(a) A full-time or part-time employee ("Petitioner") whose application to enroll themselves and/or their dependents in TRS-ActiveCare is denied by either TRS, the administering firm, or a participating entity may appeal the denial to TRS.
(b) An appeal made pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be made in writing and must be received by TRS no later than 45 days after the date of denial. The appeal shall be directed to the TRS-ActiveCare Grievance Administrator. TRS may, at its sole discretion, provide a copy of the appeal to the administering firm or the participating entity that denied enrollment.
(c) An appeal made pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall state the basis for appeal and shall include all relevant documents and correspondence that were considered by TRS, the administering firm, or a participating entity when the enrollment was denied. The administering firm or participating entity is required, upon request by TRS, to participate in the process.
(d) The TRS Appeal Committee ("Committee") is responsible for the review and determination of appeals made pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. The Committee shall be appointed by the TRS Deputy Director or, if the position of the Deputy Director is vacant, the TRS Chief Financial Officer and shall serve at the discretion of the Deputy Director or, if the position of the Deputy Director is vacant, the Chief Financial Officer.
(e) In determining eligibility for enrollment, the Committee shall apply the TRS-ActiveCare plan design and rules in effect for the plan year in which the Petitioner is seeking enrollment. If TRS finds that extraordinary circumstances constituting "good cause" prevented the Petitioner from complying fully with a deadline established by TRS under the TRS-ActiveCare plan design or rules, the appeal may be granted. For purposes of this subsection, "good cause" means that a person's failure to act was not because of a lack of due diligence the exercise of which would have caused a reasonable person to take prompt and timely action. A failure to act based on ignorance of the law or facts reasonably discoverable through the exercise of due diligence does not constitute good cause. If a person was reasonably prevented from complying with a deadline as a result of an unexpected natural disaster or sudden catastrophic event, that event may constitute "good cause" even though the event occurs on or near a deadline and arguably Petitioner could have met the deadline if Petitioner had acted sooner. Misinformation concerning a deadline provided to Petitioner by either TRS, the health plan administrator of TRS-ActiveCare, or a participating entity, and relied upon by Petitioner, may be grounds for "good cause" if the act of providing misinformation to Petitioner is documented or substantiated and a reasonable person would have relied on the information provided to Petitioner and reasonably would not have known the information provided to Petitioner was inaccurate.
(f) The Committee shall notify the Petitioner, the administering firm, and the participating entity of its decision in writing.
(g) If the Committee determines that the enrollment should be allowed, it shall inform the Petitioner, the administering firm, and the participating entity of the manner and effective date of enrollment by the Petitioner.
(h) The Petitioner may appeal the written decision of the Committee relating to eligibility to the executive director.
  (1) A request for an appeal to the executive director must be submitted by the Petitioner in writing and must be received by TRS by the later of:
    (A) 30 days after the date the initial written decision by the Committee is mailed; or
    (B) a number of days after the decision of the Committee is mailed equal to the number of days it took the Committee to issue its decision.
  (2) The number of days it took the Committee to issue its decision is calculated from the date TRS received the Petitioner's appeal made pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to the date TRS mailed the Committee's decision.
  (3) The request for an appeal to the executive director shall be directed to the attention of the TRS-ActiveCare Grievance Administrator.
  (4) Subject to subsection (i) of this section and pursuant to the delegation of authority through this section, the decision of the executive director is the final decision of TRS.
(i) The Committee shall review an appeal made pursuant to subsection (a) or (h) of this section for timeliness and may deny an appeal that is not timely received by TRS. An appeal made pursuant to subsection (a) or (h) of this section that is denied because TRS did not timely receive the appeal is a final decision by TRS.

Source Note: The provisions of this §41.51 adopted to be effective December 26, 2002, 27 TexReg 12004; amended to be effective March 8, 2007, 32 TexReg 1092; amended to be effective March 25, 2008, 33 TexReg 2556; amended to be effective April 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 2001; amended to be effective December 22, 2014, 39 TexReg 10029; amended to be effective March 19, 2020, 45 TexReg 1862