IUPUI: Human Resources Policies

Staff covered by this policy	This policy applies to all appointed staff on full-time appointment for nine or more months per year.
Effective date of coverage	Staff who enroll within 60 days of their appointment are covered from the date of their eligible appointment. Staff who do not enroll within 60 days of their eligible appointment, and who wish to participate in an IU-sponsored health care plan, must wait to enroll during the open enrollment period. In this case, coverage begins on January 1 of the next plan year.
Dental care	Dental care provisions are an add-on option to medical plans. Staff may enroll for dental coverage at two times: at initial enrollment in a medical plan or during open enrollment. If the dental option is not exercised at the time of health care enrollment, the option may not be exercised again until the next open enrollment date following a 12-month waiting period
Changes in plans and coverage	Staff may generally change health care plans during open enrollment only. In the case of an IRS-defined qualifying event, an employee may change the level of coverage only. Such changes are retroactive to the date of event, provided the employee requests a change within 60 days of the qualifying event. Examples of a qualifying event include: marriage, divorce, death, birth, change in a spouse’s employment status, and establishment or end of a same-sex domestic partnership as qualified by the university’s Affidavit of Domestic Partnership. Qualifying event changes must be made within 30 days of the event. After that time, changes must wait until the next open enrollment period. When a dependent becomes ineligible for coverage, participation in the plan ends on the date of becoming ineligible regardless of when the university is notified.
Termination of health care coverage	Health care coverage generally terminates on the last day of the month in which the employee terminates from the university. See the exception that follows. Under certain circumstances, the university continues to make its contribution to health care benefit plan premiums for an additional four months. These circumstances include termination due to: Permanent reduction in force. Medical reasons related to an employee’s illness, injury, or pregnancy that prevent the employee from performing the functions of his or her job. To be eligible, an employee must elect continuation of coverage under COBRA provisions. (See the section titled “COBRA provisions” below for details.) Under the above circumstances, the university will continue to contribute its share of the premium for four months and arrange for the employee to pay his or her portion. At the end of the four-month period, the employee may choose to continue coverage for the remainder of the COBRA eligibility period; to do so, the employee pays the entire premium.
Coverage during leave of absence	Staff who are on a leave of absence may continue participating in a medical and dental plan. However, they must continue paying their share of the required premium.
COBRA provisions	Public Law 99-272, Title X (COBRA), provides employees and their dependents rights to continuation coverage after their eligibility ends. It is the policy of Indiana University to voluntarily apply COBRA provisions to same-sex domestic partners as qualified by the university’s Affidavit of Domestic Partnership. The following are general guidelines of COBRA provisions. Enrolled employees, their spouse or same-sex domestic partner, and qualified dependents—who lose membership for reasons other than gross misconduct—may choose to continue their membership in a group plan. To continue, the member must pay 102% (150% in the case of disability) of the full monthly premium for one of the following time periods. Up to 18 months. Staff and eligible dependents may continue participation for up to 18 months after loss of their membership, if the loss is due to termination of employment, a reduction of FTE appointment, or a layoff. If an employee or a covered dependent becomes disabled under the Social Security Act within 60 days after the date of termination, then staff may extend COBRA coverage to a total of 29 months. To do so, staff must notify Human Resources’ Benefits Office within 60 days. Up to 36 months. Staff and eligible dependents may continue participation for up to 36 months after loss of their membership, if the loss is due to the employee’s death, enrollment in Medicare, divorce, legal separation, end of the same-sex domestic partnership, or a dependent ceases to be a dependent under a plan. Staff or a dependent must notify Human Resources’ Benefits Office within 60 days of an event that causes a loss of coverage. The plan administrator will then notify the covered individuals of their rights to continuation coverage. Individuals have at least 60 days from the date when coverage ends to inform the plan administrator of their decision to continue coverage. Termination of COBRA continuation coverage Continuation coverage may be cut short for any of the following reasons: IU no longer provides group health coverage to any of its employees. An employee does not pay premiums on time. An employee is covered under another group health plan that does not contain a limitation for preexisting conditions. An employee becomes entitled to Medicare after electing COBRA. An employee extends coverage for up to 29 months due to a disability under Social Security, and it is determined that the employee is no longer disabled.
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