What: At the end of the first quarter in 2019 MERS will perform a plan re-enrollment for all Health Care Savings Program participants into the updated default fund.
Action Required: No
Key Dates: The re-enrollment will take place on Friday, March 29, 2019
Impacted Audiences: All MERS Health Care Savings Program participants enrolled in the program prior to 1/1/2019 (regardless of status)
For More Information: MERS Service Center – 800.767.MERS (6377)
Key Information:
Since there have been many improvements to the HCSP since the plan was created 15 years ago, we want to ensure that all plan participants are aware of the benefits their program provides.
At the end of the first quarter in 2019 we will be performing a plan re-enrollment into the HCSP default fund (Retirement Strategies). During this time all participants will have their assets allocated to an age-appropriate Retirement Strategies fund after close of the market on Friday, March 29, 2019. Note that for participants who have access to use their account balance (typically those who have separated from employment) will receive a reminder in their letter that $1,000 of their account balance will remain in the Alerus Money Market Fund.
If participants would prefer to remain in their current investment fund line-up, they have two options to do so:
Option 1 (preferred method): Prior to 4:00 pm EST on Friday, March 22, 2019, participants can log in to their myMERS account and make any change to their HCSP allocations, including re-entering their current allocations (if they’d like to keep their assets in the funds they are in). By doing so, the participant’s set allocations will be excluded from the re-enrollment on April 1, 2019. They will receive a confirmation of their choice.
Option 2: Complete and return an Opt-Out form to MERS. Participants will need to return the form before March 22, 2019 in order for their choice to be processed before the re-enrollment takes place. If we receive the form after this date, their funds will be reallocated to the Retirement Strategy on April 1, 2019, and MERS will contact them to review their investment options.
After the re-enrollment, MERS will send participants a welcome (again) kit that describes their HCSP and highlights the resources available to them.