| <p>Employees are currently permitted to make a one-time mid-year enrollment change to their MRA and/or DCRA elections for the 2020 plan year. Employees may enroll, cancel or change their MRA and/or DCRA election without a qualifying permitting event on a prospective basis only. The last effective date for the 2020 plan year is December 1, 2020. The State Controller’s Office must receive the employee’s completed <a href="https://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/dgs/fmc/pdf/std701R.pdf" target="_blank">STD 701R – Reimbursement Account Enrollment Authorization </a>no later than November 10, 2020 in order to have an effective date of December 1, 2020. <br>The minimum contribution to keep a MRA and/or DCRA active is $10 per month. An employee must keep their MRA and/or DCRA active to be eligible for the grace period and incur claims until March 15, 2021. Any employees who previously cancelled or reduced their election to $0 will have until November 30, 2020, to amend their prior election to the minimum amount if they wish to do so. Employees who do not amend their prior elections will only be eligible to incur expenses until the cancellation effective date for the MRA or until December 31, 2020 for the DCRA.<br>More information is available under the<a href="/state-hr-professionals/Pages/national-emergency-relief-guidelines-employee-benefit-plans.aspx" target="_blank"> National Emergency Relief and Guidelines for Employee Benefit Plans</a>. <br>The one-time mid-year election opportunity is not extended into the 2021 plan year at this time. Employees will need to experience a qualified permitting event in order to make election changes in 2021 including: </p><ul><li>DCRA Only – Change in dependent care provider (e.g. a provider opens/closes) </li><li>DCRA Only – Change in dependent care costs (e.g. an employee increases or decreases care based on work schedule) </li><li>MRA and DCRA – Change in employee eligibility that is a result of a reduction of hours (e.g. an employee's work schedule is reduced to less than half-time)</li></ul><p>These are common permitting events but are not an exhaustive list. You may refer to the<a href="/Documents/bam-flexelect-appendix-a-permitting-event-codes-date-chart.pdf"> FlexElect Program Permitting Event Codes/Dates Chart </a>for additional permitting events.<br>Additionally, IRS guidelines currently prohibit retroactive election changes or refunds of remaining balances in an MRA and/or DCRA for the 2020 plan year. CalHR is diligently tracking IRS announcements and will release an HR Announcement if there is any change to CalHR policy. </p> | 2020 FlexElect Medical Reimbursement Account (MRA) and Dependent Care Reimbursement Account (DCRA) Program Reminders | 11/9/2020 8:00:00 AM |
| <p>The <a href="https://511.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/cbp/Program_Overview.pdf" target="_blank">Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program (Program)</a> applies to all affected agencies and departments in the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma). </p><p> In order to comply with the Program requirements, all affected departments should electronically submit the following completed documents to CalHR at travelmanager@calhr.ca.gov by November 20, 2020:</p><ul><li>Annual Report (submitted on <a href="https://calhr.ca.gov/Documents/Bay-Area-Commuter-Benefits-Program-Departmental-Report-Template.xlsx" target="_blank">CalHR's Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program Annual Report Template</a>). </li><li>Copy of notice to employees (see <a href="https://calhr.ca.gov/Documents/SAMPLE-Departmental-Commuter-Information-Notice-010319.rtf" target="_blank">CalHR's Sample Notice</a>.)</li></ul><p> <a href="/benefits/Pages/Bay-Area-Commuter-Benefits-Program.aspx" target="_blank">CalHR's Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program page</a> provides additional information about the steps departments must complete to register and maintain Program compliance. </p><p> </p><p>Affected state agencies and departments may contact <a href="mailto:travelmanager@calhr.ca.gov" target="_blank">travelmanager@calhr.ca.gov</a> for additional clarification.</p> | Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program – Notification, Record Keeping, and Annual Reporting Requirements for Affected Agencies/Departments | 10/29/2020 7:00:00 AM |
| <p>The 2020 <a href="/benefits/Pages/open-enrollment-toolkit.aspx">Open Enrollment Toolkit </a>is now available. The Toolkit contains resources to assist with processing Open Enrollment forms and links to benefit information to distribute to employees.<br><br>The following resources are available in the Open Enrollment Toolkit: </p><ul><li>2020 Open Enrollment Announcement to all state employees eligible for health, dental, vision, reimbursement accounts, cash options, legal, life, and long term disability</li><li>2021 Highlights and Plan Changes<br>· Instructions for Department Personnel Offices to Complete Open Enrollment Forms</li><li>2021 Dental, Vision, Legal, Life, and Long Term Disability Plan Deduction Codes and Premiums</li><li>2021 Consolidated Benefits (CoBen) Allowances and Employer Health Benefit Contributions</li><li> 2021 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) Group Continuation Coverage for Dental and Vision Plan Premiums</li></ul><p>Please note: SEIU Local 1000 represented employees and excluded classes tied to SEIU are not eligible to participate in the FlexElect or CoBen Cash Options until July 1, 2022, due to receiving other negotiated benefits.</p> | 2020 Open Enrollment for Health, Dental, Vision, Reimbursement Accounts, Cash Options, Legal, Life, and Long Term Disability | 9/21/2020 7:00:00 AM |
