Examples:

UI employee gets married: The employee would like to add their new spouse to their coverage. 

Domestic Partner to Spouse: The employee already covers their domestic partner on UI insurance. The couple are now legally married. 

Important deadline:

• You have 30 days from the date of marriage to submit a benefits change request to add your new spouse or update your domestic partner's status to spouse along with any eligible dependents to coverage.
  • If you do not submit your request for changes within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to add your spouse at that time. 

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Documents needed:

Please visit the Dependent Eligibility Verification webpage to review the documents you need for verification.

• Spouse
• Eligible dependents

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month following the marriage date.

What you can change:

Example:

A domestic partner is defined as: An employee who shares common living quarters with an unmarried/unrelated person in a committed, intimate relationship that is not legally defined as marriage. Please review the affidavit for further information on what is required. 

Domestic Partner Affidavit

To cover a domestic partner, you must file an affidavit of domestic partnership (valid for same or opposite-sex partners). You will only need to complete this affidavit once, and it will remain in effect until the relationship ends.

• If the relationship ends, you must notify University Benefits by filing an Affidavit for Termination of Domestic Partnership form.
• A new affidavit is required for a new domestic partner relationship.

Forms

• Domestic Partnership Affidavit (Faculty and Staff) (pdf)
• Domestic Partnership Affidavit (Students) (pdf)
• Domestic Partnership Affidavit Termination (pdf)

Important deadline

• You have 30 days from the date signed on the domestic partner affidavit to submit to University Benefits to be processed. 
• If you do not submit your affidavit within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to add your partner (including your affidavit) at that time. 

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Documents needed:

• Domestic Partner 
  • IMPORTANT: You must supply the documentation corresponding to the criteria of eligibility conditions you and your partner selected on the Domestic Partner Affidavit.
• Eligible dependents

When do changes take effect?

New changes will take effect on the 1st of the month following the date signed by both parties on the Domestic Partner Affidavit. 

What you can change:

Examples:

Divorce: The legal dissolution of a marriage by a court. When an employee receivs a copy of their final decree of dissolution of marriage signed by the judge, they may submit a benefits change request to remove their ex-spouse. An ex-spouse is not an eligible dependent and must be removed from coverage effective the first of the month following the final date of divorce.

Legal Separation: An employee and spouse have decided to legally separate while they determine how to handle marital property and debts. Once the employee receives the finalized court petition, they may submit a benefits change request.

Important deadline:

• You have 30 days from the date of the signed divorce decree or legal separation document to submit a benefits change request to remove your ex-spouse and any ineligible dependents from coverage.
• You must have the finalized divorce decree or legal petition for legal separation document to begin your change request. 

Documents needed:

• Finalized Divorce Decree
• A copy of the petition filed in court for a legal separation

When do changes take effect?

New changes will take effect on the 1st of the month following the date signed by both parties on the legal separation court petition or the finalized divorce decree. For example, if your decree was finalized on September 3, your new changes will take effect on October 1. 

What you can change:

COBRA insurance will be offered to your ex-spouse.

• Following removing your ex-spouse from coverage, a COBRA packet will be mailed to your (the employee) residing address for your ex-spouse. This coverage would allow them to continue on UI health and dental insurance for up to 36 months under their own policy. Their COBRA coverage would begin the first of the month following the event date. 

Example:

An employee's loved one (spouse or domestic partner) has died.

Important deadline:

• Please notify the University Benefits Office as soon as you are able to notify us of the death.

Documents needed:

• If you plan to make a life insurance claim, you need a copy of the death certificate. You do not need to supply the death certificate to remove your loved one from coverage. 

When do changes take effect?

New changes will take effect on the 1st of the month following the date of death. 

What can you change:

Example:

An employee and their domestic partner have decided to terminate their relationship.

Important deadline:

• The employee will have 30 days from the termination of the partnership/relationship to complete and submit the Termination of a Domestic Partnership to University Benefits. 

Documents needed:

• Termination of Domestic Partnership Affidavit (pdf)

When do changes take effect?

New changes will take effect on the 1st of the month following the date of the signed termination form. 

