Executive Notes is designed for the employers who use our benefits programs. Brief soundbites allow you to quickly scan for what is relevant to you. If your organization doesn’t offer all of our benefits, simply skip the sections that don’t apply to you.
INSURANCE

Online enrollment for insurance products

You have been hearing that we will soon have an online insurance enrollment portal that will enable your employees to quickly and conveniently enroll in or update their insurance coverage. Here are important things you need to know —
If no changes are being made 
If your employees are not making changes to their coverage, their existing coverage will automatically carry forward to 2022. 

Dates 
Open enrollment this year will be from Nov. 15 to Nov. 30. 

Going Live 
The portal will become live on Nov. 15, but if we are able to make it available sooner, we will let you know. The web portal address will be cobbt.mybenefitchoice.com.

Salary Updates
As is typical this time of year, BBT staff will soon be requesting your updated salary data to ensure that salary-based coverages are accurately reflected.

2022 benefits coverage 
Your employees should use the new portal to manage benefits coverage that begins on Jan. 1, 2022.

Remaining 2021 coverage 
If you need to enroll new hires or make changes to 2021 coverage due to qualifying life events, continue to work with Connie Sandman, she can be reached at: 847-622-3366.

Personal identification for login 
Please note: Participants will be required to enter their Social Security number the first time they log in to the portal.  

If your employee needs help 
If your employee isn’t comfortable using the online portal or experiences difficulty in using it, they can simply contact the Brethren Insurance Services Call Center, which will be live Nov. 15 and staffed by Milliman’s knowledgable employees. The call center number is 800-217-0067, and will be available Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Central time. 

Benefits Guide 
Your up-to-date Benefits Guide has been, or will be provided to you this week, and it can also be found on the new insurance portal 24/7/365. 

Open Enrollment group meetings 
If you want to schedule a special Open Enrollment meeting for your employees, contact Jeremiah Thompson at 800-746-1505 ext. 3368 or jthompson@cobbt.org.
 
Links 
Here is a link to the Plan Sponsor section of our website where you will find two videos that demonstrate how the new portal works. Additional instructional videos will be posted on the website as they become available.
Mark your calendars for
Thursday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. Central time

BBT and Milliman will host a
Q&A session
via Zoom for plan sponsors

You can join the Zoom meeting by clicking here

Meeting ID: 894 9460 8847
Passcode: 849982

Or dial by your location:
+1-312-626-6799 US (Chicago)

PENSION

Here are things you need to know regarding the Brethren Pension Plan and your employees: 
  • Q3 statements. The third quarter statements have been mailed. Those using electronic statements should have received an email alerting them to sign into their account and check their statement. If they have not signed up for electronic statements, they should check their mailboxes. 
 
  • Plan review. Scott Douglas or Loyce Borgmann will be contacting you in the near future to schedule a plan review. 


Required Minimum Distributions 

If you have current employees participating in the Pension Plan who continue to work past the age for RMDs, they will not need to take an RMD.  
 
Former employees who must take an RMD from their retirement account will be notified in late November or early December of the amount they must take. Northwest Plan Services will calculate and process Required Minimum Distribution amounts. 


A reminder of IRS Rules for RMDs

  • If the person was 70½ before Dec. 31, 2019, the age at which they have to take the RMD is 70½. 

  • If they were not yet 70½ on that date, then the age at which they must take the RMD is 72. 

  • The RMD is mandated by the IRS if the person has not yet begun to receive distributions from their account or if their distribution is less than the RMD. 

Open Enrollment is also a good time to remind employees to review pension contributions. 

  • When holding your insurance Open Enrollment meetings this fall, don’t forget to remind employees to consider increasing their pension contributions for 2022. Putting aside extra today can make a big difference in their future retirement income.

  • It is easy to update their personal contributions through the pension portal at brethrenpension.org.  

  • Encourage them to think about the benefits of Roth contributions.

For more information, or to schedule a Brethren Pension Plan representative to participate in your Open Enrollment meetings, you can contact Ed Shannon at 847-622-3370 or eshannon@cobbt.org.


Unitform File Format

We are asking that you adopt the new Uniform File Format for remitting retirement plan contributions by Dec. 31, 2021. Having all our plan sponsors using this format will greatly help our recordkeeping and ensure that we have contact information for your employees. The additional data collected in this format will also help us serve you better and stay in better communication with you. Click here to download a copy.

If you need help with this, please contact Tammy Chudy
at at (847) 622-3372
Best,

Lynnae Rodeffer
Director of Employee Benefits
We hope you find this update helpful, and we welcome your feedback.