On behalf of the Office of Employee Benefits, welcome to the University of Texas System!
We're delighted that you've joined the UT System community. We'd like to introduce
ourselves and share some information about the UT Benefits Program.
During this video, we'll provide an overview of the program and discuss plan administration,
eligibility for insurance, and enrollment periods. We'll also let you know a little
bit about the benefits available to you and where you can find more information about
the UT Benefits program.
UT System includes 14 academic and health institutions located throughout the state
of Texas, as well as the System Administration offices located in Austin.
The Uniform Group Insurance Program, also known as UT Benefits, serves all of these
institutions and operates under the authority of the Texas Legislature. Chapter 1601 of
the Texas Insurance Code (known as the State University Employees Uniform Insurance Benefits
Act) establishes the requirements and eligibility criteria for the program. Your institution
may also offer some unique benefits outside of this program that your HR or Benefits office
can tell you more about.
The UT Benefits program is administered by the UT System Office of Employee Benefits
(also known as OEB) under the direction of the Board of Regents and Chancellor.
As part of our UT community, you're very important to all of us at OEB. That's why
we're pleased to offer a dynamic and flexible package of valuable benefits to you and your
eligible dependents. Currently, close to 240,000 Employees, Retirees,
and eligible family members participate in the UT Benefits program.
In overseeing the program, OEB is responsible for the administration of contracts for the
group insurance plan, voluntary retirement, system-wide wellness programs, for the benefits
plan design, and for managing the selection of vendors through a competitive bid process.
OEB receives regular feedback about the UT Benefits program from a System-wide committee
formed for this purpose. Working within the limits of the market and regulations, OEB
considers the unique needs of all UT System Employees, Retirees, and their dependents.
Our goal is always to maximize the benefits and services offered.
To be eligible to enroll in insurance coverage, you must meet specific criteria.
To participate in the UT Benefits Plan as a full-time employee:
You must work at least 40 hours per week or have a full-time appointment.
A UT Institution may also designate an employee who is expected to work at least 30 hours
per week as full-time. Please contact your institution's HR or Benefits office for
additional details.
To participate in the UT Benefits Plan as a part-time employee you must work at least
20 hours per week. In addition to the number of hours an employee
is scheduled to work per week, both full-time and part-time employees must…
Have an appointment expected to continue for at least 4 ½ months, and
Be eligible to participate in Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), Optional Retirement
Program of Texas (ORP), or Employee Retirement System of Texas (ERS), and
Certain other employees and post-doctoral fellows who do not meet these requirements
may also qualify to participate in the UT Benefits program. To confirm your eligibility
for insurance benefits, it's best to speak with your institution's HR or Benefits office.
You may also choose to enroll your eligible dependents in certain insurance coverage.
In general, your spouse and dependent children under age 26 are eligible to participate in
the UT Benefits program. For a complete list of eligible dependents
and details about available coverage please review …
… the 2017-2018 UT Benefits Enrollment Guide for Employees or visit the OEB website at
www.utsystem.edu/offices/employee-benefits. Under state and federal laws, you can make
elections for coverage in the UT Benefits program only during specific enrollment periods.
As a new employee, you have an initial enrollment period of 31 days from your date of hire to
elect benefits. Employees moving from a non-benefits eligible role to benefits-eligible position
will also have 31 days following their change in eligibility status to enroll in benefits.
Another opportunity to select coverage is during Annual Enrollment, which is an open
enrollment period each year, usually held from July 15th to July 31st. Elections made
during this time will become effective the upcoming September 1st (or later in some cases).
During the plan year, an employee or dependent may experience a Qualifying Change of Status
Event. Two common examples are getting married or having a baby. Employees have 31 days from
the date of a Qualifying Event to make related changes to their benefits.
To complete enrollment or confirm your benefits effective date, please contact your institution's
HR or Benefits office. Benefits-eligible employees are offered a
Basic Coverage Package which includes subscriber-only enrollment in the UT SELECT Medical and Prescription
Drug Plan, plus $40,000 of group term life, and $40,000 of Accidental Death & Dismemberment
(also known as AD&D) coverage. Dental, Vision, Voluntary Group Term Life,
Voluntary AD&D, Long- and Short-term Disability, and flexible spending accounts are also available.