What you can change

Examples:

UI employee or spouse/partner gives birth. 

UI employee adopts a child or child is placed in home for adoption.

UI employee gains legal guardianship.

UI employee begins fostering a child. 

Important deadline:

• You have 60 days from the date of birth, the date the child was placed in your home for the purpose of adoption, gained legal guardianship, or began fostering a child, to submit a benefits change request to add your new dependent and other eligible dependents to coverage.
  • If you do not submit your request for changes within the 60-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to add your dependent(s) at that time. 

Documents needed:

Please visit the Dependent Eligibility Verification webpage to review the documents you need for verification.

• Eligible dependents
• Spouse
• For adoption/legal guardianship/fostering: documentation supporting the formal placement (e.g., court order, lawyer's letter, placement letter from the adoption agency, or DHS)

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month the baby was born or when the child was formally placed in your home for adoption, legal guardianship, or fostering. 

Examples:

• An employee's spouse gave birth on May 3. The employee wants to cover both the new baby and the baby's mother (their spouse). Both added dependents will have coverage beginning May 1, so any birth services will also be covered. 
• The court granted an employee legal guardianship of their granddaughter on November 3. The employee wants to add the granddaughter to their health and dental insurance. The granddaughter will have coverage effective November 1. 

What you can change:

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Other considerations:

Dependent Eligibility Verification

• After you have submitted your enrollment for your newly eligible dependent(s), you will be asked to submit documentation to University Benefits to verify your dependent's eligibility within four weeks of adding your dependent(s) to health and dental coverage. If complete documentation is not received within four weeks, your unverified dependent(s) will be removed from coverage and cannot be added without a qualifying event. Review the verification process. 
• Our office understands there can be a delay in promptly receiving birth certificates or other legal documentation. If you are close to your deadline, please refer to your Dependent Eligibility Verification email for additional instructions on requesting an extension. 

Example:

An employee's dependent child has died.

Important deadline:

• Please notify the University Benefits Office to inform us of the death as soon as you are able.

Documents needed:

• If you plan to make a life insurance claim, you need a copy of the death certificate. You do not need to supply the death certificate to remove your loved one from coverage. 

When do changes take effect?

New changes will take effect on the 1st of the month following the date of death. 

What you can change

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Examples:

Loss of Eligibility: An employee's dependent child is over age 26 and is no longer a full-time student due to graduation, leaving their collegiate program, or reducing from a full-time status to part-time or less. 

Gain of Eligibility: An employee's dependent child who is over age 26, is returning to full-time student status at an accredited university or college. 

Important deadline:

• Losing Eligibility - A dependent child over age 26 due to student status (no longer full-time or graduated) 
  • You must notify University Benefits when the dependent child is no longer a full-time student. Your dependent will lose coverage effective the last day of the month they became ineligible to be on the plans. 
• Gaining Eligibility - A dependent child over age 26 (returns to full-time student status)
  • You will have 30 calendar days from when your dependent child begins full-time student status to submit a benefits change request to add them to your benefits coverage.
    • If you do not add them within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to add your dependent child at that time. 

Documents needed:

This documentation will be requested twice a year by a letter sent to your home address as long as they remain on our plans.

• A copy of your child's student schedule for the semester showing full-time enrollment in an accredited college or university.
  • All required documents MUST contain a date and the dependent's name.
  • You may block out personal information such as Social Security numbers, account numbers, and financial information. 

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month following the event date (the loss or gain of eligibility).  

What you can change:

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Other considerations:

Tax Consequences:

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has determined that if an employer allows employees to insure dependent children over 26 years of age who do not qualify as tax dependents, a value must be added to the employee’s taxable salary when reporting income earned on the annual W-2. This imputed income, which will be added to the tax base monthly, is calculated on the Taxable Coverage of Adult Children webpage. If the child is over 26 and a tax dependent, no additional income is applied to the employee’s taxable salary.

COBRA Offer:

When your dependent child is no longer eligible for our plans and has been removed from coverage - 

• The child will remain on your active employee coverage until the end of the month when they become ineligible for our plans. For example, if your child graduates on May 15, they will remain on your plan until May 31.  
• The child will receive a COBRA enrollment packet to your residing address. This will allow your dependent child to elect to continue insurance for the next 18 months through our COBRA program. 

