An Important Message for NC Health Benefit Representatives
March 2020
COVID-19 Coronavirus FAQs and Resources
for State Employees

Visit the online resource HERE
NCFlex HBR Spring 2020 Training

In light of recent events, all of our April HBR in-person training sessions have been cancelled and instead we have scheduled two webex sessions. We will record at least one session and make it available for anyone who cannot join.

We have also cancelled the May webex session. For now the training at the NC Zoo in Asheboro is not cancelled, but we will notify you of any changes.

You will soon receive a cancellation email if you were registered for one of the cancelled sessions. If you are interested in registering for one of the new Webex sessions, please visit NCFlex 2020 Spring HBR Training page.
 
We'd also like to get input from you on topics you'd like to hear more about. Please take a moment to complete our Pre-Training survey below. 
Dual Enrollments in NCFlex Plans
 
As mentioned in last month's HBR newsletter , letters were sent to employees dually enrolled in the Accident plan and instructions were given on how to get this corrected.
 
Outside of the Accident plan, employees may discover that they are dually enrolled in the AD&D and/or Group Term Life plan through NCFlex. At this time we will instruct employees to contact their HR department if dual enrollment is discovered. In turn, send the dual enrollments scenarios directly to us at [email protected] so that we can research and make necessary adjustments. We will be working directly with Benefitfocus and Voya for these adjustments.
 
Please reach out to us with any questions. 
A Note from The Standard (NCFlex Disability*)

*For Non-University Employing Units

We know that with the number of cases of COVID-19 growing daily there will be an increase in questions about employee benefits and disability entitlement. With that in mind, I wanted to share the below link to The Standard’s Business Resiliency and Response to COVID-19 document. This document is designed to help you navigate the disability landscape.
 
 
This document was updated last week and will likely continue to be updated as things develop in the coming weeks. But for now, here are the key takeaways that I wanted to draw your attention to:
 
Short Term Disability
 
  • Each disability claim will continue to be evaluated on a case by case basis and decisions made based on the facts of that claim as well as the terms of NCFlex's group policy.
  • If an individual is quarantined as directed by a licensed health professional or government agency, HAS NOT been diagnosed with COVID-19, but is unable to perform their job remotely, they will retain coverage and eligibility under the STD policy should they eventually become disabled.
  • If an employer has approved work-from-home arrangements due to COVID-19 public health concerns, we will consider the covered employees actively at work under the group STD policy. So these temporary work arrangements will not affect their coverage eligibility.
Voya Updated Flyers

Voya has recently updated the below flyers which can also be found on ncflex.org on the corresponding benefits page. These flyers are a great reminder of FREE benefits to our employees.

Please share these with employees as you see appropriate.

Voya Travel Assistance (benefit with Core and Voluntary AD&D)
Voya Funeral Planning Services (benefit with Group Term Life)
Dependent Day Care Qualifying Life Events

Due to the recent events in our country with COVID-19, we'd like to remind you if an employee's situation with dependent day care changes and he/she needs to increase or decrease his/her contributions, he/she is eligible to complete a life event in the enrollment system.

Situations that qualify:
  • An employee's child starts or stops daycare
  • An employee's daycare costs increase or decrease
  • An employee or his/her spouse stop working

Please note the following:
  • An employee has 30 days from the date of an event to make changes to his/her account. Any change beyond 30 days must be submitted as an exception.
  • The annual maximum still remains $5000 per household.
  • Changes will be effective going forward, not retro.
  • NCFlex does not require documentation for life events. However, employees should maintain documentation for their own records if ever audited in the future.
  • Please be aware that your employees who may need to cancel DDCFSA at this time may later need to add it back, and this is allowed if the situation warrants it.

Screenshots of what the eBenefits system will look like when an employee makes a change can be seen HERE .

To make changes, employees should log into  eBenefits or contact Benefitfocus at 1-855-859-0966. The life event would be "Day care change". For questions, please email us at [email protected] .
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