Your authorizing agent will receive a letter to recertify your group's EBS access for insurance benefits. The recertification deadline is June 3, 2022. Included with the letter is a list of employees and the systems to which they have access in EBS. The authorizing agent should indicate if these employees still need the access listed. A report in EBS also provides this information.
Recertification will not require changing logins and passwords for employees. To avoid disruption in your EBS access, be sure your authorizing agent recertifies access by June 3. If you have questions, please reach out to Customer Service via email at customerservice@peba.sc.gov.
Countdown to retirement season
June 30 is a popular retirement date. Employers should terminate a retiring employee's active insurance coverage as soon as possible to avoid inconveniences such as delayed or denied claims payments, or having multiple months of retiree insurance premiums deducted from the member’s first retirement check. Be sure to use the correct termination reason:
Disability retirement (T2)
Service retirement due to age or years of service (T7)
Why is it important to use the correct termination reason?
PEBA generates a daily report of retirement terminations to research if it has received a Retiree Notice of Election to process.
PEBA sends a file that includes the termination reason to MetLife to send continuation/conversion packets to former employees.
Remember, using EBS is the easiest way to terminate active coverage. Also note that if a retiree returns to work in an insurance-eligible position, he should remain on active PEBA insurance coverage.
PEBA website down Thursday
The PEBA website will be down from 6-7 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, for maintenance.
Applying for Service Retirement Online
Mark your calendar for the next Retirement Review session, which will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 5. The topic will be Applying for Service Retirement Online, and the session will last 20-30 minutes. No registration is required. Simply click on https://scpeba.webex.com/join/EmployerServices to join. The “doors” will open about five minutes before the session begins.
Information from the Employer Advisory Group
Your feedback and questions are important to PEBA, so be sure to join us at upcoming Employer Advisory Group (EAG) meetings. All future meetings, including a link to our WebEx meeting room, will be announced in PEBA Update. Below is a recap of what was discussed during the April EAG meetings:
Employer training is available on our insurance training and retirement training pages. On those pages, you’ll find presentations and recorded videos, manuals, other helpful resources, as well as links to request one-on-one assistance.
Promoting health and wellness remains an active and important goal for PEBA. Toolkits on the Health Hub include promotional materials on several topics, including a designated topic for each month. The May toolkit is on women’s health. You can also find helpful resources on the Health Hub to promote health and wellness and the no-cost preventive services offered by the State Health Plan.
Your entity’s authorizing person must maintain the access of users to EBS and EES. This includes revoking access when a user terminates or retires. Report any misuse of user accounts to PEBA. Information about the Duo Security requirement is on our training pages. Users and the employer contact information listed in EBS and EES are separate. PEBA depends on the employer contacts in EBS and EES to distribute correspondence to employers, including PEBA Update. Routinely review and update your employer’s contact information. EBS Authorizing Agents maintain insurance contacts in EBS. EES users with access to Employer Contact Information can maintain retirement contacts.
Are you looking for resources for your employees? PEBA provides many valuable online resources for employees, including a new employees page with orientation and education videos that describe benefits, life event checklists and the popular Navigating Your Benefits page that has flyers and videos. We also encourage you to help your employees learn what they can do online through Member Access. Our Be Aware and Prepare page includes presentations and recorded videos for those nearing retirement and those who are in the middle of their career.
The PEBA:Connect project to replace PEBA’s core operating systems continues. Our objective is to make conducting business with PEBA easier and more efficient.
Retirement discussions included the rules for working retired members, including the 30-day break-in-service requirement and earnings limitation, the EES document upload feature, the Excel-formatted file option for quarterly reporting member, the compensation limit increase for 2022, the remittance of State ORP contributions to service providers, and the new member flyer on address and name changes with State ORP service providers.
Insurance discussions included the release of the invitation for bid to provide group life insurance, over-the-counter COVID tests, important changes to Health Savings Accounts, reminders about the online Statement of Health process, experience rating load factor letters and an email series for optional employers, and the State Health Plan increase for plan year 2023. Learn about the historical Plan increases at peba.sc.gov/value. Employees have had only one premium increase since 2006, and employee premiums have not increased since 2012.
