Vote: adopted

Item Text

7. EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PLAN DOCUMENT CHANGES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2017 Approve the Maricopa County Benefits Plan (Seventh Amendment and Restatement) document effective July 1, 2017, attached as Exhibit A, which governs how employee health and welfare benefits (such as medical, prescription, behavioral health, etc.) are administered. This document supersedes all previous Maricopa County Benefits Plan documents. Revisions are shown in the redline of tracked changes attached as Exhibit B. The following is a summary of the substantive changes: o Update the definitions of: o “Benefits Trust” o “Board of Trustees” o “Dependent” o “Plan” o “Plan Administrator” o With Legal Separations, terminate coverage for ineligible dependents (e.g., legally separated spouse and step children) at the end of the month in which a Legal Separation is granted by a court of law. o Set the Benefits Effective Date for Elected Officials and Arizona Superior Court judges that elect to participate in the Benefit Plans to the first day of the month following date of hire or date of benefits eligibility. o Amend qualifying “Change in Status” events under the Plan to (i) include as a qualifying change an involuntary loss of other non-Plan coverage that is qualified as minimum essential coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and (ii) include any other change in status authorized by the Board that does not violate Section 125 of the Code. o For Family Status Changes recorded when an employee experiences a Qualifying Event (e.g., marriage, divorce, birth of a child, gain or loss of other coverage, etc.), use the Event Date to determine the date coverage becomes effective or date coverage ceases. When adding coverage (e.g., due to marriage, birth of a child, etc.), benefits are effective on the Event Date. When terminating coverage (e.g., due to divorce, legal separation, gain of other coverage, etc.), benefits end on the last day of the month in which the Event Date occurs. o Restate and clarify a Participant’s responsibility when experiencing a qualifying “Change in Status” by outlining action that must be taken by the Participant to add or remove coverage, and to satisfactorily validate that he (the Participant) or a Dependent experienced a qualifying “Change in Status”. If adding a Dependent to coverage, the Participant must also validate that the Dependent meets the definition of “Dependent”. o Provide an integration provision reaffirming that the benefits described in a “Summary Plan Description (SPD) are incorporated by reference in this plan document, and should any discrepancy arise between the SPD and the Plan, the terms of the Plan will control. o Remove reference to a Participant no longer having an effective Benefits Purchase Order if he ceases to participate in the Plan. Approve the Maricopa County Health Care Flexible Spending Account Plan (Fifth Amendment and Restatement) document effective July 1, 2017, attached as Exhibit C, which governs the general purpose Health Care Flexible Spending Account for reimbursement of eligible health care expenses. This document supersedes all previous Maricopa County Health Care Flexible Spending Account Plan documents. Revisions are shown in the redline of tracked changes attached as Exhibit D. Approve the Maricopa County Limited Scope Flexible Spending Account Plan (Second Amendment and Restatement) document effective July 1, 2017, attached as Exhibit E, which governs the Limited Scope Flexible Spending Account for reimbursement of eligible dental and vision expenses only. This document supersedes all previous Maricopa County Limited Scope Flexible Spending Account Plan documents. Revisions are shown in the redline of tracked changes attached as Exhibit F. Approve the Maricopa County Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account Plan (Fifth Amendment and Restatement) document effective July 1, 2017, attached as Exhibit G, which governs the reimbursement of eligible dependent care expenses. This document supersedes all previous Maricopa County Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account Plan documents. Revisions are shown in the redline of tracked changes attached as Exhibit H. The following is a summary of the substantive changes: o Add a 2.5 month grace period to September 15 to incur eligible Dependent care expenses. o Change the run-out period to November 30 to submit claims for reimbursement for eligible Dependent care expenses. The Maricopa County Benefits Plan document (Exhibit A) governs basic issues of plan eligibility, participation (enrollment), coverage, payroll withholding, and funding accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. The Flexible Spending Account documents (Exhibits C, E and G) govern the reimbursement of eligible, out-of-pocket expenses pursuant to IRS guidelines. The documents do not define specific benefit programs, which are adopted by the Board of Supervisors in separate actions. (C-39-17-016-M-00)