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HR Updates for Employees

  • IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM
    THE OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER
    REGARDING
     Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP), Medical Flexible Spending Account (MEDFLEX) AND Qualified Transit Account (QTA) Programs 

    The takeover process for the Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP), the Medical Flexible Spending Account Plan (MEDFLEX), and the Qualified Transportation Account (QTA) program to TASC, the new administrator, has been completed.  Please note that it may take up to a day following the takeover process completion before some rollover balances show on employees' benefit accounts. 

    USE OF REMAINING FUNDS FOR 2021 PLAN YEAR

    DCAP Accounts

    Participants in the DCAP are now able to see their 2021 account balances on the TASC website, www.cttasc.com, and are able to access those balances to pay for eligible 2021 dependent care expenses.  All claims for use of 2021 Plan Year balances must be submitted to TASC for payment by March 31, 2022.  Due to Internal Revenue Service requirements, we are unable to extend the deadline for claims submission.  All unused 2021 balances in participant accounts after March 31, 2022 will be forfeited.

    MEDFLEX Accounts.

    The deadline for submitting claims for the 2021 Plan Year is March 31, 2022.  The Comptroller has authorized a plan amendment giving employees the ability to use MEDFLEX funds set aside for medical/dental services in Plan Year 2021 to be carried over to the 2022 Plan Year. If you enrolled in the MEDFLEX for Plan Year 2022, all unspent 2021 Plan Year funds will be available for use in 2022.  

    Employees who did not enroll in MEDFLEX for Plan Year 2022, are also able to use all unspent funds from Plan Year 2021 during 2022.  To avoid the administrative expense of carrying small, inactive MEDFLEX accounts, any unused 2021 balance of less than $25.00 as of March 31, 2022 will be forfeited. 

    QTA Accounts

    Balances in the QTA Plan carry over from year to year and may be used for eligible expenses so long as the employee has not terminated from service.  The deadline for submitting claims for the 2021 Plan Year is March 31, 2022.  Unused balances in those accounts as of March 31, 2022 will not be forfeited. 

    During the Covid-19 pandemic, many employees were unable to use funds set aside for public transportation due to increased telecommuting, discontinuation of vanpools, and service reductions on public transportation.  In November 2020, the IRS issued Notice 20-0024, which indicated that employees could use transportation fringe benefits for qualified parking expenses. We will provide more guidance to QTA participants about how to use transit funds for parking expenses in the coming weeks.  The IRS Notice also made it clear that unused amounts in QTA accounts cannot be refunded to employees upon termination. 

  • Recently enacted Public Act 21-149 requires dental plans to allow children, stepchildren and other dependent children to remain on their parents’ dental insurance plan until they attain the age of 26 or obtain substitute coverage through their own employer.  For our dental plans, this change will take effect beginning July 1, 2022. 

    Under the current dental plan eligibility rules, all children, except those certified as disabled, become ineligible for coverage under the parent’s plan upon attainment of age 19.  Disabled children aged 19 and older may remain on the plan if the parents apply for and obtain a certification from Anthem as to the child’s disability.  The Division is issuing this memorandum to explain how this benefit change will be implemented  for children previously removed from coverage due to age.

    Beginning July 1, 2022, the age for removing a child from a parent’s dental plan will be changed from 19 to age 26—the same as it is for medical benefits.   During Open Enrollment in 2022, dental plan members will have an opportunity to re-enroll children up to age 26  on their dental benefit coverage.  With this change, parents will no longer have to apply for certification to keep a disabled dependent on the dental plan when the child turns 19.  Certification of disabled status will occur in coordination with the child’s medical benefit certification process at age 26.

    In order to avoid the process of terminating coverage and then re-enrolling children turning 19 between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022 the Comptroller will continue dental coverage for this group through June 30, 2022 without interruption.

    As the new law will not take effect until the first day of the new plan year (July 1, 2022), employees with children between the ages of 19-25 will need to wait until the 2022 Open Enrollment period to re-enroll their children in dental benefits. 

  • Effective January 1, 2022, there will be a new administrator for the Dependent Care Program (DCAP), the Medical Flexible Spending Account (“MEDFLEX”), and the Qualified Transit Account Program. The new vendor is Total Administrative Services Corporation (“TASC”) from Madison, Wisconsin. TASC has experience administering flexible spending account programs for other large organizations, such as Stanford University, Ohio State University, and the Federal government. TASC will be conducting Open Enrollment for the 2022 Plan Year for the DCAP and MEDFLEX this fall. Open Enrollment will take place during the month of November and will be conducted primarily online. We will be issuing more detailed guidance concerning the process as we get closer to implementation.

  • Have questions about the changes to State pension plan provisions after July 1,  2022? You can find your answers in this powerpoint presentation.

