thinking about retirement health insurance?. state and public school retirement health insurance is...
TRANSCRIPT
THINKING ABOUT RETIREMENT HEALTH
INSURANCE?
WHO DO I CONTACT?WHERE DO I GO TO ENROLL?
State and Public School Retirement Health Insurance is administered by Employee Benefits Division (EBD).
PO Box 15610501 Woodlane, Suite 500Little Rock, AR 72231
(501) 682-9656Toll Free (877) 815-1017
Fax (501) 682-1168
OPTIONS
A – Health & Life Continuation Under Retirement System
B – Waiver of Enrollment C – COBRA Continuation Only D – COBRA Until Retirement Benefits Begin E – COBRA When Retirement Benefits Are
Available
ELIGIBILITY
Do you meet these eligibility requirements? Were you covered by the State & Public School
Health Plan on your last day of employment? Are you eligible to begin drawing a retirement
annuity check from one of the following retirement agencies?
Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System (APERS) Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (ATRS) Arkansas State Highway Employee Retirement System Arkansas Judicial Retirement System Alternate retirement plan such as VALIC
WHAT IF I AM NOT ELIGIBLE TO DRAW A RETIREMENT ANNUITY AT THIS TIME.
You have the option to continue your current health insurance by enrolling in COBRA for 18-months.
If you become eligible to draw your annuity during this 18-month period, you have 30-days to enroll in the retiree group health plan.
You can enroll in the retiree group health plan when you do become eligible if requested within 30-days of eligibility.
RECIPROCITY SERVICE
An employee with five (5) accredited years as a state employee AND five (5) years accredited years as a public school employee (A participating member under both APERS and ATRS, and drawing a retirement annuity from each) may choose to enroll in either the ASE or PSE retiree health plan.
A member who does not have five (5) years under either system, but has enough time between the two systems to be eligible for reciprocity service will enroll in the retiree health plan under their last retirement agency group.
ENROLLMENT PERIOD
You have a 31 day enrollment period from the date your active health coverage ends to waive coverage or enroll in the Retirement Health Plan. Failure to act within this 31 day window will result in losing your eligibility to enroll in the plan. This decision is FINAL.
WHAT FORMS DO I NEED TO COMPLETE?
An Election Form is required if you wish to enroll in the retiree health insurance.
A Bank Draft Authorization Form if your retirement annuity is not large enough for your health premium deduction.
A Waiver of Enrollment (WOE) if you wish to decline coverage at this time for you and/or your dependents. This form is included in your COBRA package and on the Election form.
All forms must be sent to EBD.
ELECTION FORM
If you wish to continue your health insurance into retirement, you must complete an Election Form and send to EBD within 31 days of your loss of coverage as an active employee. This form gives us the authorization to enroll you in our retirement health plan and to notify your Retirement Agency to begin deducting premiums.
BANK DRAFT AUTHORIZATION FORM
You will need to complete a Bank Draft Authorization Form and return it to EBD along with your Election Form if your retirement annuity check is not large enough to deduct your retirement health premium.
Drafts are processed on the 7th of each month.
You must complete a Waiver of Enrollment Form or an Election Form waiving coverage and submit to Employee Benefits Division within the 31-day enrollment period for retirement health insurance if at the time of retirement you are going to enroll in your spouse’s group health coverage or you are going to be actively employed and enrolled in your employer’s group health plan. This gives you the right to enroll in retirement health at a later date when you lose this coverage.
WAIVER OF ENROLLMENT FORM
WAIVER OF ENROLLMENT
You do NOT need to waive coverage if you are going from active coverage to COBRA and then to retiree health insurance without a break in service.
DO I NEED TO COMPLETE A WAIVER OF ENROLLMENT ON MY DEPENDENTS?
Yes. If your family members experience a qualifying event at a later date, and you wish to enroll them on your retirement group health plan, you must waive coverage and it must be on file at Employee Benefits Division for your dependents as well as yourself.
WHAT IF I DO NOT COMPLETE THESE FORMS WITHIN THE 31 DAY ELECTION
PERIOD?
If you do not complete either an Election Form or waive coverage during the 31-day election period, then the decision is FINAL and you will no longer be eligible to enroll in the retiree group health plan.
HOW DO I PAY MY PREMIUMS?
The Arkansas Legislative Code states that if your retirement annuity is large enough, your premium must be deducted monthly from your annuity.
If you annuity is not large enough for your premium deduction, then you are required to have your monthly premium bank drafted from your personal bank account.
WHAT IF I BECOME MEDICARE ELIGIBLE?
When you receive your Medicare card you need to send EBD a copy. Your premium will be adjusted as soon as verified by CMS
Public School Retirees will lose their pharmacy benefits when they become Medicare eligible and will need to enroll in a Medicare Part D plan for pharmacy coverage.
MEDICARE ELIGIBLE - continued
Retirees who are eligible for Medicare must carry Part B (physician) along with Part A. If you do not have Medicare Part B, the plan will pay as though the member does have Part B and the member will have full responsibility for claims incurred.
DO I HAVE TO KEEP THIS COVERAGE WHEN I BECOME MEDICARE ELIGIBLE?
You are not required to remain on our plan. However, you need to be aware of the coverage that we provide to our Medicare eligible retirees.
1. We cover your Part A & Part B Medicare deductibles.
2. We cover the 20% not paid by Medicare if it is a covered benefit under our plan.
MEDICARE - continued
3. If you have a claim that is not covered by Medicare and it is covered under our plan, we will pay the claim according to our
deductible and coinsurance schedule (typically 80% co-insurance).
4. If you decide to leave our plan and enroll in a Medicare supplemental plan, you will NOT be eligible to come back to our plan
if you are not satisfied with your new plan. Your decision is final.
IF I SHOULD DIE, CAN MY DEPENDENTS CONTINUE THIS COVERAGE?
If a retiree dies and has covered dependents at the time of death, the dependents have the right to continue coverage under the Plan.
A surviving spouse, or collateral dependent, may
continue coverage under the Plan indefinitely as long as premiums are paid timely.
A surviving spouse can never add a dependent to their coverage, unless the surviving spouse is pregnant at the time the covered retiree dies.
SURVIVING DEPENDENTS - continued
Dependent children may be covered until the maximum age limit for a dependent child has been reached.
Once a dependent child experiences a loss of dependent eligibility event, they can continue the coverage under COBRA for an additional 36-month period.
If a surviving spouse or dependent declines coverage or cancels existing coverage, then the surviving spouse or dependent has no further privileges under the plan.
CAN I CONTINUE MY LIFE INSURANCE UNDER RETIREMENT?
If you are a retiree, you will need to contact Minnesota Life Insurance Company directly at 1-800-843-8358. Forms are available on the Employee Benefits Division web site.
VOLUNTARY PRODUCTS
If you have other voluntary benefits such as a cancer policy, additional life coverage, dental, long-term care coverage, etc, you need to contact those vendors directly if you wish to continue coverage into retirement.
SOURCE OF INFORMATION
Your Quarterly EBD Buzz contains information about your health plan. This is our method of reaching each of our members and informing them of any changes in the plan, benefits or new rates for the new plan year.
Stay on top of new legislation. We administer our plan according to Legislative Code.
Call EBD with any questions/concerns.
EBD MAILING & PHYSICAL ADDRESS
General Benefit Information & Assistance
Mailing Address: PO Box 15610
Little Rock, AR 72231-5610
Physical Address:501 Woodlane Street, Suite 500
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: (1-877) 815-1017“Just Press One”
