CalPERS presenters opened a webinar with a rundown of open enrollment dates and employer responsibilities, urging employers to prepare their processes and to notify employees of how to submit elections. "Open enrollment begins September 15 and ends October 10," webinar host Vanessa Albritton said. CalPERS advised employers that they must finish processing all open enrollment transactions by midnight on Nov. 7.

Albritton said open enrollment is the annual period when members can enroll in a CalPERS health plan for the first time, change plans, add or remove eligible dependents, or cancel coverage without a qualifying life event. Employers may permit employees to use their myCalPERS accounts to make plan changes online; CalPERS noted that when a member changes a health plan online, employers do not have to key or approve the transaction but will receive a notification. Other transactions—new enrollments, adding dependents and some dependent deletions—still require employer review and supporting documentation.

For employers that submit enrollments via third-party vendors or bulk file uploads, CalPERS advised that demographic information in submitted files must match myCalPERS records, or the file will error out. "If the demographics don't match, the file will error out. You'll have to correct the demographic information and resubmit as we are unable to process these transactions," Albritton said. CalPERS said response files detailing errors will appear in the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) folder where the employer submitted the file and will identify which transactions failed and why.

CalPERS encouraged use of on-demand Cognos reports (for example, the Open Enrollment Health Plan Changes report) to monitor transactions. Employers that choose to use a different process should communicate that workflow clearly to employees. State employers were reminded that CalHR tools such as the benefits calculator will be updated with 2026 information by the first day of open enrollment. CalPERS also said employers should encourage members to keep email addresses current in myCalPERS because much of the outreach is done by email.

The webinar included Q&A on system and form questions. Anthony Williams, who answered systems questions, confirmed agencies using their own online platforms do not need to collect paper HBD-12 forms, provided the agency collects all HBD-12 data fields and can produce them if audited; he cited circular letter 600-010-19 (dated 02/25/2019) as the source for that guidance.

The session was informational; no formal votes were taken. CalPERS said webinar recordings and answered questions will be posted online and that employers should review the posted materials to prepare.