To learn about these optional insurance coverages, please visit our OEB website for additional
information. We have publications and video resources available there for you.
Premium sharing funds, contributed by the State of Texas and your institution, help
cover the cost of the Basic Coverage package and a portion of dependent medical coverage.
The amount of Premium Sharing available depends on whether you work full-time or part-time.
If you're full-time, premium sharing covers 100% of the cost of your Basic Coverage package…
…and about 50% of the premium for your dependent's medical coverage.
If you're part-time and you elect to enroll in the UT SELECT Medical plan premium sharing
will cover 50% of the cost of your Basic Coverage package and about 25% of the premium for your
dependent's medical coverage. Please Note: Employees and dependents who
are receiving premium sharing as a participant in another state-sponsored medical plan in
Texas are not eligible to receive premium sharing for the UT Benefits program.
If you have other medical coverage not sponsored by the State of Texas, such as coverage through
your spouse's private sector employer, you may have the option to waive Basic Coverage.
And by waiving, you may receive a portion of the typical premium sharing to use toward
the purchase of certain optional insurance. A full-time employee who is waiving medical
coverage may receive premium sharing up to 50% of the cost of the Basic Package.
A part-time employee may receive up to 25% of the total cost of the Basic Package.
When waiving the Basic Package, premium sharing may be used toward the cost of purchasing
dental, vision, and Voluntary Accidental Death and Dismemberment (or AD&D) coverage – for
yourself and eligible dependents. Evidence of Insurability (also known as EOI)
is a record of your health history that's used by insurance companies to verify whether
you meet the definition of "good health." As a newly benefits-eligible employee, EOI
is required to enroll in Voluntary Group Term Life coverage greater than 3 times your annual
salary. In addition, EOI is required for your spouse if enrolling in additional Spouse Voluntary
Group Term Life insurance greater than $10,000. No EOI is required for enrollment in Short-
or Long-term Disability coverage as a newly benefits-eligible employee. If you don't
enroll in disability coverage during your initial period of eligibility, EOI may be
required to enroll later. UT System strives to promote a culture of
wellness and disease prevention. Because the use of tobacco is one of the leading preventable
health risks worldwide and because of the high costs of treating tobacco-related health
conditions, UT System implemented the Tobacco Premium Program for the UT SELECT Medical
plan. As part of the benefits enrollment process
you must declare whether you or any of your covered dependents use tobacco. A participant
in the UT SELECT Medical plan, aged 16 and above, who has used tobacco products within
the past sixty (60) days is considered to be a tobacco user.
The Tobacco Premium Program applies to all types of tobacco products, including, but
not limited to: cigarettes, cigars, pipes, clove cigarettes, and all forms of smokeless
tobacco. Other smoking devices that use tobacco and E-cigarettes (which contain nicotine)
are also included. An additional out-of-pocket premium of $30
per month applies for any tobacco user enrolled in the UT SELECT Medical plan, including yourself,
your spouse, and your dependent children. For dependent children, the premium is $30
per month regardless of how many covered children use tobacco. The maximum any family will pay
is $90 per month if subscriber, spouse, and any dependent children use tobacco.
UT System is committed to helping tobacco users quit by offering FREE resources such
as Tobacco Cessation Programs, prescription medications, and Nicotine Replacement Therapy
(NRT) through our UT SELECT Medical and Prescription plans as part of our Living Well worksite
health and wellness program. You can learn more about these resources on our Living Well
website at www.livingwell.utsystem.edu/tobacco.htm. To learn more about any of the insurance plans
offered through the UT Benefits program, please visit the Video Library on the Office of Employee
Benefits website at www.utsystem.edu/offices/employee-benefits. Detailed information about the UT Retirement
and Living Well programs is also available on our website.
The Office of Employee Benefits strives to offer high quality, competitive benefit programs
for UT System Employees and Retirees and their families. Our staff is here to help make it
a priority for you and your family to live well and to help you build a unique benefits
package that cares for you today, tomorrow, and beyond.
On behalf of The Office of Employee Benefits, we wish you a healthy and successful year
with the University of Texas System. Thank you!
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