Distribute Group SPDs by March 1

By now you should have received one or more Message Center alerts linking to your cooperative’s 2017 Group Benefits Program summary plan description (SPD) and summary of material modifications (SMM) documents. The distribution deadline for these notices is March 1, 2017.

Follow these helpful tips will help make the distribution process easier:

First, compare your SPDs to the elections you made in the Benefit Plan Rating and Renewal feature of the Employee Benefits website to be sure the provisions you chose for each plan and subgroup are correctly reflected. Each proposal you submit receives a unique proposal ID, which appears in the Benefit Plan Rating and Renewal feature, on your Message Center alert, on your SPDs and on the distribution acknowledgement form. Use this ID to track each plan through the distribution and acknowledgement process.

Second, review the electronic distribution rules. These rules describe how you must deliver employee benefit plan disclosure notices to your plan participants.

Third, review who must receive the SPDs and SMMs:

• New employees (within 90 days of the date they first become covered under the plan); and
• These individuals (by the March 1, 2017 deadline):
  • Active & disabled employees
  • Retirees
  • Directors & retained attorneys
  • COBRA qualified beneficiaries
  • Dependents of deceased employees/retirees who continue to be covered
  • Children covered under a qualified medical child support order

Finally, all of these steps, along with checklists for both distributing and acknowledging distribution of your notices and a list of 2017 SPD and SMM updates, are available on the Employee Benefits website.

Other general requirements
You must also tell all employees why the SPDs and SMMs are important, how they will be provided and how they can request a free paper copy (if you use an electronic distribution method). You must provide the free paper copy to anyone who wants it within 30 days of the request date, regardless of how they originally received the notice.

If you have questions as you review and distribute your SPDs and SMMs, contact the group compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7, or email us at group.compliance@nreca.coop.