Examples:

UI employee is decreasing or increasing percent time worked: The employee has different needs for childcare depending on a decrease or increase in working percentage.  

UI employee is losing or gaining a childcare provider: An employee is changing the childcare provider. 

Important deadline:

• You have 30 days from the date of change in work schedule or provider to submit a Flexible Spending Account Salary Reduction Agreement form to update your dependent care contributions. 
  • If you do not submit the salary reduction agreement form to our office within 30 days of the qualifying change, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1.
• If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to change your dependent care FSA contribution amount. 

Documents needed:

• Flexible Spending Account Salary Reduction Agreement form (pdf)

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month following the event date. 

What you can change:

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Examples:

UI employee's dependent gains other coverage - (always enter the last day of coverage by UI plans in the event date section of the benefits change request form.) 

• An employee's spouse/domestic partner got a new job on July 15 and will enroll with new employer coverage beginning August 1. (event date - July 31)
• A dependent child was added to the other parent's insurance effective January 1. (event date - December 31)
• The dependent child became eligible for Medicaid beginning March 1. (event date - February 28)

Important deadline:

• You have 30 days from the date the dependent gained other coverage to submit a benefits change request to remove your dependent from coverage.
  • If you do not submit your request for changes within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to remove your dependents at that time. 

Documents needed:

• New employer coverage: your dependent must secure a letter of coverage from their HR department that confirms they have gained new coverage. 
• Must submit an eligibility letter for Medicaid showing dates of coverage and which dependents.

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month following the gain of new coverage.

What you can change:

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Examples:

UI employee's dependent lost other provider coverage - (always enter the last day of coverage by their  provider in the event date field of the benefits change request form.)

• An employee's spouse/domestic partner lost their job on July 15 and insurance coverage will end on July 31. (event date - July 31)
• An employee's spouse/domestic partner turned age 26 on November 17 and will no longer be eligible to remain on their parent's coverage effective December 31.  (event date - December 31)
• An employee's child, who is under age 26, lost their job on April 2 and no longer has employer coverage effective April 2. (event date - April 2, and their coverage on your plan will not be active until May 1)
• An employee's child loses eligibility under Medicaid on August 31 and needs to be added to the employee's UI coverage. (event date - August 31, so child is covered effective September 1)

Important deadline:

• You have 30 days from when your spouse, domestic partner, or dependent child lost coverage from another provider to submit a benefits change request and add them to your benefits coverage. 
  • If you do not enroll them within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to add your spouse/partner or dependent child at that time. 

Documents needed:

• Loss of employer coverage: your dependent must secure a letter of coverage from their HR department that confirms they have lost coverage. 
• Loss of eligibility due to age of dependent: your spouse/domestic partner must secure a letter from their parent's insurance provider or HR department verifying the end date of coverage. 
• Losing governmental assistance coverage: Must submit a letter for Medicaid showing when coverage ends for the dependent child. 

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month following the loss of coverage.

What you can change:

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Examples:

Your loss of coverage:

• A UI employee is covered under a spouse/domestic partner's employer coverage:
  • The spouse/partner lost their job and employer coverage.
  • The spouse/partner is retiring from their job and will no longer have employer coverage.
  • The UI employee and spouse/partner are getting a divorce/termination of a domestic partnership.
  • The spouse/parnter is no longer living.
• A UI employee is covered under their parent/guardian's insurance coverage:
  • The UI employee is no longer eligible to remain under their parent's coverage due to the age 26 requirement, or they are no longer a full-time student.
  • The parent/guardian lost their job and coverage, retiring, or is deceased. 
• A UI employee loses eligibility for Medicaid.

Important deadline

• You have 30 days from when you lost coverage from a spouse, domestic partner, or parent's insurance provider to submit a benefits change request and enroll in benefits. 
  • If you do not enroll within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying life event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to enroll at that time.

