Life Events
Plans for life
If there is one thing you can plan for in life, it is change. When a life-changing event comes your way, these action plans can help you manage your benefits and protect your financial security.
Loss of Coverage
Hours Buy Back
Participants who are scheduled to lose eligibility due to a lack of reported work hours or reserve bank hours have the option to self-pay the amount of contributions needed to meet the minimum amount of reported hours and maintain eligibility for the month.
The following conditions apply:
- This provision does not apply to those who are establishing initial eligibility.
- The participant is allowed to pay for up to 20 hours multiplied by the current Health & Welfare contribution rate to maintain eligibility.
- This self-payment is offered 3 times per calendar year for no more than 20 hours each time to avoid a lapse in coverage.
- Payment must be received by the Administrative Office within 31 days of receipt of Hours Buy Back Letter.
- Participants must be eligible in the immediately preceding month.
If you qualify for the Hours Buy Back, a letter will be sent to your address on file with information regarding the amount of hours required to keep eligibility for the next month and the amount due. Payment must by made by cashiers check or money order.
Cobra Continuation of Coverage
COBRA, a federal law, allows covered participants and their dependents to continue health care coverage for a limited period at their own expense under certain circumstances when health coverage would otherwise end under the terms of the Plan because of a qualifying event.
- If you lose your health coverage due to a qualifying event as a carpenter participant, employee, spouse or dependent, you will be offered the opportunity to continue coverage in the same health plans you were enrolled in prior to the loss of coverage, without Life Insurance and AD&D benefits, by making monthly premium payments.
- If you choose to elect COBRA and you are eligible at Open Enrollment, you will be allowed to make plan changes effective January 1st at that time. These changes may affect your premium rates.
- If you elect COBRA, you are allowed to add a newly acquired dependent if they are enrolled within 31 days from the date they became a dependent or they experienced a qualifying event such as loss of other coverage.
Qualifying Events:
- Loss of coverage due to insufficient work hours and/or reserve bank hours
- Loss of coverage due to termination of employment, including retirement and for reasons other than gross misconduct.
- Divorce or Legal Separation.
- The 26th birthday of a dependent child.
- Participant death.
The Administrative Office will mail a COBRA Offering Notification and COBRA Election Form to a participant’s home address within 14 days of a COBRA qualifying event. The COBRA Offering Notification will provide information regarding your rights and responsibilities under COBRA and includes the COBRA premium rates.
To Elect COBRA Continuation of Coverage:
- You have 60 days from the date on the COBRA Offering Notification to return the COBRA Election Form
- You have 45 days from the date you return the COBRA Election Form to submit the first payment.
- The monthly payment amount is shown on your COBRA Offering Notification.
- Payment is due for all coverage months beginning with the loss of coverage.
- Continue to submit monthly premium payments by the 20th of the month for coverage in the following month.
- Payments must be made by money order or cashier’s check payable to Southwest Carpenters Health & Welfare Trust.
- Personal checks are not accepted.
- Mail payments to the address below and include your member ID on your payment
-
Carpenters Southwest Administrative Corporation
533 South Fremont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90071-1706
The Maximum Length of COBRA Continuation of Coverage if Elected:
- 18 Months
- Loss of employment.
- Reduction of work hours.
- 36 Months
- Death of employee/participant.
- Divorce or Legal Separation.
- Dependent child no longer meeting the definition of dependent (Age 26)
- Medicare Eligibility of employee/participant.
- 29 Months
- If a participant becomes disabled before the 60th day of COBRA Continuation of Coverage an extension of up to 11 months may be available after the first 18 months of coverage.
- A higher COBRA premium rate will apply during the 11-month extension.
COBRA Coverage will Terminate When:
- The required monthly premium is not received timely
- The Plan ceases to provide health coverage for any employees.
- The COBRA participant becomes covered by another group health plan.
- The last contributing employer of the participant stops contributing to the plan, establishes another group health plan or begins contributing to another multiemployer plan. (Non-Bargaining Employers)
- The Plan would terminate coverage of any participant or beneficiary (such as fraud).
The Health Insurance Marketplace
- If you lose health coverage, you may be able to get coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace that costs less than COBRA Continuation Coverage.
- Visit www.HealthCare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 for more information.
For More Information
COBRA Deadline Extension
The declaration of the National Emergency on March 1, 2020 suspended certain deadlines and provided an automatic extension to elect COBRA. If you lost Health coverage after the National Emergency declaration and did not elect COBRA within the normal 60 day window period, you may still be able to elect COBRA.
Contact the administrative office at (213) 386-8590 or COBRA@carpentessw.org.
DISABILITY
If your ability to work is affected by a Temporary or Permanent Disability, notify the Trust Office immediately!
Health and Welfare Credit
If you become disabled and:
- you are eligible for health benefits at the time of your disability,
- you were eligible for health benefits in the preceding month your disability,
- you received employer reported work hours within 90 days preceding your disability,
- you are not currently receiving a pension benefit from the Southwest Carpenters,
Disability hours may be credited in lieu of work hours at eight hours per day, (excluding weekends and holidays), up to 120 hours per month for a maximum. Credit will be granted for a maximum of 6 consecutive months.
Pension Credit
If you become disabled and:
- You received Workers Compensation benefits for the period of your disability,
- Or
- State approved short-term disability,
pension Credit may be granted at 40 hours per week, to a maximum of 1,200 hours per year, for the period of your disability. This additional credit may help you prevent a Break in Service or assist you in qualifying for certain pension benefit types.
