EXTENDED SUPPLEMENTAL DEATH BENEFIT COVERAGE.

(a) A member included in the coverage of the supplemental death benefit program who fails to earn compensation in a month for service to a municipality participating in the supplemental death benefits fund is eligible to receive extended coverage in the program on complying with this section.

(b) A member may apply to the retirement system for extended program coverage and submit evidence of eligibility for extended coverage.

(c) The board of trustees shall grant extended coverage in the supplemental death benefit program to an applicant, if the board finds:

(1) that as a result of illness or injury, the member is unable to engage in gainful occupation; and

(2) that the member made a required contribution to the retirement system as an employee of a municipality participating in the supplemental death benefits fund for the month immediately preceding the first full month in which the member was unable to engage in gainful occupation.

(d) Once established, extended coverage of a person in the supplemental death benefit program continues until the last day of the month in which:

(1) the member returns to work as an employee of a participating municipality;

(2) the board of trustees finds that the member is able to engage in gainful occupation;

(3) the person's membership in the retirement system is terminated; or

(4) the member retires under this subtitle.

(e) The board of trustees by rule may require a member to submit to it annual proof of continued inability to engage in gainful occupation. The board may require a member to undergo a medical examination by a physician designated by the board. Failure of a member to undergo a medical examination as required by this subsection is a ground for the board's finding that the member has become able to engage in gainful occupation.

(f) If a member included in the coverage of the supplemental death benefit program becomes eligible to apply for the extended coverage but fails to comply with Subsections (b) and (c) before the member's death, the member will be considered to have had the extended coverage if proof is furnished that the member could have qualified for extended coverage if application for the coverage had been made according to Subsections (b) and (c) and that the death occurred within six months after the date the coverage of the supplemental death benefit program was discontinued under Section 854.601.