State of California M E M O R A N D U M REFERENCE CODE: 98-003 DATE: January 16, 1998 TO: Personnel Officers Personnel Transactions Supervisors Personnel Transactions Staff FROM: Department of Personnel Administration Benefits Division SUBJECT: Group Legal Services Plan -- Open Enrollment CONTACT: Susan Wong, Personnel Management Technician (916) 324-9378, CALNET 454-9378 FAX: (916) 322-3769 OFFICE VISION: DPA(SEWONG) INTERNET: SEWONG@DPA.CA.GOV The annual open enrollment period for the Group Legal Services Plan will be conducted from March 2 - April 30, 1998. This memo provides information on new premiums, the plan eligibility criteria, effective dates of coverage, training sessions for personnel office staff, informational sessions for eligible employees, and instructions on ordering plan brochures and enrollment forms. New Premium Rates The Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) recently completed a competitive bid process to select the carrier for the State's Group Legal Services Plan. Three bidders participated in the process and Midwest Legal Services (MLS) has been selected to administer the plan for the contract period of April 1, 1998 - March 31, 2000. Effective April 1, 1998 the premium rates for the new plan year will increase consistent with the terms of the new contract. Rates for the 1998 plan year will be as follows: Individual Coverage New Rate: $10.35/mo. Family Coverage New Rate: $18.80/mo. These new rates are guaranteed through March 31, 2000. This rate increase is necessary to offset the continuing increase in usage of the Legal Services Plan by State employees. For those employees currently enrolled in the plan, these new premium rates will be reflected in the paycheck deduction for the March 1998 pay period. MLS will be sending a letter to current enrollees on January 19, 1998 to notify them of the premium increase. The premium deduction for employees who enroll during the 1998 open enrollment period will be automatically established at the new rate. Eligibility Criteria Individuals who meet the following criteria are eligible to enroll during this open enrollment period: 1.Permanent or probationary employees excluded from collective bargaining, half-time or greater time base, with one of the following designations: - Managerial (M, E59, E79) - Supervisory (S, E48, E58, E68, E78) - Confidential (C) - Excluded/Exempt (E88, E89, E97, E98, E99) - E01 through E21, E67, E77 2.Permanent or probationary employees in Bargaining Units (BU) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, and 21 who work half-time or greater time base. Please note that BU 12 employees became eligible to enroll in the plan during the past year. Employees in Bargaining Units 7, 8, 13 & 17 continue to remain ineligible to enroll. 3.Dependents of eligible employees as defined below are eligible for coverage: a.A lawful spouse; b.Any unmarried, dependent children under the age of 23. Children include natural, step-children, adopted children, and children for whom the employee is the legal guardian. c.An unmarried child, 23 years or over, if he or she is incapable of self-support because of physical disability or mental incapacity and he/she is chiefly dependent on the eligible employee for support and maintenance. Permanent-intermittent employees are currently ineligible to enroll. Effective Dates of Coverage Plan coverage will begin on the first day of the pay period following the pay period from which the first premium deduction is made. Specifically, if the employee's enrollment form is processed by the Personnel Office and forwarded to the State Controller's Office (SCO) by March 10, 1998 (and there are no errors on the form), the first effective date of coverage will be April 1, 1998. For those employees whose enrollment forms are received at the SCO by April 10, 1998, the benefit will become effective on May 1, 1998. Enrollment forms received by the Personnel Office between April 11 and April 30, 1998 and forwarded to the SCO by May 10, 1998 will have a June 1, 1998 effective date. Employees cannot receive a retroactive effective date. The SCO will return any incorrectly completed forms to the Personnel Office for correction, which will result in a delay of the effective date. The "cut-off" date upon which the corrected form is returned to the SCO will determine the employee's effective date of coverage. Employee Communications A variety of communications will be used to inform employees of the Legal Services Plan open enrollment period. In early February, the plan provider will be mailing an open enrollment packet directly to the home address (i.e., the address on file with the State Controller's Office as of January 6, 1998) of approximately 147,000 eligible employees who are not currently enrolled in the plan. The packet will contain a cover letter, an enrollment form, a plan brochure, and a schedule of informational sessions that will be conducted throughout the State beginning in early March. A complete listing of the sites and dates is provided later in this memo. In addition to the enrollment packet, employees will be reminded of the open enrollment period through a global message on their paycheck stub for the March pay period (dated April 1, 1998). Legal Services Plan Brochures and Enrollment Forms Since all eligible employees will receive an enrollment form and brochure in the mail, Departmental Personnel Offices do not need to order large quantities of these materials. However, they should ensure that an adequate supply of enrollment forms and plan brochures are in stock for use in enrolling employees who become newly eligible during the remainder of the year. Additional supplies can be ordered by calling MLS at 1-800-247-4184. DPA does not maintain these forms for distribution to departments. Please ensure that the enrollment forms you have in stock list the new premiums of $10.35 for single coverage and $18.80 for family coverage. After February 10th, the SCO will not process enrollment forms which list the old premium rates (i.e., $9.49 and $17.32). Personnel Staff Training DPA staff will be conducting training sessions for Personnel Transactions staff on February 11, 1998. The sessions will be held from 9:00-10:00 a.m., 10:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the DPA State Training Center, 1515 "S" Street, North Bldg., 1st Floor., Stanislaus Room, in Sacramento. This training is designed for new Personnel Transactions staff who may be unfamiliar with the legal services plan and the various enrollment procedures. It is not necessary for personnel transactions staff to attend this training if they have attended training in prior years. Due to limited seating capacity, advanced reservations are required for all sessions. Please call Susan Wong at (916) 324-9378 by February 4, 1998 to reserve a seat. Employee Informational Sessions During the month of March, representatives from MLS will be conducting informational sessions throughout the State for interested employees. The purpose of these sessions is to provide eligible employees with more detailed information regarding the legal services plan (i.e., what services are covered, how to access the plan, the reason for certain waiting periods, etc.). In order to maximize employee attendance, we will need the assistance of personnel offices in publicizing this information to employees. We would appreciate it if this information could be distributed to your offices/field locations via e-mail messages, memos or other feasible communications methods. For the locations listed below, two sessions per day have been scheduled at the following times: 10:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Los Angeles March 3, 1998 Ronald Reagan Bldg. 300 South Spring St. Auditorium Oakland March 9, 1998 Transportation 111 Grand Ave. Auditorium Santa Ana March 10, 1998 Caltrans Bldg. 2501 Pullman St. Auditorium Stockton March 10, 1998 Stockton State Bldg. 31 East Channel Auditorium San Diego March 12, 1998 State Bldg. 1350 Front St. Rm. B-109 Riverside March 17, 1998 Cal. Tower 3737 Main St. San Jose March 27, 1998 San Jose State. Bldg. 100 Paseo de San Antonio Room 206 In Sacramento only, three sessions per day over a two-day period, have been scheduled at the following times: 9:00- 10:00 a.m., 10:30-11:30 a.m., and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Sacramento March 30 & 31, 1998 Water Resources Bldg. 1416 9th Street Auditorium As in previous years, we appreciate your assistance in communicating information to employees regarding the Group Legal Services Plan and in processing enrollment documents on a timely basis. If you have any questions regarding this memo, please call Susan Wong at (916) 324-9378 or CALNET 454-9378 or Vallita Lewis at (916) 324-9362 or CALNET 454-9362. Kathie Vaughn, Chief Benefits Division