Other Voluntary Benefits Resources

Take advantage of expanded provisions under your other voluntary benefit plans. Many are offering additional COVID-19 related support.

HCRA/DCRA

CSU has adopted temporary plan changes to the CSU Health Care Reimbursement and Dependent Care Reimbursement Plans, which allow employees to make a one-time, mid-year enrollment change prospectively without a qualifying event during the remainder of the 2020 plan year. This one-time, mid-year plan change will allow employees to stop, enroll or change their current monthly contribution for HCRA, DCRA or both plans. In addition, the plan(s) claims submission deadline for plan year 2019 has been extended (previously June 30th). Employees will now have 60 days from the date the COVID-19 related National State of Emergency declaration ends to submit claims for expenditures occurring in the 2019 plan year (which includes the two and one-half month grace period from January 1 through March 15, 2020). These changes are part of the federal government’s response to COVID-19 and National State of Emergency declaration.

In addition, effective January 1, 2020, over-the-counter drugs and medicines no longer require a prescription; and menstrual care products are an eligible expense. For a list of approved OTC medications, please visit ASIFlex.​

Temporary and Permanent Changes due to COVID

We are happy to announce temporary changes to the Health Care Reimbursement Account (HCRA) and the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account (DCRA) plans due to the recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021.

If you were a HCRA and/or DCRA participant in the 2020 plan year and currently have a balance in your account(s), you may be eligible to be reimbursement for expenses incurred in plan year 2020 and through an extended grace period into plan year 2021. See below for details.

Extend the Grace Period for Plan Years 2020 from 2 ½ months up to a maximum of 12 months following the plan year (December 31, 2021).

Due to this grace period extension, you now can reduce your plan year 2020 balance in your HCRA and/or DCRA Plans for expenses incurred from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.

Since we are extending the grace period for the 2020 plan year to December 31, 2021, the claims filing deadline for the 2020 plan year has been extended from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2022. This provides you with the same filing deadline as the normal 2021 plan year and will provide sufficient time to file claims for the 2020 extended plan year.

Allow HCRA participants who terminated from CSU employment or stopped contributions in 2020 to spend down their unused 2020 balances for expenses incurred through the remainder of the 2020 plan year, including the extended grace period from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.

If you are a HCRA participant who stopped contributions during the 2020 plan year, you may now submit any claims for expenses incurred after such contributions stopped through the end of the associated grace period of the 2020 plan year, including the extended grace period from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. Please be aware that you are only allowed reimbursement up to the amount contributed.

Allow Dependent Care Reimbursement Account (DCRA) participants who stop their accounts for any reason to submit for dates of service after discontinuing monthly contributions or their termination date through the end of the plan year including any associated grace period.

In addition to the extensions explained above for the 2020 plan year and provided for by the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021, CSU has approved a permanent DCRA plan change. Effective with the 2020 plan year, employees who participate in the DCRA plan may continue to submit claims for reimbursement for expenses incurred after discontinuing monthly contributions or separation from CSU through the end of the plan year including any associated grace period.

If you are a DCRA participant who stopped contributions during the 2020 plan year, you may now submit any claims for expenses incurred after such contributions stopped through the end of the associated grace period of the 2020 plan year, including the extended grace period from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021.

Allow employees to make prospective changes for the 2021 plan year without requiring a qualifying change in status event (for both HCRA and DCRA).

Employees will be allowed to newly enroll or make a prospective change for the 2021 plan year without requiring a qualifying change in status event (for both HCRA and DCRA plans).

Note: Current HCRA plan participants will be prohibited from reducing an election to less than the amount already reimbursed. A separate communication regarding this opportunity will be forthcoming.

What Next?

ASIFlex will be mailing you a notification via mail, which provides the total amount of your unused balance for the 2020 plan year. This notification will also cover the information provided in this email. If you do not receive this notice from ASIFlex by March 31, please contact ASIFlex at 800-659-3035.

MetLife Legal Services

If you are a CSU employee and have been impacted by the COVID-19 Virus, you now have access to MetLife's Legal Plan Disaster Relieve Program plan until July 31, 2020, which provides access to their network attorneys who can provide expert legal help as it relates to disaster relief.  You need not to be currently enrolled in MetLife's Legal Plan. Network attorneys can get answers to questions related to legal issues you may be facing as well as have attorneys review legal documents. You have access to their self-help document library to complete wills, living wills and power of attorney documents. You can access the library by visiting info.legalplans.com and enter in access code 9790010 and clicking “Self-Help Documents" in the “Covered Services' tab or by visiting their website. For further information, you can call their Customer Service Center at (800) 821-6400. Provide them with CSU, the last four digits of your Social Security number, and indicate you are interested in the document review and consultation services being offered as part of the Disaster Relief Plan. More information is available on their website.

California Casualty Auto & Home Insurance

CSU policy holders who have auto, homeowners or a renter's policy with California Casualty and have experienced a loss of income please call California Casualty at (800) 800-9410 who will be able to work out payment options during this time. They are also offering a temporary adjustment to the usage and annual mileage driven which will typically reduce the policy premium. Additional information is available on California Casualty's website.

The Standard

The Standard is allowing coverage to continue for any employee no longer meeting the eligibility requirements due to decrease in work hours through June 30, 2020. For more information please contact our dedicated CSU Representative at (800) 378-5745.​​ https://www.standard.com/individual/covid-19​​.

Nationwide Pet Insurance

Nationwide wants to help during this difficult time and are now extending their emergency boarding for pets (up to $500) if the employee is hospitalized for more than 48 hours. Flexible payments options will be available for those employees affected financially. For more information please contact Nationwide at (877) 738-7874. https://www.petinsurance.com/covid-19/​​