Your Rights
Receive information about your plan and benefits
Continue group health plan coverage
Prudent actions by plan fiduciaries
Enforce your rights
Assistance with your questions
As a participant in this plan, you are entitled to certain rights and protections under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). ERISA is a federal law that sets standards and defines procedures for employee benefit plans. These plans were adopted to offer you and your family security and benefits that meet your needs.
ERISA assures you of certain rights. One of these rights entitles you to a summary of your benefit plan. This handbook gives you that information. The following section describes your rights as a plan participant under ERISA.
You can go to your Plan Administrator's office and examine, without charge, all documents governing the plan, including insurance contracts and a copy of the latest annual report (Form 5500 series) filed by the plan with the U.S. Department of Labor and available at the Public Disclosure Room of the Employee Benefits Security Administration. You may also obtain copies of these documents and an updated summary plan description by contacting the nearest office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, listed in your telephone directory or the Division of Technical Assistance and Inquiries, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington DC 20210.
You also have the right to receive a summary of the plan's annual financial report. The Plan Administrator is required by law to furnish each participant with a copy of this summary annual report.
You may obtain a statement telling you whether you have a right to receive a pension at normal retirement age (age 65) and if so, what your benefits would be at normal retirement age if you stop working under the plan now. If you do not have a right to a pension, the statement will tell you how many more years you have to work to get a right to a pension. This statement must be requested in writing and is not required to be given more than once every twelve months. The plan must provide the statement free of charge.
You may continue health care coverage (medical, dental, and vision), for yourself, spouse, domestic partner or dependents if there is a loss of coverage under the plan as a result of a qualifying event. You or your dependents may have to pay for such coverage. Review this summary plan description and the documents governing the plan on the rules governing your COBRA continuation coverage rights. You can find detailed information regarding COBRA under General Health Care Facts.
You may reduce or eliminate exclusionary periods of coverage for preexisting conditions under your group health plan, if you have creditable coverage from another plan. You should be provided a certificate of creditable coverage, free of charge from your group health plan or health insurance issuer when you:
- Lose coverage under the plan,
- Become entitled to elect COBRA continuation coverage, or
- Lose COBRA continuation coverage if you request it before losing coverage (or if you request it up to 24 months after losing coverage without evidence of creditable coverage). Without evidence of creditable coverage, you may be subject to a preexisting condition exclusion for 12 months (18 months for late enrollees) after your enrollment date in your coverage.
If you need to request a certificate of creditable coverage after your termination date, you may contact Voya, who administers the Company's COBRA continuation coverage and HIPAA, at 888-401-3539.
In addition to creating rights for plan members, ERISA imposes duties upon the people who are responsible for the operation of the plan. These people are known as fiduciaries. They have a duty to operate the plan prudently and in the interest of you and other plan participants and beneficiaries.
ERISA also ensures that you can't be fired or discriminated against in any way for claiming a benefit or exercising your rights under ERISA.
You will get a written explanation any time a claim for benefits is denied. You have the right to appeal the decision.
If your claim for a pension or welfare benefit is denied or ignored, in whole or in part, you have a right to know why this was done, to obtain copies of documents relating to the decision without charge, and to appeal any denial, all within certain time schedules.
Under ERISA, you can take certain steps to enforce your rights. For example, if you request a copy of plan documents or the latest annual report from the plan and do not receive them within 30 days, you may file a suit in a federal court. The court may require the Plan Administrator to provide you the materials and pay you up to $110 for each day of unwarranted delay.
If your claim for benefits is denied, and you have been through the plan's appeals procedure, you may sue in a state or federal court. In addition, you may file suit in federal court, if you disagree with the plan's decision or lack thereof concerning the qualified status of a domestic relations order or a medical child support order.
If you are discriminated against for asserting your rights, or if you think that plan fiduciaries are misusing the plan's money, you can ask the U.S. Department of Labor for help, or you may file suit in a Federal court. If you sue, the court will decide who should pay court costs and legal fees. If you win, the court may order the person you sued to pay. But if you lose, you may have to pay these costs and fees if it finds your claim is frivolous.
If you have any questions about your plan, you should contact the Plan Administrator. If you have any questions about this statement or about your rights under ERISA, or if you need assistance in obtaining documents from the Plan Administrator, contact the nearest office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, listed in your telephone directory or the Division of Technical Assistance and Inquiries, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington DC 20210. You may also obtain certain publications about your rights and responsibilities under ERISA by calling the publications hotline of the Employee Benefits Security Administration.