Title
Human Resources Department recommending the Board take the following actions regarding Health Plan Programs and Ancillary Employee Benefit Programs for the 2021 Plan Year:
1) Approve the account prefunding in the amount of 30% of the 2021 plan year FSA annual election amounts made during Open Enrollment for coverage effective January 1, 2021;
2) Approve the deposit of any 2020 plan year FSA forfeiture funds into the FSA bank account as finalized and received by the current FSA administrator, Employee Benefit Specialists, Inc.; and
3) Authorize the Director of Human Resources, or designee, to execute administrative health and benefit program plan renewals for services that otherwise fall under existing executed master agreements. (Cont. 10/20/20, Item 7)
FUNDING: County-wide cost, shared between the County Departments (General Fund and Non-General Fund) and employees.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Health Plans
On July 21, 2020, the Board approved the transition of benefits third party administrator (TPA) from Employee Benefit Specialists, Inc. (EBS) to Benefit Coordinators Corporation (BCC). As approved by the Board, Human Resources is transitioning from EBS to BCC on an incremental basis to limit disruption to our customers and to provide seamless transition for plan carriers. As such, BCC is providing all services related to open enrollment in 2020, for plan changes that take effect January 1, 2021, while EBS maintains administration for current employee, new hire, retiree health, and COBRA enrollments for coverage through December 31, 2020.
One TPA service currently provided by EBS that will transition to BCC is Flexible Spending Account (FSA) administration, specifically related to Health and Dependent Care. Unlike EBS who withdrew all deposited funds once per biweekly pay period and held funds in their own separate account from which to process any claims received, BCC will only withdraw the exact funds necessary for the reconciliation and reimb...
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