Hazen School District Human Resources

07/31/2018

09/22/2016

Open Enrollment for health insurance is right around the corner! October 1-15, 2016!! Make sure you have met the requirements to receive the wellness discount!

06/06/2016

June Pay Checks:

12 Month Employees will receive their final paycheck for this school year (15/16) on June 14th.
Checks that are not direct deposit will be handed out that morning.

All Other Employees:
The 1st June check will be available on June 14th. Checks that are not direct deposit can be picked up at the Superintendent's Office on June 14 & 15. Checks not picked up by 2pm June 15 will be mailed.

The 2nd June check will be available on June 28th. Checks that are not direct deposit can be picked up at the Superintendent's Office on June 28 & 29. Checks not picked up by 2pm June 29 will be mailed.

03/08/2016

HAZEN SCHOOL DISTRICT MEMO

Date: March 8, 2016

To: All Employees

From: Sarah Snider

Subject: EBD Updates (Wellness Discount, WageWorks, 2017 Rates)

EBD: Wellness Discount for 2017

In order to qualify for the wellness discount beginning January 1, 2017, you must meet the following requirements by October 31, 2016:

1. Employees and covered spouses BOTH must have a wellness exam conducted by a doctor. A list of appropriate recommended preventative services that are covered by ARBenefits at no cost to members (no deductible, co-pay or co-insurance) and meet the wellness requirement can be accessed at:
http://portal.arbenefits.org/Pages/PreventativeWellnessServices.aspx.

2. Employees and covered spouses BOTH must take the online Health Assessment (HA) administered by GuidanceResources.
Detailed instructions and Frequently Asked Questions for completing the Health Assessment can be accessed at:
http://portal.arbenefits.org/Benefits/HAGuide.pdf.

For more information, go to http://arbenefits.org and select ARBenefitsWell under the Health Enhancement link.

EBD: WageWorks

EBD nor WageWorks had knowledge of the $2.00 fee being imposed by BNY Mellon on health savings accounts (HSAs). Eric Gallo, Communications Manager, and Drew Carle, Benefits Specialist, Employee Benefits Division, along with the Department of Finance & Administration, have communicated that any member who receives the fee will be reimbursed. IF there is a fee on your statement, you will need to contact EBD at 1-877-815-1017.

EBD: Rates for 2017

The EBD Board will begin discussing rates for the 2017 plan year at the next meeting on March 22, 2016. Rates will not be finalized until June 2016. I will do my best to keep you informed about this as I receive information.

EBD: Email Address

If you haven’t already done so, update your email address information with EBD so you will receive newsletters, announcements, alerts, etc.

03/08/2016

HAZEN SCHOOL DISTRICT MEMO

Date: March 8, 2016

To: All Employees

From: Sarah Snider

Subject: ATRS Retirees 2016 & EBD

If you are considering retirement at the end of this school year, below is some important information regarding retirement & EBD.

Forms must not be signed and sent to EBD earlier than 30 – 45 days out from the effective date.

Submission to EBD is final – no changes after receipt.

When enrolling in retirement health employee/spouse or family coverage, we require a new Spousal Affidavit and a copy of the marriage license.

If retiree or spouse is Medicare eligible, they must have Medicare Part B when enrolling in retirement health insurance.

If either retiree or spouse is Medicare, they will be enrolled under the QualChoice Plan.

Retirement Packet is under:
http://arbenefits.org
Publications/Forms
Public School
School Retirees
Forms
ARBenefits
2015 Retirement Packet – same for 2016
Retirees must complete the sections: Event, Event Date, Date Annuity Begins.

If you fax your forms, keep the confirmation sheets. Either fax or send forms – do not do both.

03/02/2016

HAZEN SCHOOL DISTRICT MEMO

Date: March 2, 2016

To: Employees with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

From: Sarah Snider

Subject: HSA Account Fees IMPORTANT

Dear Employee,

As you already know, BNY Mellon mailed letters to all participants with a HSA through WageWorks notifying everyone of a $2.00 per month fee to all individual accounts effective April 1, 2016. This fee is waived, however, for accounts with a total balance in excess of $5,000.

During meetings I attended at EBD and the AAEA before the change from DataPath to WageWorks, it was explained the only fee participants would be assessed by BNY Mellow to their HSA account was a $0.75 per month paper statement fee, which could be avoided by registering online and selecting e-statements. It was also explained that if a district chose to stay with DataPath, employees would be responsible for any and all fees associated with their HSA account.

Yesterday I received a memo from EBD regarding this new fee and that EBD was looking into the issue. It was the first time I received any communication regarding the fee. I immediately contacted EBD and WageWorks asking for an explanation. Below is the response I received from WageWorks. I have also posted the memo I received from the Department of Finance & Adminstration regarding this issue.

I cannot tell you how to handle your HSA or even give you advice. The only thing I would like to point out is this: if the fee stays, your account will be charged $2.00 per month, for a total of $24 a year. The fee to close an account is $25.

I will keep you updated on this issue as I get more information.

