U.S. - BENEFITS Changing Your Benefits Selections During The Year

Contents

  • General
  • The list of Status Changes (change in family or work circumstances)
  • Guidelines for making benefit changes if more than 31 days has elapsed since the date of the Status Change
  • Adding a dependent (more than 31 days after the Status Change)
  • Dropping a dependent (more than 31 days after the Status Change)

General

Most of your benefits selections will remain in effect the entire plan year, January 1 through December 31. You may make certain changes in your coverage during the year, if you or a family member experiences a Status Change, as defined by the IRS.

If you experience a Status Change during the year and wish to make changes to your benefits as a result, you must contact HR Shared Services and make your selection within 31 days of the Status Change. HR Shared Services will initiate the Status Change in the Employee Self-Service that will allow you to go online to make your benefits changes. Be sure to print your Confirmation Statement as soon as you've enrolled so that your enrollment is complete. Printing a Confirmation Statement ensures that you have an official record of your benefits selections and costs.

Special note for Status Changes that occur during annual enrollment: If you need to change your benefits selections due to a Status Change that occurs after you've made your annual enrollment selections but before January 1st of the next plan year (i.e. if you've made your benefits 2011 annual enrollment selections, then have a Status Change before January 1, 2011), you'll need to contact HR Shared Services and advise them of the Status Change. Additionally, you'll need to re-enroll for benefits annual enrollment. A HR Shared Services representative will initiate the online process so that you can make the changes.

About Your Dependents' Enrollment: You must actively select the plan in which you want to enroll your new dependents. No one, including newborns, will automatically be added to your medical and/or dental/vision/hearing care plan, even if you're already enrolled for family coverage. Please note that dependent children over the age of 25, but under the age of 26, who have been added to your medical and/or dental/vision/hearing as of 01/01/2011 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are not eligible for dependent life insurance or AD&D coverage.

If you prefer you may request to make your selections by fax or mail. Contact HR Shared Services and they will send you a Personalized Enrollment Worksheet and an affidavit that must be completed and returned within 31 days of the Status Change.

You must be able to provide supporting documentation (such as a marriage or birth certificate or divorce decree) at such time as it may be requested by HR Shared Services for audit purposes.

YOU SHOULD COMPLETE YOUR BENEFIT CHANGES ON THE ESS TOOL AND SUBMIT ANY REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION TO HR Shared Services WITHIN 31 DAYS OF THE STATUS CHANGE. YOU'LL NEED TO PRINT A CONFIRMATION STATEMENT TO ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE AN OFFICIAL RECORD OF YOUR STATUS CHANGE BENEFIT SELECTIONS.

back to top

The list of Status Changes (change in family or work circumstances)

The list of Status Changes includes, but is not limited to:

  • Marriage,
  • Domestic partner relationship becoming qualified for eligibility and verified by HR Shared Services,
  • Divorce, annulment or legal separation,
  • Birth, adoption, placement for adoption or change in legal custody of a dependent child,
  • Disability of a spouse, enrolled domestic partner or dependent child,
  • Death of a spouse, enrolled domestic partner or dependent child,
  • Change in employment status affecting benefit eligibility for you, your spouse or enrolled domestic partner or dependent child (such as from or to part-time or full-time or a paid leave of absence),
  • Change in your spouse's, enrolled domestic partner's or dependent child's employment status affecting benefits eligibility (such as from or to part-time or full-time or a paid leave of absence),
  • Beginning or end of your spouse's or enrolled domestic partner's employment,
  • You, your spouse or enrolled domestic partner takes an unpaid leave of absence,
  • Relocations affecting a medical plan network availability,
  • Covered child's loss of dependent status,
  • Dependent child becomes eligible,
  • Termination of your relationship with an enrolled domestic partner,
  • Loss of spouse's or domestic partner's medical or dental, vision and hearing care coverage,
  • You, your spouse or enrolled domestic partner becomes eligible for Medicare or Medicaid,
  • Shift change,
  • Loss of other group health plan coverage (for the employee who declined coverage due to having other coverage but not due to failure to pay premiums on a timely basis, voluntary disenrollment or termination for cause),
  • Loss of employer contribution toward other group health plan coverage (for the employee who declined coverage due to having other coverage),
  • Loss of other group health plan coverage when the other coverage was COBRA and the maximum COBRA coverage period ends,
  • Benefits plan year of a spouse's or domestic partner's plan differs from Nortel's plan year,

The benefit selections you may make must be consistent with the Status Change. For example, if you have a baby, you may add coverage for the child under your Medical and Dental/Vision/Hearing Care options, select Optional Dependent Group Term Life Insurance for your child, increase your Optional Employee Group Term Life Insurance and/or change your contribution to your Health Care and/or Dependent Day Care Reimbursement Accounts.

back to top

Guidelines for making benefit changes if more than 31 days has elapsed since the date of the Status Change

You may be allowed to make changes to your FLEX Benefits during the year if more than 31 days has elapsed since you (or a family member) experienced a Status Change. If your Status Change occurred more than 31 days ago, the only changes you will be allowed to make are to add a newly eligible dependent or drop an ineligible dependent and all the following criteria must be met:

  • You must contact HR Shared Services to initiate this Status Change
  • The Status Change must have occurred within the last 12 consecutive months.
  • The benefit change must be made within the plan year (January 1 - December 31) in which the end of the 31-day election period occurred.
  • You must complete the benefit changes using the ESS Tool or submit your changes and the required supporting documentation to HR Shared Services.

The changes you are allowed to make to your benefits will be limited as follows:

Adding a Dependent (more than 31 days after the Status Change):

  • You may add your dependent to your current medical and/or dental/vision/ hearing care coverage only. No other changes to benefits selections are available outside the 31-day enrollment period.
  • You may not change the medical and/or dental/vision/hearing care options in which you are currently enrolled until the next annual enrollment period or if you experience another Status Change. For example, if you're enrolled in the CIGNA 80/60 PPO medical plan option, you must stay in the CIGNA 80/60 PPO Medical Plan option.
  • The effective date of coverage for your dependent(s) will be the date that you complete your selections using the ESS Tool, or the date that HR Shared Services receives your selections and the required supporting documentation. Coverage back to the date of the Status Change will not be permitted.

Dropping a Dependent (more than 31 days after the Status Change):

  • You may drop coverage for the dependent under medical, dental/vision/ hearing care, dependent life insurance and AD&D insurance. No other changes to benefits selections are available outside the 31-day enrollment period.
  • The health (medical and dental/vision/hearing care) benefits end date for the dependent whose eligibility has ended will be the end of the month in which the event occurred. Life and AD&D insurance terminates the date of the Status Change. There will be no reimbursement of premiums paid for periods prior to notification of the Status Change. This is due to the fact that the Internal Revenue Code Section 125, which governs our benefits Program, does not allow any retroactive adjustments to pre-tax insurance premiums.
  • COBRA continuation coverage will not be offered to the dependent being dropped from coverage when notification is made more than 60 days after the date of the Status Change.

If you wish to make changes to your disability coverage (short-term and/or long-term), reimbursement accounts (health care and/or dependent day care), life insurance and AD&D insurance, you must wait until the next annual enrollment period or your next Status Change (whichever occurs first), as changes to these benefits are not permissible after 31 days from the Status Change.