Feb 14, 2022
In January, Guardian shared a preliminary update on how they will be supporting customers under California's Senate Bill 1008, which became effective January 28, 2022. This emergency regulation requires that dental plan customers with a situs in California give their employees a copy of California’s Standard Benefits Comparison (CA SBC) summarizing the plan’s benefits prior to any enrollment event.
Guardian has a two-part solution for their customers to address the immediate needs under the emergency regulation and a long-term solution for the finalized regulation.
New PPO Customers
Effective January 28, 2022, new Guardian dental customers of all case sizes will receive the CA SBC during their implementation process. The CA SBC will be delivered both prior to enrollment and at the time of policy document delivery for future enrollment events.
Current PPO Customers
Current Guardian dental customers with a situs in California will also be supported as outlined below.
- Customers with 1,000 or more employees: Guardian is creating and delivering completed CA SBCs to all customers since they may have unique plan characteristics. They are targeting a February 15, 2022 completion date.
- Customers with 2-999 employees: Guardian is emailing a non-plan-specific sample CA SBC directly to customers to share with their employees.
Please note: The non-plan-specific CA SBC is directional only and the illustrated percentages and dollar amounts may not align with the customer’s specific plan. In conjunction with the CA SBC, we are asking customers to also reference the benefit summary that Guardian provides as part of their enrollment kit. The Guardian enrollment kit has plan-specific comparisons and is available after logging on guardianlife.com. Customers should plan to make these documents available to their employees prior to any Guardian dental enrollment.
Customers not registered for online self-service can contact the Guardian Service Team at 800-627-4200 or work with their benefit administer to obtain their enrollment kit.
DHMO Customers
All customers who also offer a DHMO benefit will receive another email in late Q1 2022 with a plan specific CA SBC document. Guardian recommends that customers use the previously provided DHMO benefit comparison document for any inforce enrollment events until that time.
Long-Term Support Plan
Guardian's long-term support plan for the finalized SB 1008 regulation:
- Guardian is working on enhancing their processes to include automation for both the creation and delivery of the CA SBC by Q2 2022 for new dental plans and customers.
- For existing California situs dental customers, Guardian is targeting to have a plan-specific CA SBC for both PPO and DHMO available online by early Q2 2022.
Contact your Amwins Connect Sales Representative for more details.
