Open Enrollment

Open Enrollment & Eligibility

Employees hired on a full-time, regular basis become eligible for medical/dental benefits for themselves and their eligible dependents upon completion of thirty (30) consecutive calendar days of active service. Effective, January 1, 2014, part-time employees working 30 hours or more per week will fall within the mandate for employer-provided health coverage. Enrollment in Health/Dental insurance programs is optional. Employees may select from a choice of available plans. Before choosing a specific plan it is in the employee’s best interest to learn how the benefits differ and which policy best suits the employee’s specific needs. Each employee will be given an enrollment form during orientation. To enroll, the employee must complete and return the form(s) to the Human Resource Department by the date he or she is eligible to enroll.

Important Enrollment Details

If you fail to enroll during the 30-day eligibility period and experience no qualifying life event, you cannot enroll until the next annual open enrollment period. HACM employees will be notified directly of an upcoming open enrollment period before it begins.

Many events in your work or personal life can impact your benefits. Several of the benefit programs require that you enroll within a specified period of time. Employees have 30 days from the date of a qualifying life event to enroll or make changes in their health, dental, vision, and reimbursement accounts OR 30 days from their eligibility date to enroll in the health, dental, vision, and reimbursement accounts. Click on any of the links on the left for more information.

Qualifying Life Events: 30 Days

Certain events in your life can affect your HACM benefits coverage. If you experience a qualifying life event, you may make changes to some of your HACM benefits within 30 days of the event. Any changes you make must be consistent with your qualifying event, must be permitted by plan rules, and must be requested within 30 days of the event.

Qualifying events include, but are not limited to:

• Marriage or divorce,
• Birth or adoption (or placement for adoption) of a child or obtaining legal guardianship,
• Death of a covered dependent,
• Loss or gain of group insurance coverage for you or a covered dependent (coverage must not be a student or individual policy), and
• Change in health insurance eligibility for the employee or a family member due to a relocation of residence or work place.

If you experience qualifying life event, you have 30 days from the date of the event to request changes to your health, dental, vision, and reimbursement accounts via the HACM Enrollment Portal. Additionally, you will be required to provide documentation or written proof of the qualifying life event, such as a birth, marriage or death certificate, divorce decree, or letter from an employer indicating the loss or gain of coverage. Additional types of documentation may be deemed acceptable – consult the HACM Human Resource Center via email at askhr@hacm.org or by phone at 414-286-8500 for details. If the 30 day deadline is missed, you will need to wait until HACM's next open enrollment period to make changes to your health, dental, vision, and reimbursement accounts.

Please contact the HACM Human Resource Center by phone at 414-286-8500 for additional information or assistance.

Newly Eligible: 30 Days

Your first opportunity to enroll in benefits is during your first 30 days of eligibility. For many, the eligibility date is their date of employment, which is usually the first day at work, or it is the date of transfer into a benefits eligible position. During this 30 day time period, you should decide on your health*, dental and vision insurance and whether to enroll in the reimbursement accounts. If you miss this deadline, then your next opportunity to enroll or make changes to your health, dental, vision, and reimbursement accounts is during the annual open enrollment period. The only other time you can make changes to these plans is if you experience a qualifying life event.

Also, within 30 days of your eligibility date, you need to make decisions on Supplemental Life Insurance, Voluntary Short-Term Disability Insurance, and Voluntary Long-Term Disability Insurance. If you miss the deadline, you must provide evidence of insurable enrollment in these plans.
You may enroll in the 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan at anytime.