| Department of Personnel Administration | |||||
| Benefits Administration Manual | |||||
Section 500
Attachments
Navigation
|
Dental Program
503. Responsibilities
State Departments
Each department is responsible for notifying its employees of benefit
eligibility guidelines, time constraints for enrollment, changes to
benefits resulting from movements in and out of bargaining units, and
applicable provisions of Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
(COBRA) coverage. Departments are also responsible for completing
enrollment documents and ensuring that documents are forwarded to the SCO in a
timely manner. Each department should ensure that a supply of
enrollment forms; dental plan information packages and current Evidence of
Coverage Booklets for each dental plan are maintained and made available to
interested employees. Departments are encouraged to review and refer
to the policy and procedures outlined in this section when handling
dental eligibility and enrollment issues. If, after thoroughly researching
this material, there are issues which cannot be resolved; DPA is
available to provide guidance and assistance.
State Controller's Office
The SCO, Benefits Unit, is responsible for
processing all dental enrollment/change documents, updating the
employees' payroll/deduction history and forwarding a copy of each enrollment
document to the appropriate dental carrier. SCO is also responsible
for auditing enrollment documents to ensure the validity of information.
Those documents that require correction are returned to the respective
employing department for appropriate action. In addition, on
approximately the 5th and 20th of each month, the carriers receive eligibility
information from SCO via eligibility file.
California Public Employees' Retirement System
The CalPERS, Health Benefit Services Division (HBSD), is responsible for processing all dental enrollment/change documents for retired State employees. It is the responsibility of each department to complete a STD. 692 for retiring employees and forward to CalPERS for processing. In addition, employees may not change dental plans when they retire unless their dental plan is no longer available to them within a 50 mile service area. Refer to Section 517 of these procedures for detailed information on dental enrollment issues for retiring employees.
Exclusive Representatives for Bargaining Units 5 and 6
The exclusive representatives for Bargaining Units 5 and 6 contract
directly with dental carriers for dental coverage for their members and
have administrative responsibility for such coverage. Employees in
Units 5 and 6 enroll in their respective union-sponsored plan through
their Personnel Office using the standard dental enrollment form, STD. 692
and normal enrollment procedures. Once enrolled, employees in these
bargaining units should contact their union directly regarding questions
or issues regarding their dental coverage. The contact numbers for
these bargaining units are provided below:
|
||||