Common Questions
All things OE
Elections During OE
Life Insurance Scenarios
Health Savings Account (HSA)
100
What are the open enrollment dates?
October 4-18, 2017
100
I am a new hire that started 10/20/2017. Do I still get an Open Enrollment?
Yes, The Benefits Specialist will manually open the Open Enrollment event after the Nonagreement new hire elections are completed and they will receive an email stating they can now make their Open Enrollment elections.
100
What happens if an employee does not make a positive election during OE?
The employee will be defaulted into the same coverage they had the subsequent year, except for DCFSA, this requires a definitive election or the DCFSA election will default to $0.
100
True or False: Michelle would like to increase life insurance coverage for her spouse during OE. Her current salary is $125,000 and has life insurance for herself totaling $425k. Her spouse is currently covered at .5x her salary, or $63,000. She can elect to increase her spouse life insurance to 1.5x, or $188,000 without submitting a statement of health. (Explain)
True. If, during open enrollment, and employee elects to increase their voluntary spouse life insurance coverage, evidence of insurability will be required in order to increase such coverage by an amount that exceeds 1 times the employees basic annual earnings.
100
Why would someone get the error “employee is not enrolled in all required plans for Health Savings Account" when making elections.
You cannot be enrolled in a plan other than the HDHP plan and have an open HSA. If an employee receives one of these errors you will need to ensure that the start date of the HSA is effective at the same time the HDHP is effective, or make sure the HSA is delimited as of the date the HDHP plan terminates.
200
Joe reported that a child was born on 10/1/2017. OE for 2018 starts 10/4/2017. When accessing SAP to complete enrollment, which enrollment event should Joe complete first, the birth event or open enrollment?
The birth event should be completed first since enrollment is effective on the birth date, then the employee should be directed to review their OE elections effective for the first of the year. Employee with life events will also be sent a MetLife insurance paper enrollment form as this allows individuals to adjust their level of coverage more than the 2x normally allowed for OE (5x would be allow for someone who had a baby etc).
200
Do COBRA Participants get an Open Enrollment?
COBRA participants do have a separate Open Enrollment; dates for this open enrollment will be mailed from Payflex. COBRA participants are treated just like active employees in the fact that they can add/drop individuals from coverage without documentation.
200
When will employees receive insurance cards for their 2018 elections?
1-2 weeks after the Open Enrollment file is sent. This file will be sent the first week of December. Employees will not receive new medical cards if they did not make any changes to their benefit plans. (No cards for Vision or Dental)
200
True or False: Lisa currently has $200,000 worth of voluntary life insurance coverage, which is 5x her salary. During open enrollment, she wants to increase her coverage to 7x her salary. She will be required to submit a statement of health. (Explain)
False. If, during open enrollment, an Employee elects to increase his/her current Voluntary Employee Life Insurance coverage, evidence of insurability will be required in order to increase such coverage by an amount that exceeds 2 times the Employee’s Basic Annual Earnings.
200
What are the 2018 HSA IRS limit for individual and family?
$3,450 individual ($50 increase) and $6,900 family ($150 increase)
300
How are retirees notified about Open Enrollment and what changes can a retiree make during open enrollment?
Retirees are mailed a confirmation of their current elections and can call us to make insurance changes. Retirees do not have an open enrollment like active employees do. Keep in mind, retirees can always drop coverage at any time (Spouse/themselves: fill out the Retiree Cancel/Change Form; Dependent: no documentation required) and they can add an individual to their plan with a qualified life event.
300
When is open enrollment for life insurance and do elections roll-over to the next year?
Elections will roll-over to the next calendar year; however it is important to review your beneficiaries to ensure they are up-to-date. Open Enrollment for Life Insurance will be October 4-18th.
300
I just made my elections, what are the two ways I can see if my elections were saved successfully?
1. Click on the “Open Enrollment” link in My Benefits and go to the Review step and click save. “Print benefits confirmation summary” will be available under next steps. 2. Click on “Benefits Participation Overview” in My Benefits and put 1/1/2018 in the date field and it will display the employee’s elections as of 1/1/2018.
