Watch for Group SBCs Starting on September 15
Starting tomorrow, September 15, check the Employee Benefits website for a Message Center notification directing you to your 2018 Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) documents. The SBC provides information about NRECA medical, dental, and vision plans so that employees can compare plan features and make coverage decisions. You must give SBCs to all participants and eligible employees with your annual enrollment materials or by November 1, 2017 (if earlier).
Your cooperative will receive an SBC for:
- All NRECA medical plans,
- Stand-alone wellness plans (follow the instructions in the wellness plan SBC to complete the highlighted area indicating whether your wellness plan covers weight loss programs or activities before giving it to eligible employees), and
- NRECA dental and vision plans when your co-op pays 100% of the premium. You will not receive an SBC for VSP vision plans.
For the following co-op-sponsored plans, your co-op must create its own SBC using the samples NRECA provides on the Employee Benefits website:
- Health flexible spending accounts (HFSAs), except when your co-op
- does not contribute to the HFSA,
- provides a dollar-for-dollar matching contribution to the HFSA or contributes no more than $500 to the HFSA.
- Health reimbursement arrangements.
These are only samples for your co-op’s convenience; we urge you to review them with your legal counsel before using them. You must update the highlighted areas on these sample SBCs with your co-op’s plan provisions.
Timing and Acknowledgement
SBCs will be released to the Employee Benefits website as the proposals you submitted during Annual Renewal are approved and processed. This means that your co-op may receive SBCs for various 2018 Plans on different days.
For complete information about your SBCs, including which plans receive them, when to distribute them to employees, and electronic distribution guidelines, review the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) page in the BA Guide on the Employee Benefits website. There, you’ll also find a list of frequently asked questions about the content and format of the SBC.
Once you’ve distributed the SBCs, fill out the acknowledgment form on the Employee Benefits website. Follow the link in the original SBC Message Center notification or go directly to the acknowledgment form under Documents Requiring Acknowledgement at the top of the Group Plan Documents page. You can acknowledge distributing SBCs for multiple plans in one step.
If you have any questions about distributing your SBCs, contact the benefits compliance team at 866.673.2299, option 7, or at group.compliance@nreca.coop.