An Important Message for NC Health Benefit Representatives

March 2024

Disability Claim Follow-Up Requests

For non-university employees participating in NCFlex's Voluntary Disability Plan who are approved for disability payments, TSERS Disability Income Plan of North Carolina (DIPNC) benefits are considered deductible income under the Long-Term Disability (LTD) portion of the plan. 

As a result, you may periodically receive a request from the Disability Plan's vendor, The Standard, asking for details about the status of short-term disability benefits under the DIPNC for one of your employees. These requests will also ask for the dates and amounts of any benefits paid or that may be payable.

If you receive one of these requests, it’s important to respond promptly and provide the requested information. This will help ensure that LTD claims are paid accurately and will help reduce the number of overpayments that occur.

If you have not received a request for this information but are aware of an employee receiving both DIPNC short-term disability and LTD benefits from The Standard, please email The Standard to share that information.

Beneficiaries and Hidden Dependents in Benefitfocus

Employees may update beneficiaries for NCFlex's Term Life, Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D), Critical Illness and Cancer Plans at any time during the plan year. HBRs and Benefitfocus team members can also hide a policyholder's dependent at any time, an action typically taken due to a divorce or death.

Hiding a dependent can be done at the request of the employee or at the discretion of the HBR. When doing so, the system will recognize and alert you of an error when the dependent is covered under a benefit. However, the system will not do so if the dependent you're hiding is named as a beneficiary. As a result, we've recently discovered employees with hidden dependents as beneficiaries. These errors have been resolved and we will continue to monitor hidden dependents quarterly.

It's important that when hiding a dependent in the Benefitfocus platform, you manually check the dependent's status to ensure they're not named as a beneficiary. If they are, please have the employee update their beneficiaries before hiding the dependent. Reach out to us with any questions at ncflex@nc.gov.

HCFSA Filing Deadline and 2023 Rollover

As a reminder, the deadline to file Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA) 2023 claims is March 31. This is an important time to focus on rollover options also.

If an employee left $25 or more in their 2023 HCFSA and that money is not claimed by the filing deadline, up to $570 of those funds will go into a 2024 rollover fund, also known as a carryforward fund, around April 1. This money can then be claimed for expenses retroactively back to January 1, 2024 or used by swiping the FSA Convenience card.

If a member has 2024 contributions, that money is used first for 2024 expenses. The rollover money is available to be used for the remainder of 2024. At the end of 2024, up to $610 can roll into 2025 from either the 2024 account, the 2024 rollover or a combination of both.

Make Continuing Benefits Easier for Retiring Employees

While an exciting time in one's career, retirement can also lead to many questions about the options available for continuing insurance coverage. To answer some of the most commonly asked questions from retirees, we've revamped our Continuation of Benefits flyer turning it into a more robust guide for you to share with employees as you see fit.

What's more, this new resource isn't just for retirees. It can benefit anyone losing NCFlex coverage due to separation of employment, reduced hours or other circumstances that result in a loss of eligibility.

Bookmark the link here for easy access or find the updated brochure in the top section of ncflex.org.

Updates for the Upwise app and MetLife+Savi Student Loan Assistance

What's new for Upwise:

We're excited to announce that the Upwise app has been renamed MetLife Personal Finance app – new name, same great features! Your information will be saved, and you will not be required to redownload the app. You will see the change reflected in the app tile and branding. 

Some actions you can take through the app:

• Take an interactive financial assessment
• Reduce your monthly bills¹ 
• Cancel unwanted subscriptions
• Build personalized budgets

What's new for MetLife+Savi Student Loan Assistance

For those interested in student loan forgiveness features through MetLife+Savi Student Loan Assistance, you can now access Savi directly via the new microsite for North Carolina state employees. MetLife+Savi Student Loan Assistance is a digital resource that can help minimize your student debt. On average borrowers save $156 per month and $20,500 in total loan forgiveness². Click here to register for an informational webinar held April 25 from 1 to 2 p.m. to learn the details on who qualifies, how the process works, and how much you could save.

1 - Facilitated by our trusted third-party partner, Billshark. If Billshark is successful in negotiating your bill, you’ll pay Billshark a one-time upfront fee of 35% of any negotiated savings (which is any bill reduction amount capped at 24 months of savings plus any one-time savings, refund or credit obtained by Billshark). Note that MetLife may receive a referral fee which does not impact your savings or Billshark fee. 

MetLife Personal Finance app is a product of MetLife Consumer Services, Inc. and is available at no cost to all individuals and regardless of any MetLife relationship or product. The Personal Finance app is for educational purposes. Each individual is advised to consult with their own attorney, accountant, and financial professional regarding their specific circumstances. MetLife does not provide legal, tax, or investment recommendations or advice.  

2 - Projections based on Savi users active between January 1-December 31, 2019.

Federal Student Loan Forgiveness, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and Income Driven Repayment plans are only available to federal student loan holders, and applying for them is always free via the federal student aid website (https://studentaid.gov/). Savi digitizes and assists with the application process but there may be a fee for some of its services. MetLife might receive a referral fee if you sign up for Savi. Rest assured that this does not have any impact on the loan forgiveness process itself, your ability to receive loan forgiveness, or the amount of such forgiveness. 

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