2. Any local board of education may directly or indirectly through a trust fund or otherwise enter into contracts of group life, accidental death and dismemberment, hospitalization, medical, surgical, major medical expense, minimum premium insurance policy or health and accident insurance with any insurance company or companies authorized to do business in this State, or may contract with a nonprofit hospital service, medical service or health service corporation with respect to the benefits which they are authorized to provide respectively. Such contract or contracts shall provide any one or more of such coverages for the employees of the local board of education and may include their dependents. A local board of education may enter into a contract or contracts to provide drug prescription and other health care benefits, or enter into a contract or contracts to provide drug prescription and other health care benefits as may be required to implement a duly executed collective negotiations agreement, or as may be required to implement a determination by a local board of education to provide such benefit or benefits to employees not included in collective negotiations units. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to authorize coverage of dependents of an employee under a group life insurance policy or to allow the issuance of a group life insurance policy under which the entire premium is to be derived from funds contributed by the insured employee.

For purposes of this section, “minimum premium insurance policy” means a group insurance policy issued by an insurer licensed to do business in this State under which the policyholder agrees to directly fund specified claims of insureds covered under the policy, in lieu of payment of a portion of the premium.

L.1979,c.391,s.2; amended 1995,c.74,s.4.