Your Benefits Explained: Understanding Benefit Change Requests after a Qualifying Life Event
Welcome to Your Benefits Explained, a monthly series where our benefits experts take a deeper dive into common questions–and share insights to help you make the most of your benefits. This month we are covering Benefit Change Requests after a Qualifying Life Event and what you need to know to update your coverage.
Understanding Benefit Change Requests after a Qualifying Life Event
Faculty and staff may enroll in or change most of their benefit elections during the annual Open Enrollment period. Outside of Open Enrollment, you may be eligible to change your benefits if you or a family member experiences a Qualifying Life Event.
A Qualifying Life Event is a change in your situation — such as getting married, having a baby, or losing health coverage — that makes you eligible for a Special Enrollment Period, allowing you to enroll in health insurance, or certain other benefits, outside the yearly Open Enrollment Period. The nature of the Qualifying Life Event must align with the change being requested. A list of Qualifying Life Events that may allow you to modify your medical, dental, vision, flexible spending account (FSA), life insurance, and long term disability buy-up coverage is available on the Benefits website.
To update your benefits due to a Qualifying Life Event, you must submit the request to your benefits elections in myHR and upload all required documentation, within 31 days of the event. See the Benefits Enrollment Guide for step-by-step instructions.
When adding a new dependent to health insurance, you must provide proof of dependency. Coverage for a new dependent is effective on the date of the event, such as the date of birth, adoption, or marriage. When removing a dependent or dropping coverage, coverage will end at the end of the month in which the Qualifying Life Event occurred.
Coverage changes will not be active with the insurance administrator until Benefits has received and processed your online request, supporting documentation substantiating the event (marriage license, birth certificate, etc.), and required proof of dependency documentation.
In some cases, such as when your dependent turns 26, no action will be required. Your dependent’s coverage will end at the end of the month when they turn 26. In other cases, such as divorce, you are required to act to remove your former spouse from coverage within 31 days of the event.
You may enroll in or modify certain benefits throughout the year, which do not require a Qualifying Life Event such as 403(b) Retirement Savings Plans, Commuter, Health Savings Accounts (HSA), PerkSpot, Pet Insurance, and Tuition Benefits.