Life Events and Your Benefits
What is a "life event?" A life event is a change in your work and/or personal life that may result in a change in the benefits in which you are enrolled, the level of coverage, etc. This article identifies life events and actions you should consider to ensure that your benefits meet your needs and the needs of your family.
What is considered a life event?
A life event is an occurrence that will most likely alter your life. Very often it involves a family status change. The following are examples of life events:
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Birth/adoption/legal guardianship of a child
- Dependent status change (dependent child reaches an age that limits benefits)
- Death of you, your spouse or dependent child
- Moving into or out of the city, county, state or country
- Increase or decrease in your employment or that of your spouse
- Change in position type from classified to unclassified or vice versa
- Domestic partnership initiation or termination
- Military leave of absence
- Layoff from job
- Return to work from leave or layoff
- Leave of absence (including family medical leave)
- Disability, either short or long-term
- Work injury
- Eligibility for Wisconsin Retirement System participation
- Termination and retirement
- Termination before retirement age
- Termination and application for disability
- Rehired annuitant
What should you do when a life event occurs?
It is important that you contact a benefit specialist in the Office of Human Resources (OHR) to discuss the impact of the event on all of your benefits. OHR is here to make certain that you make the best decisions on how to change or use your benefits when any of these life events occurs.
Time is of the essence - most changes to your benefits must be made within 30 days of the event and require completion of paperwork.
Benefit specialists in OHR work with employees, dependents and survivors when a life event occurs that affects them.
What changes might you want to make?
Life events may require many changes to your benefits. The following are examples you might want to consider when you have a life event change:
- Health Insurance
- Health insurance coverage change from single to family or family to single
- Add new dependent to coverage
- Remove a dependent from health insurance plan and apply for continuation benefits for dependent under COBRA
- Change health insurance primary care provider
- Health insurance enrollment if not enrolled
- Apply for COBRA continuation coverage at termination if not retiring
- Life Insurance
- Adding, dropping or changing spouse and/or dependent coverage on life insurance
- Continuation or conversion of life insurance at termination or retirement
- Excess Dental and Medical coverage
- Adding or dropping spouse and/or dependents from Excess Dental and Medical coverage
- Continue coverage at termination or retirement
- Employee Reimbursement Accounts (ERA)
- Enroll in ERA program
- Increase or decrease ERA contributions
- Prepay benefits during an unpaid leave of absence
- Apply for Income Continuation Insurance (ICI)
- Apply for Workers Compensation
- Apply for Wisconsin Retirement System disability
- Update beneficiary designations for life insurance plans, retirement account, and tax-shelter annuity/Deferred Compensation plans
- Increase tax-shelter annuity or Wisconsin Deferred Compensation contributions
- Domestic partner enrollment in university-sponsored plans
- Request sick leave usage for payment of health insurance at layoff
- Sick leave certification at time of termination if more than 20 years of WRS service
- Apply for Wisconsin Retirement System retirement, disability, separation or survivor benefits
- Change federal or state tax withholding
Questions?
Contact a Benefit Specialist in the OHR office at benefits@ohr.wisc.edu , or visit the EC&BS Web site at http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/ecbs/emp-info.html .