Reference & Health Guides

The reference and health guides are designed to help you in your business and health transactions with CalPERS. We encourage you to make the applicable guides available to all staff who process enrollments or convey retirement and/or health benefit information.

Reference Guides

Health Benefits Guides

Retirement Resource Guides

Disability Retirement / Industrial Disability Retirement Resource Guide (PDF)
Local Safety Disability Retirement / Industrial Disability Retirement Resource Guide (PDF)

These guides provide simplified explanations for often complex laws. Should there be a conflict between the language in either the reference or health guides, and the California Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) or Public Employees’ Medical & Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA), the PERL and PEMHCA will prevail. If you have comments or suggestions for future editions of these guides, contact us.

*For questions regarding account codes, or requests for account code corrections, adjustments, and/or verifications contact the State Controller's Office retirement liaison at (916) 324-1471.

Revision History

You can view a summary of the revisions made to our guides by selecting the desired link below. For content that received substantive changes, a PDF link is also available in the summary. To stay informed about changes to CalPERS policies and procedures, review our Circular Letters or subscribe to the Employer Bulletin.

Public Agency & Schools Health Benefits Guide

Topic/Summary	Revision Date
Medicare Updated enrollment period(s) and new CMS enrollment requirements	Jan 2023 (PDF)
Health Event Reasons New contracting retiree and new contracting survivor added to health event types for new contracting agencies only Medicare Medicare topic was completely rewritten for clarity	Sep 2022 (PDF)
Summary of Health Benefit Forms & Publications HBD-34 and HBD-98 combined and renamed Disabled Dependent Member Questionnaire and Medical Report Health Eligibility Requirements Updated Notification of Deletion of 26-Year-Old Dependents section	Apr 2022 (PDF)

Public Agency & Schools Reference Guide

Chapter/Summary	Revision Date
Introduction Added PEPRA information to service retirement topic	Jul 2017 (PDF)
Contract Coverage Procedures Clarified process to initiate a new contact and updated Cost Estimate Factors for providing Two Years Additional Service Credit section	Apr 2018 (PDF)
Membership Updated Arrears topic and Optional Members of CalPERS and Requirements for the Retirement System Election form	Apr 2022 (PDF)
Compensation Review Added 2023 compensation limits and new member contribution caps	Jan 2023 (PDF)
Compensation Review Updated reportable/non-reportable compensation and compensation limits topics	Aug 2022 (PDF)
Payroll Reporting Procedures Updated 1959 survivor contribution amounts and pay rate/earnings relationship topics	Aug 2022 (PDF)
Benefit Procedures Updated deductions after retirement and completing the tax withholding election for survivor benefits topics	Oct 2022 (PDF)
Web Services & Publications Updated Subscriptions Services section	Nov 2017 (PDF)
Education & Other Resources Added new educational resources	Sep 2018 (PDF)
Appendix Updated Resolutions 1 and 2	Oct 2022 (PDF)

State Health Benefits Guide

Topic/Summary	Revision Date
Medicare Updated enrollment period(s) and new CMS enrollment requirements	Jan 2023 (PDF)
Health Eligibility Requirements Updates to Continuation of Coverage of a Certified Disabled Dependent and Recertification of a Disabled Dependent Age 26 and Over Medicare Medicare topic was completely rewritten for clarity	Sep 2022 (PDF)
Health Event Reasons Added new information for state pay period exceptions and active health cancellation dates	May 2022 (PDF)
Summary of Health Benefit Forms & Publications HBD-34 and HBD-98 combined and renamed Disabled Dependent Member Questionnaire and Medical Report Health Eligibility Requirements Updated Notification of Deletion of 26-Year-Old Dependents	Apr 2022 (PDF)

State Reference Guide

Chapter/Summary	Revision Date
Introduction Added PEPRA information to service retirement topic	Jul 2017 (PDF)
General Membership Information Extensive updates to Optional Members of CalPERS, Minor updates to Reciprocity Requirements and Notifying CalPERS When the Member Changes Retirement Systems topics	Apr 2022 (PDF)
CSU-Only Membership Updates to the General Information for All Reporting Methods section	Apr 2021 (PDF)
Pay Rate & Service Credit Updated compensation limits with payroll record end date information	Jan 2023 (PDF)
Pay Rate & Service Credit Updated compensation limits with payroll record end date information	Aug 2022 (PDF)
Benefits Procedures Updated deductions after retirement and completing the tax withholding election for survivor benefits topics	Oct 2022 (PDF)
Web Services & Publications Updated Subscription Services	Nov 2017 (PDF)
Education & Other Resources Added new educational resources	Sep 2018 (PDF)
Appendix Removed outdated forms	Sep 2013

Policies & Procedures

Resources

Forms & Publications

Is the employer required to provide CalPERS with the original agreement?
An original or certified copy of the agreement is acceptable. If the employer wishes to have an original signed copy of the agreement, it should send two copies with original signatures to CalPERS. After approval, CalPERS will sign both copies and return one to the employer.