Benefit Changes - Qualifying Life Events
Changes to Benefit Enrollment
Under certain circumstances, employees may be allowed to make changes to benefit elections during the plan year, if the event affects the employee, spouse or dependent(s) coverage eligibility. Premiums for medical, dental, vision insurance and/or certain supplemental policies and contributions to Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) are deducted through a Cafeteria Plan established under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and are pre-tax to the extent permitted. Under Section 125, changes to an employee’s pre-tax benefits can be made ONLY during the Open Enrollment period, unless the employee or qualified dependents experience a life event and the request to make a change is made within 30 days of the life event. An “eligible” life event is determined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code, Section 125. And any requested changes must be consistent with and on account of that life event.
Examples of eligible Life Events:
Employee gets married or divorced
Birth of a child
Employee gains legal custody or adopts a child
Employee’s spouse and/or other dependent(s) die(s)
An increase or decrease in employee's work hours causes eligibility or ineligibility
A covered dependent no longer meets eligibility criteria for coverage
A child gains or loses coverage with an ex-spouse
Change of coverage under a spouse’s or dependent child’s employer’s group plan
Gain or loss of Medicare coverage
Becoming eligible for or losing eligibility for coverage under a State Medicaid or CHIP (including Florida Kid Care) program (60-day notification period)
Please Note: Purchasing or dropping an individual policy for the employee or employee’s dependent IS NOT a life event and does not permit adding or dropping coverage for employee or employee’s dependent from the MCSD group health plan outside of Open Enrollment. Life events only allow employees to make changes to who is covered under the plans and does not constitute changes to plan type.
Job Transfers/Change to Work Hours
Some job changes or bargaining unit changes result in gain, loss or change in insurance eligibility. It is the employee’s responsibility to contact the Risk & Benefits Department if they experience a job transfer or change in work hours to discuss how this may impact benefit eligibility. The Risk & Employee Benefits Department can be reached Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 772.219.1200 x 30206. Please check your employee payroll stub following a job change to ensure payroll deductions continue without interruption. The employee is responsible for any missed deductions.
How to Enter a Qualifying Life Event in Bentek
Entering a Life Event is a two-step process:
Proper documentation that outlines the validity of the life event must be provided to the Risk & Employee Benefits Department within 30 days of the life event date.
Documentation can be uploaded directly into Bentek from the Bentek employee dashboard.
Contact Pam Kimberlin at kimberp@martinschools.org or 772.219.1200 x 30247 for information on which documents are accepted based on the type of life event.
A life event must be entered by the employee into Bentek. To do so,
Log into Bentek
Click the Life Event icon from the Bentek employee dashboard
Click the +Life Event hyperlink in the right corner of the blue box
Select the life event type card that represents the most applicable reason for the eligible life event
Enter the life event date and click Start
Move through the module to make the changes needed. Please note, if already insured by MCSD, life events only allow employees to make changes to who is covered under the plans and does not constitute changes to plan type.
All qualifying life events must be entered in Bentek and proper documentation provided to the Risk & Employee Benefits Department no later than 30 days following the event date. Please contact the Risk & Employee Benefits Department at 772.219.1200 x 30206 from Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