  • The Office of the State Comptroller has announced the temporary increase in the annual amount that participants in the Dependent Care Account Plan (DCAP) can exclude from income to cover eligible depending care expenses during 2021. 

    Increase of DCAP Plan Maximum to $10,500

    The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 allows employers to amend their dependent care assistance programs to allow employees to contribute up to $10,500 for the tax year (or $5,250 for individuals married and filing separately).  The Comptroller has elected to make this change. 

    Mid-Year Election Changes Permitted

    The DCAP is governed by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and U.S. Department of the Treasury regulations, which limit circumstances under which an employee may change his or her election once it has been made for a given plan year unless the member experiences a qualifying status change.  These restrictions have been relaxed for the 2021 Plan Year. 

    Mid-Year Increases or Decreases

    Employees who elected to participate in the DCAP for Plan Year 2021 can on -- a prospective basis only—revoke an election, make a new election, decrease, or increase an existing election.  Employees should make sure that their total contributions to the DCAP for 2021 (including any unspent funds from 2020) do not exceed their dependent care expenses. 

    Mid-Year Enrollment Permitted

    Employees who did not sign up to participate in the DCAP for 2021 have the opportunity to enroll in the plan for the remainder of the current Plan Year without demonstrating a qualifying status change.

    Claims Submission Reminder

    Employees with unused DCAP funds from the 2020 Plan Year, must submit all claims for reimbursement from those (2020) funds no later than December 31, 2021.  Employees will have until March 31, 2022 to submit claims for reimbursement of eligible 2021 expenses using amounts contributed to the DCAP in the current calendar year. 

    All mid-year election/enrollment changes must be submitted to Progressive Benefits Solutions (PBS).  Forms for 2021 mid-year elections for DCAP, Form CO-1310a, are posted online at http://www.ctpbs.com.  The forms may be returned as follows:  Email: enrollment@pbscard.com; Fax: 203-974-4898; or US Mail:  Progressive Benefit Solutions, 14 Business Park Drive #8, Branford, CT  06405 

    Questions concerning enrollment in the DCAP should be directed to PBS at 1-866-906-8023. 

  • An Urgent Message to all State Employees and Partnership Plan Members in the Health Enhancement Program:

    This is a message to alert all State employees and Partnership Plan members that the Health Enhancement Program (HEP) requirements are indefinitely suspended until further notice for all HEP enrollees and their dependents.

    This indefinite suspension is being implemented to alleviate the stress on all Connecticut physician and medical provider groups that must prioritize their focus on Covid-19 response and other emergencies that may arise. There will be no penalties implemented for outstanding HEP requirements for calendar year 2019. The calendar year 2020 compliance monitoring is suspended until further notice. Members will be notified when compliance monitoring resumes for 2020 and any corresponding compliance year extensions or additional penalty waivers.

    We appreciate your patience and understanding and assure you that we will do our best to keep all employees informed of any other developments as they may arise.

    Again, the goal of this indefinite suspension of HEP requirements, and elimination of any noncompliance penalties, is to reduce the strain on medical providers related to non-emergency visits.

    As always, if you have any questions related to HEP, please email HEPquestions@Connect2YourHealth.com or call 877-687-1448.

     

    Office of the State Comptroller

     

  •  

    20-21 ANNUAL OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR MEDICAL & DENTAL PLANS

    The State of Connecticut 20-21 annual Open Enrollment (OE) period is from September 8, 2020 through September 30, 2020.

    Effective 10/1/2020, Anthem will be the only medical carrier for active state employees and retirees under the age of 65. 

    Employees who are currently enrolled in an Oxford medical plan will automatically default to the corresponding Anthem medical plan.

  • President Trump signed House Bill 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA” or “Act”) into law on March 18, 2020.  The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has now released guidance that the new law is effective on April 1, 2020 and remains in effect through December 31, 2020.  Leave taken under this Act is not retroactive.  

    In general, the Act provides that employees are eligible for: 

    • Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work (or telework) because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or
    • Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay because the employee is unable to work (or telework)  because of a bona fide need to care for an individual subject to quarantine (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), or to care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, and/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor; and
    • Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee, who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days, is unable to work (or telework) due to a bona fide need for leave to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.

  • In order to adhere to social distancing and limiting person to person contact, the Office of the State Comptroller will not be holding in-person open enrollment fairs at Agency locations.  All previously scheduled in-person open enrollment fairs will be cancelled. In lieu of in-person open enrollment fairs we are preparing a comprehensive plan to provide all necessary open enrollment health insurance information to state agencies, employees and retirees. This outreach will include direct mailings, online live and taped presentations and webinars.

    Additional communications will be sent as we approach our annual open enrollment period which runs this year from May 4th to May 29th, 2020. 

    Tracy A. Cellillie, Assistant Director

    Healthcare Policy & Benefit Services Division

    Office of the State Comptroller