WageWorks Response:

Good afternoon Sarah,
When we were implementing the HSA benefit for the State of Arkansas, we did state that the only fee participants would be assessed by BNY Mellon to their HSA account was the .75 paper statement fee and fees associated with investments (if a participant chose to do so). Like our participants, we were notified late last week that BNY Mellon was changing their fee structure. BNY Mellon’s terms and conditions (an agreement directly with the participant) does allow them the right to change fees with a 30 day notice to participants. BNY Mellon will no longer charge for a paper statement, however they will charge a $2.00 per month fee to all individual accounts which will be effective 4/1/2016. Fees will be deducted the 2nd to last business day of the month with the first fee being assessed on 4/28/2016. This fee will be waived for accounts with a total balance in excess of $5,000.
We share your concerns in regards to the ex*****on of this change. This change impacted the entire BNY Mellon book of business. They were unable to do anything differently for WageWorks clients, we were a part of the mass roll out – including our own employees. WageWorks had no control over the timing of notices to their account holders and we truly apologize. We have expressed our concern of the timing to BNY Mellon.

03/02/2016

Media Release
Contact:
Jake Bleed, Communications Administrator
Department of Finance & Administration
(501) 682-5339
[email protected]

For Immediate Release

March 1, 2016

DFA statement on additional fees for HSA account holders
The Employee Benefits Division (EBD) of the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) disagrees with a decision to impose additional fees on public employees who have set up Health Savings Accounts with WageWorks, Inc.

WageWorks contracted with EBD to provide Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs, to employees of the state and Arkansas’ public schools. WageWorks subsequently reached an agreement with BNY Mellon to serve as custodian of the HSAs. More than 12,000 state and public school employees have created HSAs, which allow employees to save for future healthcare expenses on a tax-free basis.

On Monday, some public employees received a letter from BNY Mellon, informing them of new, additional fees to their HSAs. These fees include a $2 monthly fee for accounts valued at less than $5,000, a $16 fee to transfer assets to another custodian, and $3.95 fee for employees who leave state employment but wish to maintain their HSA. The monthly and transfer fees were not included in the State’s agreement with WageWorks and were
not anticipated when the State offered HSAs.

DFA is working with WageWorks to resolve this issue. The agency will ensure that all employees are fully reimbursed for the payment of any $2 monthly or $16 transfer fees which result.

02/25/2016

To: Health Insurance Representatives and HSA Participants
Date: February 24, 2016
Re: Transfer of Assets

We received HSA Transfer of Asset balances for 4,324 participants from Datapath. We were able to post all but a few (less than 10) of the balances to participants accounts. These are being researched
so those balances can be posted as soon as possible.

There are 40 impacted participants whose Transfer of Assets was delayed due to a price adjustment required prior to their investment liquidation. Additionally, Datapath notified us that they have also received transfer of assets forms via email, fax and mail from participants. We expect to have a balance
file for all of these participants (40 impacted plus those that sent a TOA form directly to the previous custodian) on Friday, February 26th and balances posted to participants accounts on Tuesday, March1st.

WageWorks sent a second file to Datapath on 2/23/16 with 994 participants who completed a paper Transfer of Assets form. Approximately 97% of these forms were received at WageWorks after 2/7/2016. However, the remainder of the forms were those we had to research due to missing information or manual data entry error. WageWorks expects to receive a balance file from Datapath for these participants on Friday, March 4th and funds will reflect in participants accounts on Tuesday,March 8th.

Additionally, employees who did not receive the e-consent email directly from WageWorks will need to complete a paper Transfer of Assets form if they wish to transfer their balance from Datapath to WageWorks.

Thank you,
WageWorks

02/19/2016

EBD Alert – February 19, 2016

HSA Transfer of Assets – General Distribution

Health Insurance Representatives (HIR), please read the message below from WageWorks regarding the Health Savings Account (HSA) transfer of assets.

There has been a delay in transferring participants HSA balances from Datapath to WageWorks due to a price adjustment required when liquidating assets. WageWorks/BNY Mellon are working to have funds posted to participant accounts, and they should be visible in accounts on Monday evening, February 22, 2016.

Please distribute this information to your employees.

Thank you,

EBD Communications

02/18/2016

IRS Form 1095-C Employer Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Forms are completed and will be sent out tomorrow with paychecks!

02/18/2016

****IMPORTANT****

There has been a delay between DataPath and WageWorks regarding the transfer of funds. WageWorks hopes the delay will be short and the transfers completed in a few days. I will forward any official information regarding this delay when I receive it.

Also, your contributions for January and February should post to your health savings account Monday evening.

If you have paid out-of-pocket for services or prescriptions that you would normally use your HSA for during this time of transfer, you will be able to complete a reimbursement request and have the expenses reimbursed to you either by check or direct deposit, once all funds are reflected in your account.

As always, if you have any questions, let me know.

Sarah

02/11/2016

The Hazen School District is NOT affected by the same state tax issues as the Little Rock School District.