300
Tom has life insurance coverage, but wants to waive during open enrollment. What must Tom do to waive coverage?
Tom should drop life coverage while making his elections on MetLife’s website.
300
I enrolled in a family HDHP plan on 1/1/2017 and just opened my HSA account during Open Enrollment, how much seed money will I receive and when will my seed money be deposited into my HSA for 2017?
If the account is opened before payroll closes, then the seed money would be deposited at the End of October corresponding with payroll. The amount of seed money is based off the date of enrollment in the HDHP Medical Plan, so if in family HDHP the employee would have $2,100 (2017 amount) deposited.
400
My husband’s open enrollment is not until November. What would I need to do if I make my open enrollment elections in October and then we decide to go with my husband’s plan instead once we see his plan rates during his open enrollment?
Employee would need to report gaining coverage within 30 days of the life event date, and then provide proof of creditable coverage showing that the family will be covered effective 1/1/2017 on husband’s insurance plan within 45 days.
400
Which current employee populations out of Active, FMLA, Military, STD, LTD, Unpaid Leave with Continuing Benefits have access to make their open enrollment elections online (as opposed to being mailed a paper election form)?
Active - Online FMLA - Paper Military - Paper STD - Online LTD - Paper Unpaid Leave with continuing benefits - Paper
400
When will I receive my confirmation statement?
Confirmation Statements will be emailed to all Active EE's after the close of OE (Within a day or so after OE closes). Please encourage employees to save and review their confirmation summary after they complete their open enrollment elections, in case they have a discrepancy. Inactive employees will receive a confirmation from the Benefits Administration specialist if a change is made.
400
Barry currently has employee life insurance (core + voluntary) totaling $290k, and would like to elect life insurance for his spouse for the first time during OE. He can elect $120k worth of coverage for his spouse without providing a statement of health, since it doesn't exceed two times his salary ($60k). (Explain)
False. If an Employee does not elect Voluntary Spouse Life Insurance coverage when first eligible and instead initially elects Voluntary Spouse Life Insurance coverage during open enrollment, evidence of insurability will be required in order to receive such coverage in an amount exceeding $100,000.
400
What is the effective date of an HSA contribution change made during open enrollment?
January 1, 2018. If an employee is enrolled in a HDHP plan and would like to contribute before January 1, 2018 they can do so anytime in My Benefits under “Update HSA Amount”
500
How do you solve the error “User is already being processed by…”
Go to SAP>Employee>ePayroll>Unlock Personnel Number
500
When will the last active vendor file be shut off and the Open Enrollment file sent?
The last active file will be sent the first Monday of December, the Open Enrollment file will be sent after the last active file is sent. During the entire month of December all changes made to employee’s benefits per life events, new hires, terminations, etc. will be manually tracked and sent to the vendor.
500
If an employee drops a dependent during open enrollment will the dependent dropped be provided COBRA coverage?
No, COBRA does not have to be offered when an employee makes the choice to voluntarily drop their dependents during open enrollment as this is not a COBRA qualifying event set forth by the Department of Labor.
500
If my ex-spouse is still listed on my Life Insurance Policy, what do I do?
Obtain a copy of your divorce decree and call MetLife so they can ensure your ex-spouse is removed from life insurance and your listed dependents.
500
What are the three requirements to be eligible to receive HSA seed money and have seed money deposited into their HSA.
1. E – eSignature on file 2. Account open 3. Enrolled in a HDHP plan for one full month An employee must have an eSignature on file to begin the process of opening their HSA account. Once the eSignature is provided UP03 (HSA e-sig) is created under Infotype 0057 and the new account holder information is sent to Benefit Wallet (Daily) where they check to see if the HSA can be opened. If the account is opened, this account status is then sent back to Union Pacific where UP04 (HSA Account Status) is created under Infotype 0057 (Membership Fees). Once the employee has been enrolled for one entire month under a HDHP plan, the seed money will be deposited into their Benefit Wallet Account after payroll processes. Amount of seed money is based off the date of their enrollment in the HDHP Medical Plan.