Annual Non-Contributing List

Each year OPERS employers are required to submit an annual non-contributing list identifying non-contributing individuals. Non-contributing individuals are those providing services to a public employer and earning compensation but are not contributing to OPERS.

Who should be included:

• Any worker not reported to any of the Ohio Retirement Systems
• Students who have exempted from membership
• Independent Contractors or workers performing services under personal contracts where no retirement contributions are remitted
• Independent Contractors or workers performing services under personal contracts where no retirement contributions are remitted
• Elected officials who have not opted in to OPERS membership
• Poll Workers earning less than $600 per calendar year where no contributions are withheld on poll worker earnings
• Any other individual for whom OPERS contributions are not remitted by the public employer but who has performed work for a public employer

Employers must include:

• Name
• Submit a Social Security Number for each person on the non-contributing list.
• Ensure they are using the correct indicator which describes the individual's non-contributing status.
• Service Begin Date/ Service End Date
• Gross Earnings (optional)
• Position Title

Employers should submit the non-contributing lists to OPERS by January 31 of each year. If you report via ECS, your non-contributing list should be submitted via ECS.

For directions on how to submit the non-contributing report, click on the "Help" button in ECS.

OPERS Retirement Plan Selections

Beginning January 1, 2022, the Combined Plan will no longer be a plan selection option for new hires. Newly-hired members will only have the option to select from two of the OPERS retirement plans—the Traditional Pension Plan or the Member Directed Plan. This will simplify the plan selection process for new members.

Additionally, current members participating in the Traditional Pension Plan or Member-Directed Plan will no longer be able to plan-change into the Combined Plan. Plan change forms to leave the Traditional Pension Plan or Member-Directed Plan and begin participating in the Combined Plan will no longer be accepted after November 30, 2021.

For members in the Combined Plan as of December 31, 2021, the Plan will continue to be available, and it will work just like it does today. Combined Plan members will continue to manage the investment of their member contributions during their career. The same disability, survivor and death benefits will be available in the Plan. After leaving OPERS-covered employment, Combined Plan members will still be able to take a lump sum refund of their account value or receive a lifetime retirement benefit. If OPERS is financially able to offer health care to retirees, Combined Plan retirees will receive those funds if they meet the eligibility requirements.

New student exemption process required in 2022

Beginning January 1, 2022, employers from state colleges and universities will be required to use the new ECS based student exemption process. OPERS offers webinar training sessions to provide employers with a step-by-step tutorial for this new process. We offer a one-on-one webinar with an ECS user(s) within your college or university with an OPERS employer training specialist. For additional information reference the Employer Notice issued January 26, 2021.

Employer Pick-up Plans

Are your employee’s earnings post-tax or pre-tax on their W-2? If you are reporting to the IRS as pre-tax, then you should have a pick-up plan on file with OPERS and your employer reporting code should end in an 8. For additional information please reference: https://www.opers.org/pubs-archive/employers/2019-01-Pick-up-Plans.pdf.

If you have any questions regarding what employer pick-up plans are on file with OPERS, please call a Compliance Specialist at 888-400-0965 and select option two.

Large earnings inquiries will affect member accounts

Unanswered large earnings inquiries will have a significant effect on members' accounts, preventing the following:

• Generation of correct annual statements
• Issuance of member refunds
• Finalization of retirement benefits
• Members' ability to run estimates while accessing their accounts online.

The existence of a large earnings inquiry means that larger than normal salary and contributions were reported for an employee and some additional review is needed. OPERS requires responses to large earnings inquiries to determine if the salary reported meets the definition of "earnable salary".

The large earning inquiries notification can be found on ECS within the "Recent Activity" box on the main menu. For directions on how to reply to a large earning inquiry, click the "Help" button.

OPERS Health Care Program Changes
Effective Jan. 1, 2022

Effective Jan. 1, 2022, OPERS will no longer offer a group medical plan, instead all eligible Pre-Medicare benefit recipients can opt in to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) and receive monthly HRA deposits from OPERS. All eligible Medicare benefit recipients will need to enroll in a medical plan through the OPERS Medicare Connector to receive monthly HRA deposits from OPERS. OPERS employers need to provide retiring employees with a Loss of Coverage letter upon their termination from your employee medical plan. In addition, eligibility for the OPERS health care program will change for members with a retirement benefit effective date after Dec. 1, 2021.

Loss of Coverage letters

Employees will no longer enroll in the OPERS Pre-Medicare group medical plan when they are terminated from your employee medical plan at retirement. If you are not already doing so, effective Jan. 1, 2022, OPERS employers will need to provide a Loss of Coverage letter to employees when they retire.  Most medical plans on the individual market will require those enrolling to provide a Loss of Coverage letter containing the following information:

• Who had their coverage terminated from your employee medical plan (retiree and any enrolled dependents); and
• The date the coverage was terminated

OPERS Health Care Program Eligibility Changes

Listed below are eligibility criteria for the OPERS health care program today and for retirees with a benefit effective date of Jan. 1, 2022 and after. Health care coverage in retirement will likely be a significant factor for a member to consider when deciding whether to retire, so it's important that they understand the structure of the OPERS health care program and the changes effective Jan. 1, 2022.

