Composite Benefit Rates - 5 Things You Need To Know

Background:  With UCPath go-live on June 1, 2020, the system will implement a CBR for the employer share of benefits for all faculty and staffWhat is a CBR?  A CBR is the cost of employee benefits as an average percentage of gross salary cost applicable to an employee group.  UCSF Campus employees will be categorized into six CBR groups.

Following are several questions received by the CBR team recently:

Since the campus and UCSF Health have different rates, which CBR will be applied?

In UCPath, the Home Department determines the CBR assessed to the funding chart string(s) for all 10 UC campuses. This means that if an employee’s home department is on the campus, but they are fully or partially funded by the medical center, all funding chart strings would pay the Campus CBR for that employee/benefit eligibility/job code combination. The reverse logic also applies for any medical center employees funded by a campus chart string.

There is an enhancement in development that will change the CBR determination from Home Department to Funding Department in UCPath for all 10 campuses, however there is currently no estimated time for implementation.

In PPS, departments pay a Vacation Leave Assessment (VLA) for every vacation-eligible employee, however there is no charge once an employee reaches their maximum vacation accrual. Is the assessment process changing with UCPath?

Yes, the Vacation Leave Assessment process is changing with UCPath. In UCPath, VLA will continue to assess to the funding department even after an employee reaches their maximum vacation accrual. This means that departments with employees at the maximum vacation accrual will effectively pay charges where they did not pay charges before. In order to avoid this situation, departments should strongly encourage their employees to take and record their vacation, so that they receive a VLA (VAC) credit back when the employee takes vacation. Implementing this simple practice could have significant financial benefits for all departments, especially those with large numbers of faculty. Faculty accrue vacation at the highest rate and are more likely to be at maximum accrual; as a result, their vacation credit dollars would be, on average, higher in value. The VLA section of the CBR website has more detailed information about how the VLA assessments and credits may appear on the ledger.

Will an employee with a 50% appointment be charged the same CBR as an employee with a 100% appointment?

Yes. The rate is based on benefit eligibility and job code and not appointment percentage. However, the rate is charged against the amount paid, therefore assuming equal full-time salary levels, the dollar amount charged for a 50% appointment will be half that of a full-time employee.

Have there been any changes to CBRs since last month?

Yes. First, the UCSF Health CBR is now 34.4%.

In addition, title codes in CTO Group H40 (Physicians and Dentists, also known as MSP physicians) has been moved from the “Management and Professional” CBR group to “Faculty Tenured, Ladder Rank, In Residence and Clinical”. Benefits levels for these employees s more closely aligned with the Faculty group. This adjustment caused a minor change (+/-.02) in the CBR rates for these two employee groups.

The Rates webpage has the updated groups and rates.

Will there be any more changes to the CBR rate before we go live on June 1, 2020?

The CBR rate proposal is being reviewed by our federal cognizant agency, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Cost Allocation Services. Although rates are subject to change until the CBR proposal is approved, no changes are expected from the federal review.

Please visit the CBR website for more information or email [email protected] with any questions.

To learn more about the Composite Benefit Rate in UCPath, check out the CBR Webinar recording and presentation slide deck if you were unable to join the live session on April 7.