July 22, 2024
Circular Letter: 600-036-24
Topic: Health Benefits

To: All CalPERS Health Benefits Officers and Assistant Health Benefits Officers

Purpose

The purpose of this Circular Letter is to inform you of important dates for 2024 Open Enrollment as well as upcoming Open Enrollment events and information. This Circular Letter also explains how to sign up for Employer Bulletins to stay informed of California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) news and events.

2024 Open Enrollment Dates

The following are key dates:

• Your employees’ Health Plan Statements will be available in their myCalPERS accounts on September 9, 2024. The Health Plan Statement provides an overview of their health premiums for 2024 and 2025 if they don’t change plans or enroll dependents.
• Open Enrollment is September 16 – October 11, 2024. During this time, your employees can enroll, change health plans, add eligible dependents, remove dependents, or cancel coverage. Your employees are responsible for providing you with any necessary documentation to determine their dependents' eligibility for health coverage.
• The deadline for processing all Open Enrollment transactions is 11:59 p.m. PT on Friday, November 8, 2024. Changes made during Open Enrollment take effect on January 1, 2025.

Open Enrollment Employer Webinar

We are hosting a webinar on September 5 at 10 a.m. During this webinar, we will provide an overview of the 2025 health plan changes, guide you on where to find essential Open Enrollment information, and answer any questions you may have. Registration information will be provided through emails and an Employer Bulletin.

Open Enrollment for Employers Webpage

Prior to Open Enrollment, the Open Enrollment for Employers page will be updated with information regarding:

• Open Enrollment health fairs (available virtually and in-person)
• Health plan and benefit changes for 2025
• Open Enrollment Employer Webinar registration information
• Health program highlights, employer roles and responsibilities, and Open Enrollment resources

View the Annual Health Plan Changes page for details on next year's health plans, service area expansions, and benefit design changes.

Member Communication

Later this month, we’ll notify members via email of the 2025 health plan and benefit design changes. In August, we’ll send letters to members impacted by premium increases of 9% and higher and include a summary of the 2025 health plan changes. We’ll provide you with an overview of the letters on the CalPERS website.

Online Health Enrollment

With your approval, eligible active employees can make many health enrollment changes online through their myCalPERS account.

During the annual Open Enrollment, all eligible active and retired employees can enroll themselves and their eligible dependents into health benefits or submit Open Enrollment changes online. When an employee changes their health plan online, no action is required within myCalPERS by Human Resources departments. However, certain transactions, such as new enrollments, adding a dependent, and some delete dependent transactions, will still require employer review of eligibility and documentation. Employers will receive electronic notification of Open Enrollment transactions and can monitor them through the Open Enrollment Health Plan Changes Cognos Report. This report is a great resource during Open Enrollment. It displays a summary of participants who made changes to their medical coverage during Open Enrollment based on a date range and Open Enrollment health reason code. We have a full catalog of various Cognos reports on our myCalPERS Employer Reports (Cognos) Catalog webpage. This catalog provides the report name, report type, and the user role(s) needed to access each report.

Learn more by visiting Online Health Enrollment for Active Employees.

Employer Bulletins

For the most up-to-date information about CalPERS news and 2024 Open Enrollment, encourage others at your agency to subscribe to Employer Bulletins.

Help Us Serve Our Members Better

Encourage your employees to create their Health Demographic Profile in myCalPERS. It takes less than two minutes to complete and is confidential and secure. Their responses will help us better understand our members and improve the quality of care and health outcomes for all.

Questions

If you have questions, call the CalPERS Customer Contact Center at 888 CalPERS (or 888-225-7377888-225-7377).

 

Yesenia Croft, Chief
Health Account Management Division