to pay premium or, any ex ense Incident to such insurance, the Act is void, as was held iiy,this Department in its Opinion No. V-l&C?, a copy of which Is enclosed for your information. H. 3. 665 was amended in House Committee,, after that o 5nion was written. If it merely means that, group insurance pal Bties may be is- sued to the indicatsd groups~of employees without the use of ‘.. ,‘. Hon. Sam Lea - page 3 (v-488) : public money, the XCt is valid to that oxt ent . When pub; lit money has been lawfully paid to an employee, It ceases to be public money. We are of tbe opinion that the law authorizes the issuance of group insurance policies to groups of em- ployees in the,classes indicated in the law, and it does not authorize~ths Use of any public money to pay any part of any premium or incidental expense concerning it. .Our aimter to your Question No. 3 is in the negative. Answering your Question No, 4, ,there is no, law which authorizes a county to ‘obtain workmena’ ~compensation insurance for its e%ploye,es. See Attorney Ganeral,@s Gpln- ion No. V-381, a copy of which is enclosed. County employees are lncluded,in the class of employees for whom group health, accident, accidtrntal death’ and dismember- menkand hospital, surgical and/or ~medi-, cal e,xpen$* ineur~ce may be issued under Art. 5Q53a, V. C. S, County funds may not be used to pay premiums or incidental ex- pense for such insurance. Counties are not authorized to obtain Workmens’ Compen- sation Insurance for county employees+ Yours very truly, ATTORNEY GENERALOF TEXAS WTwtwb W. T. Wllliano Encls. Assistant APJ’%OVkD:. p&Jl&$f GERERAL ATTDRI’SISY