Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. Any statewide vendor applicant for
deduction, domestic or foreign, regulated by the Department of Insurance shall
meet the minimum requirements set forth in
R.S.
42:455.
B. Statewide vendor applicants for deductions
not regulated by the Department of Insurance shall:
1. possess appropriate license or other
required certification for providing the particular product or service for a
fee;
2. have been doing business in
this state for not less than five years providing the product and/or services
anticipated to be offered state employees;
3. be in compliance with all requirements of
any regulatory and/or supervisory office or board charged with such
responsibility by state statute or federal regulations;
4. provide to the Commissioner of
Administration within 30 days of approval an irrevocable letter of credit in
the amount of $100,000, or an irrevocable pledge of a certificate of deposit in
the amount of $100,000 to protect the state and any officer or employee from
loss arising out of participation in the program or plan offered by the
vendor.
C. Vendors
shall:
1. provide annual renewal application
as set forth in
§106 of this
rule;
2. maintain the requirements
set forth in A. and B. of this Section;
3. maintain individual product (product
categories as defined by OSUP) participation levels that meet or exceed 100
employees paid through the LaGov HCM payroll system. Vendors will be allowed 12
months after initial product approval to meet the minimum product participation
requirements;
4. solicit employees
for payroll deduction only:
a. after
notification to the vendor and state department/agencies from OSUP that the
product has been approved;
b. upon
written authorization and within the solicitation policy established by the
department/agency; and
c. for those
products, policy forms or service plans submitted and approved in the annual
renewal or new application process;
5. provide and use the standard deduction
authorization form (SED-4) authorized by OSUP using the guidelines below;
a. deduction form is not authorized to be
submitted from an employee for the purpose of transmitting any part of that
deduction to a non-approved vendor;
b. deduction form shall not be submitted
which lists any product or service for which a product code has not been
approved;
c. deduction form may
include additional information provided that such information shall not
represent a disclaimer or escape clause(s) in favor of the vendor. The
authorization shall not stipulate any "contract" or "term of participation"
requirements;
d. the authorization
must specify product name, IRC §125 eligibility, monthly premium or fee,
and the semi-monthly (24 annually) premium or fee. Statewide vendor deductions
in the LaGov HCM payroll system must be semi-monthly deduction amounts only (to
the second decimal place). Payroll systems outside of the LaGov HCM payroll
system which permit monthly deductions may continue same;
e. an employee shall have only one deduction
authorization (which may cover more than one product/policy) for a single
vendor effective at any one time. Total current deduction amount and each
component amount that make up that total must be reflected on any successive
form(s);
f. vendor shall be
responsible for completing authorization forms prior to obtaining employee
signature and for submitting forms to the appropriate payroll office designated
by each employing department/agency;
g. deduction forms must contain appropriate
agency number to support monthly reconciliation process;
h. deduction authorization shall not be
processed for any employee which is intended to provide a benefit for any party
for whom the employee has no insurable interest;
i. employee deduction authorization shall not
be transferred by an approved vendor to another vendor without special approval
from the Commissioner of Administration;
j. an employee may discontinue a voluntary
statewide vendor policy/service at any time by following OSUP and
department/agency policy. Any deduction amount that is committed for
participation in a current FBP year will continue to be deducted, but will be
paid to the state of Louisiana;
6. follow procedures established by OSUP
policy when refunding payroll deducted and remitted premiums to employees and
§
112 for requesting changes to
existing products;
7. use
invoice/billing identification structure that is compatible with payroll agency
numbers to facilitate the monthly reconciliation;
8. be responsible for preparing a
reconciliation of monthly payroll deduction/remittances to vendor's monthly
premium due;
a. monthly reconciliation shall
include total monthly premium due amount, each product amount and code as
assigned by OSUP that makes up the total amount of premium due, total
remittance amount, and a listing of all exceptions between the premium due and
deduction/remittance by employee within billing/payroll agency
numbers;
b. monthly reconciliation
exception listing shall identify the employee by Social Security number and
payroll agency number and shall be grouped within payroll agency numbers for
LaGov HCM payroll system agencies and similarly for payroll systems outside of
the LaGov HCM payroll system;
9. furnish evidence of reconciliation to OSUP
as requested by that office. Like verification may be required by other payroll
systems outside of the LaGov HCM payroll system;
10. provide written notification within ten
days of any change in the name, address, entity status, principal officers,
designated administrative coordinator, appointed Louisiana sales coordinator
and appointed billing coordinator to OSUP;
11. provide written notification of the
dismissal of any vendor representative participating in state deduction to
OSUP. Any vendor representative who has been debarred by a vendor from state
participation shall not be allowed to represent any vendor for deduction for a
minimum of two years thereafter.
D. Vendor administrative coordinator shall:
1. be responsible for obtaining solicitation
authorization and department policy from the department head or his
designee;
2. appoint a vendor
representative, if preferred, to be the "Louisiana sales coordinator" to handle
the areas of solicitation and educational responsibilities;
3. be responsible for dissemination of
information such as the requirements of this rule and department/agency policy
and procedures to vendor representatives;
4. act as liaison for the vendor with any
administrative contract (or) and the state relative to FBP
participation;
5. be the primary
contact for resolution of billing, refund, and reconciliation problems; and
resolving claims problems for employee;
6. appoint a vendor representative, if
preferred, to be the "billing coordinator" to handle the areas of billing,
refunds and reconciliation problems.
E. Vendors, applicants, and any
representatives thereof shall be prohibited from any action intended to
influence the opinion or recommendation of any EPBC member.
F. Vendors may be debarred by a
department/agency from solicitation within that department/agency for violation
of this section or OSUP policy.
G.
Vendors may be debarred from solicitation statewide by OSUP for violation of
this section or OSUP policy.
H.
Unethical conduct or practices of the vendor will result in the termination of
payroll deduction authority for that vendor. Unethical or unprofessional
conduct of any vendor representative shall result in that individual being
debarred from participation in state deduction for any vendor.
I. Deduction authority shall be revoked for
any vendor that fails to maintain compliance with provisions of
R.S.
42:455 or the requirements of this
rule.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
42:455.