15-P-009 Payroll Processing Changes Due To COBRAGuard (MAP) Implementation (Issued October 13, 2014)
Informational Circular No.: 15-p-009
Effective Date: Immediately
Contact Name: Joyce Dickerson
Ph: (785) 296-3979
Email: joyce.dickerson@da.ks.gov
Approval: Nancy Ruoff (Original Signature on File)
Summary: Payroll Processing Impacts and Changes in SHARP due to COBRAGuard (MAP) Implementation for State Employee Health Benefits
As a result of the COBRAGuard MAP implementation for State Employee Health Benefits effective Sept. 1, 2014, agencies should be aware of the following payroll processing impacts and changes in SHARP. Also, agencies are reminded that the MAP system is used for administering Health Benefits only. Health Benefits administered through the MAP system include Group Health Insurance (Medical/Dental/Drug), Vision, Flexible Spending Accounts (Dependent Care/Health Care), and Health Savings Accounts. All other benefits, including Optional/Spousal Group Life, will continue to be administered in SHARP. Therefore, in addition to maintaining employee changes that impact Health Benefits in MAP, it is very important that agencies continue to update the employee Benefit Program Code field in SHARP as well in order to process the other employee benefits accurately.
New Payroll Report
To respond to agency requests, a new payroll report (KPAY228- MAP HEALTH BENEFIT ADJUSTMENTS AND REFUNDS) is being developed and will be run on the first night of pay calc week, normally on Tuesday night, and sent to agency directories in their MVS mailbox. This report will list all health benefit deductions for any employees who have either an adjustment (Type = ADJ) or a refund (Type = REF) sent to payroll from MAP to be processed on the employee’s paycheck for a particular pay period. Agencies can use this report as a tool for contacting employees and working arrearages in advance of issuing their paychecks. This report is currently being developed and a separate SHARP infolist message will be sent out when the report becomes available. Until this report is available, Payroll Services will be identifying adjustments and refunds on the incoming file and notifying agencies via e-mail of this information.
SEHP Deduction Cutoff Schedule for MAP
Attached is a deduction cutoff schedule developed by the State Employee Health Plan for 2014-2015 that lists the MAP entry cutoff dates. As noted on the schedule, SEHP Benefit requests must be entered into MAP by the MAP Entry Cutoff Date column in order to facilitate final processing by SEHP Membership Services for the corresponding pay date. Requests that are not entered by Human Resource Officers by the MAP Entry Cutoff Date will not appear on that corresponding payroll date.
Health Benefit Paycheck Adjustments – Exceptions to MAP Processing
Agencies can no longer request adjustments for health benefits (GHI, FSA, HSA) in SHARP. However, agencies can submit DA-180’s centrally to process the following health benefit adjustments as exceptions only:
- Employees who pre-pay health insurance for a pay period where they have no pay
- Termed employees
Health Benefit Adjustments/Refunds Processed Through MAP
Except for the two scenarios listed above, health benefit adjustments and refunds will be processed in the on-cycle for the pay period received from the MAP system as long as the employee has a paysheet created. When an employee has a change in coverage that is recorded in MAP, the increase or decrease in the premium amount for the previous applicable pay periods will be processed in the on-cycle. For employees who do not have a paycheck, the deduction amounts will accumulate until the pay period in which the employee has a paysheet created.
Agencies can enter an ADJ or ADV on the employee’s timesheet in the amount of the adjustment if the employee has an accumulation of health benefit deductions for multiple pay periods that were not previously deducted due to a paysheet not being created. ADJ would be used for all after-tax deductions that were not taken in previous pay periods due to no employee paysheet. ADV would be used for all before-tax deduction adjustments where the employee had a paysheet. Agencies are reminded that any arrearages established for benefits deductions should be collected over the same number of pay periods where missed deductions resulted in the establishment of the arrearage.
Creation of Online Checks
Agency personnel will need to be aware that when using the Online Check process in SHARP, all health benefit deductions for the employees will now need to be entered on the One-Time Deductions page since health benefit deductions are no longer maintained in SHARP. Guidance for adding the deductions has been added to the procedures on the OSM website at the following link: http://admin.ks.gov/offices/osm/payroll-procedures.
E-mail Extension for Confirmation Statements from MAP
It appears that some agency e-mail filters are blocking Open Enrollment confirmation statements sent from MAP to State of Kansas employee e-mail addresses. Agency HR/Payroll are encouraged to contact their agency IT staff to request that the domain extension HRISSUITE.COM be added as a trusted extension for incoming e-mails. After the domain extension is added, employees who did not receive a confirmation statement after completing the Open Enrollment process in MAP can go back through the process, re-confirm their initial selections, and click the final Save to receive an email confirmation statement.
Questions Regarding Health Benefits/MAP
Agencies are reminded that any agency and employee questions regarding health benefits, the MAP system, and health benefit adjustments should be directed to the State Employee Health Plan at SEHPMembership@kdheks.gov or via phone at 785-296-3226 as the SHARP system no longer maintains detail information regarding employee health benefits. In addition, all questions that relate to any pay period end date prior to Sept. 1, 2014 (MAP implementation) should be directed to SEHP first, in order to verify how to handle the adjustment, before contacting Payroll Services.
Deduction Cutoff Schedule to Send
SG:NTR:ewb
