Faculty, staff, retirees and benefits-eligible graduate students may change their benefits during once-a-year Open Enrollment from Oct. 18 through 5 p.m. Oct. 29.
MORE INFORMATION
- Open Enrollment website
- For answers to benefits questions, call the Shared Services Center at 734-615-2000 or 866-647-7657 (toll free), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Changes can be made to health, dental, vision and legal plan enrollments. Faculty and staff also may add eligible dependents and enroll in a flexible spending account.
Benefits changes and new rates will take effect Jan. 1, 2022.
Faculty and staff will have a one-time opportunity to enroll in the university’s Optional Life Insurance plan or increase their coverage level during this year’s Open Enrollment without having to provide a health statement of insurability for limited coverage increases.
Life insurance is usually not included in the annual Open Enrollment. Eligible faculty and staff can enroll at any time after completion of a health statement, subject to approval by MetLife, the plan administrator.
Under the Optional Life plan, an employee can choose coverage in flat amounts of $5,000 or $50,000, or choose salary-based coverage by selecting a multiple of one to eight times the employee’s annual salary for coverage up to the plan maximum of $1.5 million.
Special allowances for Optional Life Insurance
During Open Enrollment, eligible employees will not need to provide a health statement to:
- Newly enroll in the plan and elect $5,000 or $50,000 flat coverage or the one-times-salary plan.
- Increase their existing salary-based coverage by one level. For example, if an employee’s current enrollment is for two times their salary, the employee may enroll in three-times-salary coverage during Open Enrollment without submitting a health statement.
The employee pays the cost for Optional Life coverage. The rate depends on the coverage selected and the employee’s age, smoking status and salary. Plan details and access to a rate calculator are available at hr.umich.edu/optional-life-insurance. New enrollment in the plan or coverage increases will take effect Jan. 1, 2022.
No action required, except for Flexible Spending Accounts
No action is required during Open Enrollment for faculty, staff and retirees to keep their current benefits, except for flexible spending accounts. There are two types of FSAs, pre-tax accounts used to pay for qualified health care expenses or child day care expenses.
The Internal Revenue Service regulates FSAs. Unlike other benefits, the IRS rules do not allow FSA enrollments to continue from one year to the next. Employees who wish to participate in an FSA for 2022 will need to enroll.
Review benefits plans, options and rates
Rates for 2022 benefits will be available through Wolverine Access by Aug. 16. Benefits plan information is available at hr.umich.edu/benefits-wellness.
Enroll or make changes online
Faculty, staff and benefits-eligible graduate students can make benefits changes online from Oct. 18 through 5 p.m. Oct. 29. Visit hr.umich.edu/open-enrollment for more information.
The Benefits Office will mail books to retirees in mid-September. Retirees may make changes online or complete and return the enrollment form included in the Open Enrollment book.
Forms must be returned by fax or mail and received or postmarked by Oct. 29. For answers to benefits questions, call the Shared Services Center at 734-615-2000 or 866-647-7657 (toll free), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
