NRECA Employee Benefits Weekly

Watch for 2027 Summary of Benefits and Coverage Documents

Posted on Posted in Compliance, Group Benefits

Starting the week of September 14, summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) documents for 2027 will be released to cooperatives through the Group Plan Documents page on the Employee Benefits website, which can be found in the megamenu. Click “My Co-op”, then look for “Overview” and click “Group Benefits Program Documents.”

Your co-op will receive a Message Center notification when your SBCs are available. Download and distribute them to plan participants either with annual enrollment materials (if provided) or at least 30 days before the first day of the new plan year (if renewal is automatic, with no opportunity to elect different benefits).

The SBC helps participants compare and select group benefit plan coverage. It describes plan exclusions, cost-sharing and certain covered services. You’ll receive an SBC for these plans, if your co-op offers them:

  • The NRECA Medical Plan renewed by your co-op for January 2027.
  • The FutureMe®, Powered by NRECA well-being program.
  • NRECA Dental and Vision Plans if your co-op pays 100% of the premium. SBCs are not required for VSP vision plans.

If your co-op offers 125 Plan health flexible spending accounts (health FSA) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRA), you must also distribute SBCs for these plans. Use the model SBCs on the Tax-Advantaged Accounts page of the Employee Benefits website. Before distribution, work with your legal counsel to customize the documents to reflect your plan design and information.

You do not need to distribute a health flexible spending account SBC if your co-op:

  • does not contribute to the account,
  • provides a dollar-for-dollar match, or
  • contributes less than $500. 

How to distribute SBCs
Review the guidelines on the Distributing Plan Documents page of the Employee Benefits website. Although certain examples or terms in the the NRECA medical, dental, and visions plans and FutureMe, Powered by NRECA SBCs may not apply to your co-op’s plan, by law they must be included without modification.

Distribute SBCs to all eligible individuals (employees, retirees, directors, retained attorneys, surviving dependents and COBRA participants) with your annual enrollment materials. Throughout 2027, give SBCs to:

  • New enrollees at the time of first enrollment.
  • Individuals with HIPAA special enrollments, and
  • Employees who ask for a copy within seven days after their request.

Make acknowledgement the last step in your distribution process. Keep track of the distribution details such as the number of recipients and distribution method used (e.g., paper or electronic). Then process your acknowledgement through the Group Plan Documents page.

If you have questions about the content of your SBCs, contact the benefits compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7, or group.compliance@nreca.coop.

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