5Enroll in Benefits
This chapter contains the following:
Overview of the Benefits Work Area
Participants enroll in benefits during open enrollment or when they have a qualifying life event. They can elect or change unrestricted enrollments at any time.
Participants can:
-
Compare current and potential benefits
-
Make selections
-
View and accept configured terms and conditions
-
Elect coverage for themselves and their dependents
-
Select primary care physicians for applicable plans
-
View and print a confirmation statement
-
Complete additional certification or designation action items specified on the confirmation statement
Participants elect benefits by clicking Me - Benefits.
How You Enroll in Benefits
The benefits enrollment process consists of three major steps, which participants should complete in the following order:
Open the self-service Benefits Service Center page by selecting Benefits under Me on the Navigator menu.
Add Contacts and Beneficiary Organizations
Before you start electing benefits, add or update all persons or organizations that you plan to designate as dependents or beneficiaries.
-
Add persons in the Contacts section.
-
Add beneficiary organizations or trusts in the Beneficiary Organizations section.
Provide all information required to determine the eligibility of each contact or organization. This ensures that the contacts and organizations are available for designation when you elect benefits.
Elect Benefits
Click Change Benefit Elections. This button is available only if an opportunity exists for you to make elections, such as:
-
During an open enrollment period
-
If you have a qualifying life event
Electing benefits involves:
-
Selecting benefits offerings
-
Designating beneficiaries and dependents as appropriate for each offering
Additional information, such as a contribution or investment amount, might be required, depending on the offering type.
When you finish making elections, you can review the information and make changes before submitting.
Review and Resolve Action Items
After submitting your elections, carefully review the Pending Action Items section to determine if you must:
-
Provide any additional information, such as proof of good health or other documents or certifications
-
Select a primary care physician
Examples of Entering Contact Start Date for Benefits Designation Purposes
This topic provides examples to help you decide the best effective start date to use so that you and your dependents qualify for benefits.
-
The first two examples relate to dependents:
-
Adding your newborn
-
Updating a contact relationship
-
-
The final example relates to updating the effective start date because of an event.
Adding Your Newborn
The following table contains two scenarios related to newborns and provides the best effective start date for each.
| Scenario | Effective Start Date to Enter |
|---|---|
|
Your newborn's birth date |
|
Your hire date |
Updating a Contact Relationship
The following table contains one scenario related to changing a contact relationship and the best effective start date.
| Scenario | Effective Start Date to Enter |
|---|---|
|
Marriage date |
Updating the Effective Start Date Because of an Event
The following table contains two scenarios related to a relocation event and provides the best effective start date for each.
| Scenario | Effective Start Date to Enter |
|---|---|
|
When you update your address details, enter the date that you relocated to the new address. |
|
When you update your address details, enter your hire date. |
FAQs for Self Service Elections
How can I quickly get to the benefits enrollment pages?
You can open the self-service Benefits Service Center page by selecting Benefits under Me on the Navigator menu to start the enrollment. Also, you can directly navigate to the enrollment pages by using the People to Cover quick action and by integrating the People to Cover quick action as a task in a checklist.
Here's how you directly navigate to the enrollment pages using the People to Cover quick action:
-
Click Me on the Home page.
-
Click the Show More link.
-
Select People to Cover under Benefits.
-
Click Continue to navigate to the enrollment flow.
How can I view my past and future benefits enrollments?
Use the Effective Date field in the Enrollment Summary page. You can select a date between three years in the past from the current date up to one year in the future to see your enrollments.
What happens if I don't resolve action items by their due date?
It depends on the specific benefits offering. Failure to provide required information might result in enrollment suspension.
Provide all action items as quickly as possible after submitting benefits updates. Contact your benefits department if you require more information about specific action items.
How can I designate beneficiaries?
Designating beneficiaries is a two-step process in the Benefits work area, which you open by clicking Me - Benefits on the Home page.
-
Add all contacts, beneficiary organizations, and trusts on the People to Cover page.
-
When you have an opportunity to change your benefits, select specific benefits offerings and designate eligible beneficiaries for those offerings.
If you designate more than one beneficiary for an offering, enter the percentage of the total benefit to assign to each one.
If your beneficiaries don't appear in the list of eligible beneficiaries during benefit selection, return to the Overview page. Add them as contacts or provide any missing eligibility information.
How can I designate dependents?
Designating persons as dependents is a two-step process in the Benefits work area, which you open by selecting Benefits under Me on the Navigator menu.
-
Add all persons as contacts on the Overview page.
-
When you have an opportunity to change your benefits, select specific benefits offerings and designate eligible contacts as dependents for those offerings.
If your dependents don't appear in the list of eligible dependents during benefit selection, return to the Overview page and add them as contacts or provide any missing eligibility information.
Why is my flex credit usage unchanged for some benefit offerings?
You might have selected benefit offerings that the flex credits program does not cover. Check your flex credit program details or ask your benefits administrator for more information.
How can I delete a benefits document that I added?
Use the Edit action in the Document Records task to open the document record. Then, open the Attachments dialog box and use the Delete Attachment icon to delete the document.
What's the purpose of the relationship start date on the self service benefits contacts page?
The relationship start date determines the contact's effective start date for benefits when participants designate them in a benefit offering. For example, if you want to enter your newborn as a contact, you enter the child's birth date as the relationship start date.
How can I integrate the People to Cover quick action as a task in a checklist?
The People to Cover quick action can be integrated as a task within a master checklist, which enables users to complete enrollment as part of the assigned checklist tasks. For example, you can embed the quick action as a task within new-hire checklist, so that the employee can navigate directly to the benefits enrollment area from the checklist tasks. You can use the Checklist Templates task in the Setup and Maintenance work area to embed the quick action as a task.
After you embed the quick action task in the checklist template, participants can use these steps to navigate to the enrollment flow using the checklist tasks:
-
Click Me, Checklist Tasks on the Home page.
-
Click Current Tasks.
-
Select the name of the task that you embedded in the checklist.
-
Click Go to Task in the page that appears.
-
Click Continue to navigate to the enrollment flow.