New Team Members
As a new hire, your benefits coverage begins the first day of the month following your start date. You have 30 days from your start date to enroll in benefits using the Lawson Portal and provide documentation for dependent eligibility verification if you have dependents to enroll. The only exception is retirement benefits, which you are eligible to enroll in your 401(k) retirement plan at any time.
Changes Due To Life Events
When you experience a qualified life event, you have 30 days from the date of the event to submit changes to your benefits, as well as supporting documentation. You will need to use the Lawson Portal to submit the benefit changes and provide documentation for verification. If you miss the 30-day deadline, you will need to wait until the annual open enrollment period, which occurs in late fall, or experience another qualifying life event to make changes. Benefit changes must be consistent with the eligible life event. All rate changes will take effect on the first of the month following the event except for birth life events.
Based on IRS rules, you can generally make changes during the year only if you have a qualifying change in your family or employment status.
This includes:
- Marriage, legal separation, divorce or annulment for you or an eligible child.
- Death of your spouse, your eligible child’s spouse or your eligible child.
- Birth, adoption or placement for adoption.
- Change in work status for you, your spouse, your eligible child or your eligible child’s spouse, e.g., full-time to part-time, when the change affects medical or dental eligibility.
- Loss of eligibility for your child because of marriage, exceeding the plan’s age eligibility limit or no longer being disabled and/or dependent on you for financial support.
- If your spouse, your eligible child or your eligible child’s spouse moves to an area where he/she is outside the service area for his/her employer’s plan, you may add yourself, your spouse and/or any eligible children previously covered under that plan to the UPH Plans.
- Change in day care providers, the hours for which care is needed, or the cost of day care.
- Change in other medical or dental coverage as a result of the annual enrollment for the employer of your spouse, eligible child, or your eligible child’s spouse occurring at a different time than UnityPoint Health’s.
- A significant change in the cost of medical, dental or vision coverage under a UPH Plan or a plan available through the employer of your spouse, your eligible child or your eligible child’s spouse.
- A significant change in the medical or dental coverage available through the employer of your spouse, your eligible child or your eligible child’s spouse.
- If you are enrolled in a UnityPoint Employee Health Plan and your hours are reduced from 30 or more per week to less than 30 hours per week yet you remain eligible for coverage, you can discontinue coverage for yourself and any enrolled dependents provided you intend to enroll yourself and those dependents in another plan that provides minimum essential coverage per the Affordable Care Act.
- If you are enrolled in a UnityPoint Employee Health Plan and you experience a significant change in the cost of this coverage due to a change in your regularly scheduled hours, you may change to a less expensive Plan option for yourself and any enrolled dependents.
Contact AskHR at (888) 543-2275 if you have questions regarding life events or any other benefits.