Request By:
Mr. Joseph L. McCauley
Big Sandy Area Development
District, Inc.
130 North Lake Drive
Prestonsburg, Kentucky 41653
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
The Big Sandy ADD, along with other area development districts, has a group medical plan with Blue Cross-Blue Shield. The Big Sandy Board pays the full single rate for all single employes and one-half of the family rate for married employes. You have three married employes whose spouses work for other concerns and who have medical plans in each case. As a result, these three employes of Big Sandy have chosen not to become members of the group Blue Cross-Blue Shield carried by Big Sandy for its employes.
These three employes have requested that the premium money which would have been payable if they were members of subject group be applied for them against a life insurance policy in which the board participates with the employe, and thereby cause the employe life insurance premium to be decreased monthly by the amount of the Blue Cross-Blue Shield premium. You ask whether state and federal funds can be spent in the above manner. See KRS 147A.100. The answer is "no".
It is our opinion that if the three employes do not want to join the Blue Cross-Blue Shield group plan, then the premium money that would have otherwise been payable on their behalf cannot be applied to the premium on life insurance, since that would be arbitrary. The employes who are similarly situated must be treated alike. Under that principle they can either join the Blue Cross-Blue Shield group plan or reject it. There is, however, no legal basis for the interchangeability of hospitalization and life insurance premiums money in this situation. Section 2 of the Kentucky Constitution prohibits arbitrary action. See