As an employer, please direct any employees considering retirement in 2021 to OPERS or opers.org to learn more about these changes and how their eligibility for the OPERS health care program could be impacted. OPERS retirement counselors are available to discuss member's personal account by phone, via video conference and in-person at the OPERS office in Columbus with an appointment. Employees should call 1-800-222-7377 to schedule an appointment. They may also benefit from attending a 2022 Open Enrollment webinar. OPERS is presenting these webinars for both Medicare-eligible and Pre-Medicare retirees. Employees can register by visiting the Member Education Center at opers.org.

Eligibility for the OPERS retiree health care program in 2021:

OPERS members retiring with a benefit effective date on or prior to Dec. 1, 2021 will be eligible for the OPERS health care program by meeting one of the following criteria:

Age 60 or older

• Minimum of 20 years of qualified health care service credit

Age 59 or younger

• Group A – 30 years of qualified health care service credit
• Group B – 32 years of qualified health care service credit at any age or 31 years of qualified health care service credit and at least age 52
• Group C – 32 years of qualified health care service credit and at least age 55

Eligibility for the OPERS retiree health care program in 2022 and after:

OPERS members with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2022 or after will be eligible for the HRA by meeting one of the following criteria:

Age 65 or older

• Minimum of 20 years of qualified health care service credit

Age 60 - 64

• Group A – 30 years of total service with at least 20 years of qualified health care service credit
• Group B – 31 years of total service with at least 20 years of qualified health care service credit
• Group C – 32 years of total service with at least 20 years of qualified health care service credit

Age 59 or younger

• Group A – 30 years of qualified health care service credit
• Group B – 32 years of qualified health care service credit at any age or 31 years of qualified health care service credit and at least age 52
• Group C – 32 years of qualified health care service credit and at least age 55

Aging into eligibility

Provided an employee has at least 20 years of qualified health care service credit at retirement, they will eventually be eligible for the HRA even if they are not eligible when they first retire.

If an employee retires at age 65 or older with at least 20 years of qualified service credit, they
will be eligible for the HRA on their retirement date.

If an employee retires prior to reaching age 65, they will either be eligible at retirement or will
become eligible either when they turn 60 or when they turn 65 depending on their qualified health
care service credit at retirement (see criteria above.)

If an employee retires with less than 20 years of qualified health care service credit, they will not
be eligible for the HRA, regardless of their age, at any time.

OPERS health care for re-employed OPERS retirees

Beginning Jan. 1, 2022 those receiving a monthly benefit from OPERS and also employed in an OPERS-covered position (re-employed retirees) can accrue Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) deposits while re-employed. The OPERS HRA is a retiree-only plan, which means it works a little differently for re-employed retirees and the requirements are also different for Pre-Medicare and Medicare-eligible re-employed retirees.

PRE-MEDICARE RE-EMPLOYED RETIREE SITUATION NOW: If health care coverage is offered by their employer, Pre-Medicare re-employed retirees are required to enroll in their employer's plan for primary coverage. If employer coverage is not available and the re-employed retiree meets the OPERS health care eligibility requirements, they may enroll in the OPERS Pre-Medicare group plan as their primary coverage.

PRE-MEDICARE RE-EMPLOYED RETIREE SITUATION EFFECTIVE JAN. 1, 2022: OPERS will no longer offer a group medical plan. Instead, Pre-Medicare re-employed retirees can opt in to the OPERS Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) and begin receiving monthly deposits. Re-employed retirees will also no longer be required to enroll in medical coverage through their employer if it is available.

MEDICARE-ELIGIBLE RE-EMPLOYED RETIREE SITUATION NOW: Currently, a Medicare-eligible re-employed retiree who meets OPERS health care eligibility requirements cannot receive HRA deposits while re-employed, even if they enrolled in a medical plan through the OPERS Medicare Connector. They also cannot be reimbursed for eligible medical expenses incurred while re-employed. They may be enrolled in the OPERS Medicare Secondary group plan and their OPERS health care allowance is applied toward the monthly premium for that plan.

MEDICARE-ELIGIBLE RE-EMPLOYED RETIREE SITUATION EFFECTIVE JAN. 1, 2022: Medicare-eligible re-employed retirees can accrue Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) deposits while re-employed. They must be enrolled in a medical plan through the OPERS Medicare Connector administered by Via Benefits to receive HRA deposits. In addition, beginning Jan. 1, 2022, OPERS will no longer offer the OPERS Medicare Secondary group plan.

During the Re-employment Period

The re-employed retiree's monthly HRA deposits will accrue in a Re-employed Accumulated HRA for the month(s) they are re-employed. The Re-employed Accumulated HRA will not be accessible during re-employment.

Re-employed retirees may use any balance they had in their HRA prior to the re-employment period for expenses incurred prior, but not for qualified medical expenses incurred during the re-employment period. Administrative fees will not be deducted during re-employment. At termination, fees will be deducted for every month in which the Re-employed Accumulated HRA accrued.

When the Re-employment Period Ends

The monthly HRA deposits accrued in the re-employed retiree's Re-employed Accumulated HRA will be deposited into their primary HRA account. The accrued deposits will have administrative fees deducted for every month in which the Re-employed Accumulated HRA accrued.

The retiree may use funds within the HRA to receive reimbursement for qualified medical expenses incurred before and/or after the re-employment period. However, they may not use funds in their HRA to receive reimbursement for expenses incurred during the re-employment period.

If you have employees who are re-employed OPERS retirees, please advise them to contact OPERS with any questions regarding how their re-employment affects their eligibility for the OPERS HRA. OPERS has also provided fact sheets for both Medicare-eligible and Pre-Medicare re-employed retirees. These can be found within the Health Care 2022 section at opers.org.