Long Term Disability Benefits
If you become Totally Disabled and:
- you have earned at least 5 pension credits under the Southwest Carpenters Pension Plan without a Break in Service,
- you have:
- worked 350 hours in the 12 months immediately preceding your disability,
- Or
- earned 3/12 Pension Credit in at least three of the most recent five calendar years preceding the year you became disabled,
- you have been deemed to be Totally Disabled by an independent review organization or the Social Security Administration,
you may be entitled to receive a Long Term Disability Benefit, based upon vested pension credits under the Pension Plan, as partial income replacement due to your disability.
Contact the Trust Office for an Application for LTD Benefits as soon as possible to avoid any delays.
RETIREMENT
Before and after retirement it is important to notify the Administrative Office of any changes to your mailing address, email address and phone number in order receive important Plan communications regarding your Pension benefit.
Participant Checklist: Pension
If you are thinking about retirement:
- Contact the Administrative Office for a pension application at least 3 months before you want to start receiving payments.
- If you earned any Pension credits under other funds you will need to contact those funds and file the necessary applications with them. Be sure to inform the Administrative Office of the names and locations of the other funds to which you apply.
- Complete the application and return it promptly to the Administrative Office with all of the required documents, including:
- Social Security numbers for your spouse and yourself
- Proof of age for yourself and your spouse
- Proof of marriage (acceptable documents can be found on the back of the application).
- If you are married and elect to not have your benefit paid as a Qualified Surviving Spouse Pension, you will be required to provide a notarized consent form signed by your spouse with your application.
- If your spouse is deceased, you will be required to provide a death certificate. If you are divorced, a copy of your divorce decree will be required.
- The signature on your application must be notarized,
Participant Checklist: Annuity
- Contact the Administrative Office for a pension application at least 3 months before you want to start receiving payments.
- Complete the application and return it promptly to the Administrative Office with all of the required documents, including:
- Social Security numbers for your spouse and yourself
- Proof of age for yourself and your spouse
- Proof of marriage (acceptable documents can be found on the back of the application).
- If you are married and elect to not have your benefit paid as a 50% Joint Survivor Annuity, you will be required to provide a notarized consent form signed by your spouse with your application.
- If your spouse is deceased, you will be required to provide a death certificate. If you are divorced, a copy of your divorce decree will be required.
- The signature on your application must be notarized,
- If you elect to receive your benefit by direct rollover to an eligible retirement plan or IRA, you will need to provide the name and address of the financial institution and your account number.
DEATH OF PARTICIPANT OR DEPENDENT
Participant Checklist: Death of a participant
- Complete and submit a Deceased Member Notification Form.
- Submit the participant's Death Certificate. (Note that no benefits can be paid until the Administrative Office receives the original Death Certificate.)
Once the Administrative Office receives the Death Certificate, following are estimated timeframes for benefit payments, assuming the dependent is eligible for benefits:
- Vacation: one week
- Life insurance: allow up to 30 days
- Pension: allow up to 90 days for processing. The benefit is dependent on the participant's pension history.
- Less than 10 Vesting Service Credits: benefit is payable the first of month in which participant would have reached age 65
- 10 or more Vesting Service Credits: benefit is payable the first of the month following the participant's death
- Annuity: allow up to 30 days
Participant Checklist: Death of a Dependent
- Call the Administrative Office to notify them of your dependent's death. The Administrative Office will mail you a Beneficiary Claim Form and help guide you through the process.
- Submit a photocopy of the Certified Death Certificate to the Administrative Office with your Social Security or UBC number.
MILITARY SERVICE
If you are absent from employment due to Military Service you may be entitled to continue your Health Coverage and/or earn Pension or Annuity credit under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).
Health and Welfare Coverage
If you are absent from employment due to military service your health coverage will cease but you will have the option under USERRA to:
- continue coverage under USERRA for a maximum of 24 months or until you have completed your service and you apply for or return to work, as long as you continue to make the appropriate self-payment.
- And/Or
- Continue your health coverage under the plan when you return to covered employment, even if you did not choose to continue coverage during your service, after receiving an honorable discharge, based on
- Your reserve bank at the time you began your service,
- or
- A monthly self-payment until you have again earned coverage through covered employment.
Notice must be received by the Trust Office within 60 days of your last day of covered employment to qualify. Contact the Trust Office for more information and to avoid missing important deadlines. See the Southwest Carpenters Health and Welfare Trust SPD for more complete rules and exclusions.
Pension Credit
If you are absent from employment due to military service you are entitled under USERRA to have your service treated as Hours of work in Covered Employment for all purposes under the plan.
There are several legal requirements or deadlines to be met by the Pension Plan and USERRA before you end and after you return to covered employment. Contract the Trust Office as soon as possible for instruction and see the Southwest Carpenters Pension Plan SPD for more information.
Annuity Credit
If you are absent from employment due to military service and you are a participant in the Southern Nevada Carpenters Annuity Plan you are entitled under USERRA to contributions received from your employer added to your individual annuity account.
- Contributions are based on your weeks of qualified military service and the average number of hours worked in covered employment in the 12 months preceding your service.
There are several legal requirements or deadlines to be under the Annuity Plan and USERRA before you end and after you return to covered employment. Contract the Trust Office as soon as possible for instruction and see the Southern Nevada Carpenters Annuity SPD for more information.