ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Your Rights as a Plan Member

As a participant in Valassis benefit plans, you are entitled to certain rights and protections under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). ERISA provides that all plan participants are entitled to:

• Receive Information About Your Plan and Benefits

  • Examine, without charge, at the plan administrator’s office and at other specified locations, all documents governing a plan, including insurance contracts and a copy of the latest annual report (Form 5500 Series) filed by the plan with the U.S. Department of Labor and available at the Public Disclosure Room of the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

  • Obtain, upon written request to the plan administrator, copies of documents governing the operation of a plan, including insurance contracts and copies of the latest annual report (Form 5500 Series) and an updated summary plan description. The administrator may charge a reasonable fee for the copies.

  • Receive a summary of a plan’s annual financial report. The plan administrator is required by law to furnish each participant with a copy of this summary annual report.

• Continue Group Health Plan Coverage
  
  
  • Continue health care coverage for yourself, spouse or dependents if there is a loss of coverage under the plan as a result of a qualifying event. You or your dependents may have to pay for such coverage. Review this summary plan description and the documents governing the plan regarding the rules governing your COBRA Continuation Coverage Rights.
    
    
  • Reduction or elimination of exclusionary periods of coverage for preexisting conditions under your group health plan, if you have creditable coverage from another plan. You should be provided a certificate of creditable coverage, free of charge, from your group health plan or health insurance issuer when:
    • You lose coverage under the plan,
    • You become entitled to elect COBRA continuation coverage, or
    • Your COBRA continuation coverage ceases

  
  
  You must request it before losing coverage, or up to 24 months after losing coverage. Without evidence of creditable coverage, you may be subject to a preexisting condition exclusion for 12 months (18 months for late enrollees) after your enrollment date in your new coverage.
  
  Every effort will be made to provide any requested document or report within 30 days after it is requested. You will be notified if more time is required to comply with your request.

• Prudent Actions by Plan Fiduciaries
  In addition to creating rights for plan participants, ERISA imposes duties upon the people responsible for the operation of an employee benefit plan. The people who operate your plan, called the fiduciaries of the plan, have a duty to do so prudently and in the interest of you and other plan participants and beneficiaries. No one, including Valassis or any other person, may fire you or otherwise discriminate against you in any way to prevent you from obtaining a welfare benefit or exercising your rights under ERISA.

• Enforce Your Rights
  If your claim for a welfare benefit is denied or ignored, in whole or in part, you have a right to know why this was done, to obtain copies of documents relating to the decision without charge and to appeal any denial, all within certain time schedules.
  
  Under ERISA, there are steps you can take to enforce the above rights. For instance, if you request a copy of plan documents or the latest annual report and do not receive them within 30 days, you may file suit in a federal court. In such a case, the court may require the plan administrator to provide the materials and pay you up to $110 per day until you receive the materials, unless the materials were not sent because of reasons beyond the control of the administrator.
  
  If you have a claim for benefits which is denied or ignored, in whole or in part, you may file suit in a state or federal court. In addition, if you disagree with the plan’s decision, or lack thereof, concerning the qualified status of a domestic relations order or a medical child support order, you may file suit in federal court. If it should happen that plan fiduciaries misuse the plan’s money, or if you are discriminated against for asserting your rights, you may seek assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor, or you may file suit in a federal court. The court will decide who should pay court costs and legal fees. If you are successful, the court may order the person you have sued to pay these costs and fees. If you lose, the court may order you to pay these costs and fees—if, for example, it finds your claim is frivolous.
  

• Assistance with Your Questions
  If you have any questions about your benefit plans, you should contact the plan administrator. If you have any questions about this statement or about your rights under ERISA, or if you need assistance in obtaining documents from the plan administrator, you should contact the nearest office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, listed in your telephone directory, or the Division of Technical Assistance and Inquiries, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.
  
  You may also obtain certain publications about your rights and responsibilities under ERISA by calling the publications hotline of the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

	Plan Administration Qualified Medical Child Support Order Continuation of Coverage Your Rights as a Plan Member Filing a Claim Other Information Numbers, Addresses & Links

Summary Plan Description
The Valassis Benefits Handbook serves as the Summary Plan Description for most benefits. A 2008 handbook will be issued soon.