State of California M E M O R A N D U M DATE: October 22, 1992 To: PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT LIAISONS REFERENCE CODE: 92-106 THIS MEMORANDUM SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED TO: ALL PERSONNEL OFFICERS, PERSONNEL TRANSACTIONS SUPERVISORS AND PERSONNEL TRANSACTIONS STAFF From: Department of Personnel Administration Subject: Dental Benefit Changes Effective January 1, 1993 The purpose of this memorandum is to discuss important changes to the State's Dental Program which will become effective on January 1, 1993. These changes are: o New Delta premiums o Enrollment Restriction on newly hired employees o Changes to the State-sponsored pre-paid plans Delta Dental Premium Rates PML Memo Reference Code 92-94 dated August 14, 1992 contained incorrect information about the Delta Dental Premium Rates which will become effective on January 1, 1993. Following are the correct premium rates which will go into effect on January 1, 1993, including the total premium, the employee copayment and the State share, and the new COBRA rates. Delta Dental Represented Employees: Party Code State Share Employee Copay Total Premium 1P $24.37 $ 6.85 $31.22 2P $43.82 $12.39 $56.21 3P $63.95 $18.14 $82.09 Delta Dental Excluded Employees: Party Code State Share Employee Copay Total Premium 1P $25.63 $ 6.85 $32.48 2P $54.21 $12.39 $66.60 3P $75.67 $18.14 $93.81 COBRA - Delta Dental COBRA - Delta Dental Represented Employees: Excluded Employees: 1P $31.44 1P $32.72 2P $56.93 2P $67.52 3P $83.32 3P $95.28 Dental Enrollment Restriction For Newly Hired Represented Employees As a result of the recent collective bargaining negotiations, effective January 1, 1993, all newly hired represented employees in Bargaining Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 will be required to select their dental plan coverage from one of the State- sponsored prepaid dental plans. Impacted employees will be required to remain in a prepaid plan until they have completed 24 months of State service. At the end of the 24 month period, employees will have 60 days to elect coverage into the State's indemnity plan, Delta Dental. Please note that this restriction only applies to represented employees in the above-mentioned bargaining units. Newly hired represented employees in Bargaining Units 5 and 6 may continue to elect to enroll in their respective union-sponsored indemnity dental plan or prepaid plan. Employees represented by Bargaining Unit 13 may continue to receive benefits through their union-sponsored trust. Newly hired excluded employees will NOT be subject to this restriction and will therefore be allowed to continue to elect dental coverage in the State-sponsored prepaid plans or the Delta Dental Enhanced Plan. Departments will be responsible for ensuring that as of January 1, 1993, all newly hired employees are advised of this restriction. In addition, it is important that employees are aware that it will be their responsibility to initiate a request to be moved into the indemnity dental plan within 60 days from the date they complete their initial 24 month period. Employees who do not opt to change plans at that time may do so during the next open enrollment period. All of the prepaid dental plans require employees to go to an assigned dental provider. If for some reason there are no dentists available within a 50 mile radius of the employee's residence, consideration will be given to requests to allow these employees to enroll in the State- sponsored indemnity plan, Delta Dental, prior to completion of 24 months of State service. These requests should be submitted in writing by the Personnel Office, with the completed STD. 692 to Nicolas Villa, Statewide Dental Coordinator, at the Department of Personnel Administration. Each request must indicate where the employee lives and the reason they are unable to enroll in a prepaid plan; i.e. no dentist available, prepaid dentists in area are no longer accepting new patients, etc. Please be sure to include the name of the dentist where appropriate. Upon verification of the information the employee will be enrolled in Delta and the department and employee will be notified. Employees should be cautioned not to go to the dentist until they have been notified of their enrollment in Delta. Pre-Paid Dental Plans/Competitive Bid Process The Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) recently concluded a competitive bid process for the pre-paid dental plans. As a result of the "intent-to-award", the DPA received a protest from one of the unsuccessful bidders. The protest period is underway and a decision is expected from the Department of General Services before October 27, 1992. At that time, the State will proceed based on the General Services' decision, and implement the new pre-paid dental contracts. As a result of these circumstances, the DPA will allow a special open enrollment after the new plans are known. More information about the open enrollment period, the 1993 premiums for the pre-paid plans, and the structure of the pre-paid program will be announced at a future date. If you have questions regarding the information in this memo you may call Nicolas Villa, Statewide Dental Coordinator at (916) 324-9486 or ATSS 454-9486. Patricia Pavone, Chief Benefits and Training Division