CalPERS Released Preliminary Health Plan Premium Rates. The CalPERS Pension and Health Benefits Committee are working with the health plans to release final rates for Board approval in July. However, at the Committee’s June meeting, preliminary rates were released for 2023. All projected 2023 HMO rates can be viewed here, and PPO rates here.

Additionally, within the agenda, a number of service area expansions, new health plans, and benefit design changes were mentioned that had been approved at their November meeting. You can view the agenda items here. Overall, premiums are projected to go up an average of 6.8% over the 2022 rates. CAPS will provide members with the new rates, employee contributions for each plan, and changes from the current year once the information is released from CalPERS.

CAPS Secures Side Letter for Healthcare Facility Employee Retention Payment. CAPS Agreed to a Side Letter Agreement with the State of California in late July for rank-and-file members, attached to the 2018-2020 CAPS Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which  will provide $1,500 to Unit 10 employees who meet the following eligibility criteria: 1) employees must have been employed by the State on January 1, 2022, and remain employed upon the first day of the pay period following ratification (August 1); 2) employees must have worked in a correctional facility, correctional health facility, State Hospital, Veterans home, and/or Developmental Services Facility; and 3) employees must have worked in-person more than 50% of the time during the pandemic. The one-time payment agreed to by the Team applies to State Scientists in the Hazardous Materials Specialist classification at all CDCR and DSH facilities. The CAPS Supervisors Committee will ask that should any S10 or M10 classifications meet these eligibility criteria, that they be afforded the retention pay as well.

CAPS Insurance Premium Adjustment. Some CAPS members who have insurance through CAPS with The Standard Insurance Company will see an increase in their insurance premium deduction effective with their pay warrant received at the end of June (July 1 warrants for retired CAPS members).

Members who turned 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60 since July 1, 2021, will see an age- related premium increase as specified in plan documents. (Please note that The Standard Insurance Company does not send individual letters notifying affected individuals of these increases.)

Everyone should periodically review their estate plan to ensure loved ones are financially secure in case of death or disability.  If you want more information about CAPS’ low-cost insurance benefits, or obtaining a quote on insurance coverage – with the convenience of payroll deduction – please contact CAPS (insurance@capsscientists.org), or visit the CAPS web page:

CalPERS News of downturn Should be Expected. In reports last month from CalPERS, the preliminary net return (earnings) on investments for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2022 was -6.1% and the total fund is now valued at $440 billion.

This news should not come as a shock – just as CalPERS has years with increases, expectations should also account for downturns. And just as a reminder, last year’s rate of return was 21.3%.  Over the past 30 years, CalPERS has averaged an annual return rate of 7.7%. At the end of the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the CalPERS system was estimated to be 72% funded.

As outlined in this Californians for Retirement Security (CRS) opinion piece that was published last Wednesday, a down year is certainly nothing to be alarmed about.  CalPERS is a long-term investor, built to withstand good years and bad.  CAPS is a founding member of CRS, which represents 1.6 million public employees and retirees and was founded in 2005 to support and protect defined-benefit pensions. For additional details about the 2021-22 returns, please see CalPERS’ press release.

In Review. Check out what you may have missed from past CAPS Updates here:

Supervisors and Managers and the CAPS MOU. There’s a reason CalHR refers to supervisory and managerial classifications as “excluded.” It’s because certain supervisory, managerial, and confidential state employees, among others, are excluded from the Ralph C. Dills Act, which gave collective bargaining rights to California State Employees. Instead, supervisory and managerial classifications (through the organizations that represent them, like CAPS) are given the right to meet-and-confer with CalHR regarding wages, hours and working conditions via the “Excluded Employee Bill of Rights” (Government Code Sections 3525 – 3539.5). CalHR and these organizations do not reach formal written agreements, nor do they negotiate official contracts.

Read the rest of the entries, or see what else you may have missed on the CAPS Website here: https://capsscientists.org/supervisors/. The password is S10CAPS – it IS case-sensitive.