Supplemental Medical Plan SMMs Available July 1
If your cooperative offers one of the NRECA Medical Plans, within the next week you will receive a Message Center notification directing you to a new summary of material modifications (SMM) for your plan. Deliver the SMM to current plan participants and acknowledge distribution by September 1, 2019. Also, give the SMM to new plan participants at the same time you provide the medical summary plan description (SPD).
This SMM reflects formulary changes, effective July 1, 2019 and August 1, 2019, made by CVS Caremark™ (the plan’s pharmacy benefit manager). Certain products were added or deleted from the lists or moved to different tiers. The July 1 changes were announced in the May 29, 2019 issue of NRECA Employee Benefits Weekly. The changes effective August 1, 2019 are being announced in a separate article in the July 26, 2019 issue of NRECA Employee Benefits Weekly.
On the NRECA Employee Benefits website, participants can visit:
- Prescription Drug page to view the most current version of the Performance Drug, Prior Authorization and Preventive Drug Lists
- Manage Your Prescriptions page to check the coverage and cost of drugs not on the Performance Drug List
Starting July 1, 2019, these lists will reflect the changes described in the SMM.
Distribution Instructions
Enter your co-op’s name, REA and subgroup number on the SMM before distributing it to employees.
Visit the Employee Benefits website for information about who must receive the SMM and to review the electronic distribution rules. Department of Labor regulations allow employers to give out SMMs electronically (usually via email) only to certain employees who can access the documents through computers that are an integral part of their work duties. Participants who do not meet these criteria (for example, a line worker or meter readers who may not have a computer or laptop) must receive paper copies.
Employees who have questions about prescription drug coverage or about these changes can call CVS Caremark Customer Care at 888.796.7322.
If you have questions about downloading and distributing this SMM, call the Member Contact Center at 866.673.2299 or contactcenter@nreca.coop. For all other questions about this SMM, call the benefits compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7, or at group.compliance@nreca.coop.