Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 80 Part 1.djvu/642

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PUBLIC LAW 89-554-SEPT. 6, 1966

[80 STAT.

ment described by section 8906 of this title shall be paid into the Fund. The Fund is available— (1) without fiscal year limitation for all payments to approved health benefits plans; and (2) to pay expenses for administering this chapter within the limitations that may be specified annually by Congress. (b) Portions of the contributions made by employees, annuitants, and the Government shall be regularly set aside in the Fund as follows: (1) A percentage, not to exceed 1 percent of all contributions, determined by the Commission to be reasonably adequate to pay the administrative expenses made available by subsection (a) of this section. (2) For each health benefits plan, a percentage, not to exceed 3 percent of the contributions toward the plan, determined by the Commission to be reasonably adequate to provide a contingency reserve. The Commission, from time to time and in amounts it considers appropriate, may transfer unused funds for administrative expenses to the contingency reserves of the plans then under contract with the Commission. When funds are so transferred, each contingency reserve shall be credited in proportion to the total amount of the subscription charges paid and accrued to the plan for the contract term immediately before the contract term in which the transfer is made. The income derived from dividends, rate adjustments, or other refunds made by a plan shall be credited to its contingency reserve. The contingency reserves may be used to defray increases in future rates, or may be applied to reduce the contributions of employees and the Government to, or to increase the benefits provided by, the plan from which the reserves are derived, as the Commission from time to time shall determine. (c) The Secretary of the Treasury may invest and reinvest any of the money in the Fund in interest-bearing obligations of the United States, and may sell these obligations for the purposes of the Fund. The interest on and the proceeds from the sale of these obligations become a part of the Fund. (d) When the assets, liabilities, and membership of employee organizations sponsoring or underwriting plans approved under section 8903(3) of this title are merged, the assets (including contingency reserves) and liabilities of the plans sponsored or underwritten by the merged organizations shall be transferred at the beginning of the contract term next following the date of the merger to the plan sponsored or underwritten by the successor organization. Each employee or annuitant affected by a merger shall be transferred to the plan sponsored or underwritten by the successor organization unless he enrolls in another plan under this chapter. (e) Except as provided by subsection (d) of this section, when a plan described by section 8903(3) or (4) of this title is discontinued under this chapter, the contingency reserve of that plan shall be credited to the contingency reserves of the plans continuing under this chapter for the contract term following that in which termination occurs, each reserve to be credited in proportion to the amount of the subscription charges paid and accrued to the plan for the year of termination. § 8910. Studies, reports, and audits (a) The Civil Service Commission shall make a continuing study of the operation and administration of this chapter, including surveys and reports on health benefits plans available to employees and on the experience of the plans.

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