On Oct. 15, the State Health Plan (SHP) sent an HBR Alert that stated some public school units in the SHP had submitted incorrect salary information for purposes of premiums employees will pay under SHP enrollment that began Oct. 13. One of the inaccuracies the SHP highlighted was that some school districts excluded local supplements and requested the following:

• Review the salaries and make corrections where needed.
• Ensure that “salary includes all components of the fixed salary including any local supplements. It does not include such things as overtime, bonus, or longevity pay. Everything else is included.”
• E-mail HBRinquiries@nctreasurer.com and state “I attest the salary information in eBenefits is accurate” no later than Friday, Oct. 17.

School leaders across the state have contacted NCASA with concerns about this request including:

• A significant number of school district employees would see a premium increase during Open Enrollment if local supplements were added. Many employees have completed enrollment already based on the premiums currently showing for them.
• Many of our school leaders were instructed during the training process with SHP staff to input base salary compensation and not include local supplements.
• The current Salary-Based Premiums FAQ on the State Treasurer’s website provides the following definition for salary based premiums: Salary-based premiums are based on the annualized total base salary for a full-time employee. There is still a lack of clarity as to what is considered salary.

Given these concerns from school leaders, NCASA held a meeting with the SHP leadership this afternoon to seek further clarity on the issue of local supplements and next steps for schools and districts. The agreed upon next steps include:

• Review your submitted salary information to determine if local supplements were included as needed.
• If your district feels the supplement does not reflect base salary and instead is treated like a bonus paid once or twice per year, contact the SHP to discuss your specific scenario and their guidance on whether your supplements should be factored into your salary submissions.
• The SHP team offered additional time for these interactions with school districts beyond the deadlines stated in the recent HBR Alert and asked that school leaders reach out to them over the next week.
• The SHP leadership committed to working with NCASA and school leaders to address further questions on salary calculations and identify a clear set of rules and steps for districts to follow before open enrollment begins for the 2027 plan year.

“We understand and appreciate that trying to get this right is hard and a big task,” said Thomas Friedman, the SHP Executive Administrator. “We are committed to working with groups that need assistance and are offering as much flexibility as possible to make this happen. We’re all working towards a common goal of keeping the State Health Plan solvent and protecting our lowest paid teachers and state employees.”