Dependent Eligibility Verification (DEV) is the process of verifying the eligibility of dependents enrolled in state health and dental benefits.

Government Code 19815.9, requires State and California State University (CSU) employers to:

  • Verify the eligibility of all employees' dependents prior to enrolling them in a health plan.
  • Retain and maintain a record of the verifying documentation for each dependent.
  • Validate/re-verify dependent eligibility at least once every three years for most dependents.

Re-verification Schedule

Eligibility will be re-verified once every three years. The re-verification cycle is based on birth month. The following chart illustrates the schedule

Year of Verification 2024 2025 2026

Subscriber Birth Month

January
April
July
October

February
May
August
November

March
June
September
December

This three-year cycle repeats. If dependent(s) are enrolled within six months of the employee's birth month, their eligibility will be re-verified during the next cycle.

Eligible Dependents

Recurring dependent re-verification is required for:

  • Spouses
  • Registered domestic partners
  • Natural born children
  • Adopted children
  • Step-children
  • Children of registered domestic partners

Note: The Dependent Re-verification doesn't include disabled dependent(s) or a parent-child relationship dependent(s) who are enrolled in employer-sponsored health and/or dental coverage. Disabled dependent(s) and parent-child relationship dependent(s) have a separate re-verification process.

Letters

CalPERS will mail letters to each employee based on the employee's birth month. Employees with at least one dependent will receive up to three notification letters.

Letter When What
Initial Notice 90 days prior to the 1st of the employee's birth month The notice provides information to employees on their upcoming verification date and the names of the dependents for whom documents must be submitted to verify their continued eligibility. Employees are instructed to submit the required documents to their employer's personnel office. The notice informs employees about potential monies owed and gap in coverage if documents are not submitted timely.
Reminder Notice 60 days prior to the 1st of the employee’s birth month The notice reminds employees to submit verification documents for their dependents to their employers. The notice informs employees about potential monies owed and gap in coverage if documents are not submitted timely.
Deletion Notice 30 days prior to the 1st of the employee’s birth month The notice informs employees of which dependents were not verified and the date they will be deleted. This notice directs them to their employer for additional questions on verifying their dependents. The notice informs employees about potential monies owed and gap in coverage if documents are not submitted timely.

Notification letters will be mailed to the employee's mailing address on file in the myCalPERS system. Employees must provide the required documentation to their employers prior to the final filing date indicated on the letter. If documentation is not provided to the employer by the final filing date, the employee's dependent(s) will be removed automatically from the employee's health coverage.

We'll inform the employee the month before their birth month in writing if we administratively remove their dependent(s) from health benefits. Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) continuation of coverage information will be included with the letter. Dependent’s disenrollment takes effect the first of the month after the employee’s birth month. If the employee provides verification documents for disenrolled eligible dependents after the verification due date, employer must verify and reenroll the dependent’s prospectively for health benefits. This will result in a gap of benefit coverage.

If you’d like to review DEV letters, select the appropriate one below:

Required Documentation

A copy of a government issued marriage certificate AND one of the following documents:

  • A copy of the first page of the most recent federal or state tax return confirming the dependent as your spouse.

OR

  • A combination of other documentation, including but not limited to a household bill, account statement, or insurance policy listing the name and address of the subscriber and the spouse, or other documents that substantiate the existence of a current marriage. Household bills and account statements older than 60 calendar days are unacceptable.

Note: The first document establishes the life event allowing the enrollment of the dependent (i.e., marriage or registering as domestic partners). The second document substantiates the relationship is current.

A copy of the Declaration of Domestic Partnership registered with the California Secretary of State or a comparable agency in another jurisdiction and one of the following documents:

  • A copy of the first page of the most recent federal or state tax return confirming the dependent as your domestic partner.

OR

  • A combination of other documentation, including but not limited to a household bill, account statement, or insurance policy listing the name and address of the subscriber and the domestic partner, or other documents that substantiate the existence of a current domestic partnership. Household bills and account statements older than 60 calendar days are unacceptable.

One of the following documents:

  • A copy of the child's birth certificate or adoption certificate naming the employee, spouse, or domestic partner as the parent of the child.

*For a stepchild or domestic partner's child, the employee must also provide documentation demonstrating the relationship to the employee's spouse or domestic partner, as requested above.

Health Benefits Officer Role

Procedures

Procedures outlining the Dependent Enrollment Verification process are available in the student guides section of our website.

Reason Codes

To facilitate this re-verification process, we added the following health reason codes in myCalPERS in December 2017.
Reason Number Reason Name Description
916 Verification of Dependent HBOs should use this code to verify dependent(s) when all documentation has been received before the deletion effective date.
220 Re-enrollment of Verified Dependent HBOs should use this code to re-verify and re-enroll a dependent(s) after a batch or online Delete Dependent - Did Not Verify health event has been processed.
331 Delete Dependent - Did Not Verify - Online HBOs can use this code to preemptively delete dependents who were not verified during the recertification process. However, if HBOs do not process a deletion, the system will automatically process a deletion batch if a dependent is not verified.
854 Delete Dependent - Did Not Verify - Batch HBOs cannot use this code when an employee fails to verify their dependent. It is an automated deletion batch in myCalPERS.

Reports

The following three reports are available in myCalPERS to identify the employees who are part of each verification process:

  • Dependent Verification End Date Employer Report - HBOs can use this report to get a list of the employees’ dependent(s) by the selected verification end date.
  • Dependent Verification Health Event Employer Report – HBOs can use this report to get a list of dependent(s) that have been deleted with the Delete Dependent – Did Not Verify health event and/or a list of dependent(s) that were verified with the Verify Dependent – Verification of Dependent health event.
  • Dependent Verification Dependents with Past Due or No End Date Active Health Report – HBOs can use this report to identify any dependent(s) that remain enrolled despite their certification being either past due or missing.

Resources

Frequently Asked Questions