Documents needed:

• Loss of employer coverage: your spouse/partner/parent must secure a letter of coverage from their HR department that confirms that they and their covered dependents have lost coverage. 
• Loss of eligibility due to age of dependent: your spouse/domestic partner/parent must secure a letter from their parent's insurance provider or HR department verifying the end date of coverage due to your ineligibility with plan rules. 
• Losing governmental assistance coverage: You must submit a letter from Medicaid showing when or that you are no longer covered under the program.  

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month following the loss of coverage.

What you can change:

 Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Examples:

Your gain of other coverage:

• Your spouse or partner now covers you under their insurance plans.
• You are over age 26, and have returned to school full-time and will be added back under your parent's coverage. 
• You have gained eligibility for Medicaid.

Important deadline

• You have 30 days from when you gained other coverage from a spouse, domestic partner, or parent's insurance provider to submit a benefits change request and enroll in benefits. 
  • If you do not request a benefits change request within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to make changes at that time. 

Documents needed:

• Gain of other coverage: your spouse/partner/parent must secure a letter of coverage from their HR department that confirms that you are now covered under their employer plans. 
• Losing governmental assistance coverage: You must submit a letter from Medicaid showing when or that you are no longer covered under the program.  

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month after gaining other coverage.

What you can change:

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Examples:

Your domestic-partner becomes Medicare-eligible

Important deadline

• You have 30 days from when your domestic partner became Medicare-eligible to submit a benefits change request and make changes in benefits. 
  • If you do not request a benefits change request within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to make changes at that time. 

Documents needed:

• You may need to secure a copy of the eligibility letter from CMS that shows when your partner obtained the new eligibility status for Medicare. 

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month after becoming Medicare-eligible.

What you can change:

Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

Examples:

UI employee transfers from a temporary position into a full time benefit-eligible position. 

Important deadline:

• You have 30 days from the date you transferred into your new position to work your New Hire enrollment event.
  • If you do not submit your benefit elections within the 30-day deadline, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
  • If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to enroll at that time. 

When do changes take effect?

New changes will be effective on the 1st of the month following the change in your eligibility.

What you can change:

This change in status does not allow you to change your benefits, as you would no longer be eligible. 

Examples:

A UI employee has a percent change below 50% (e.g., at-will (PRN))

A UI employee transfers into a temporary non benefit-eligible position. 

Important deadline

• Your regular benefit-eligible benefits will end on the last day of the month that you became ineligible. For example, if an employee decides to reduce their time from 50% to 20% on December 15, their benefits will remain active until December 31. 

What you can change

Benefits terminate effective the last day of the month in which the last paycheck was received. An option to continue benefits while on leave may be available. Please visit our Leave of Absence webpage for more information. 

This qualified change in status allows you to make changes to and enroll in benefits mid-year. The benefits affected for you, the employee, who is returning from an unpaid absence during which you lost your benefits, are listed below.

Important deadline

• You have 30 days from your new eligibility date to enroll in coverage. 
• If you do not enroll in benefits within 30 days from your new eligibility date, you must wait until our next annual open enrollment period, when changes will take effect on January 1. 
• If you experience another qualifying event during the year, depending on the life change, you may be able to enroll in coverage at that time. Please review the changes that are eligible to be made per life event. 

What you can change

How to submit a request through Employee Self-Service:

Note: If you want to change your health care or dependent care flexible spending account (FSA) amounts due to a qualifying life event, complete the Salary Reduction Agreement form and submit it to University Benefits. You cannot make mid-year changes to your FSA accounts through Employee Self-Service.

1. Log in to your Employee Self-Service site with your HawkID and password,
2. Go to your "Benefits & Wellness" dashboard button,
3. Under the Benefits menu, select the link "Benefit Change Request."
4. Choose the event requiring a change, enter the date your event occurred, and add any comments that may help our team process your request.
   • Note: For the "Date Event Occurred" field, please enter the event's date.
     • For example, if your spouse loses their employer coverage effective Feb. 01, you will enter the last date that they will be on that employer coverage (Jan. 31) as the event date. This will ensure that your spouse is added to your plan effective Feb. 01. 

Changes will take effect the first day of the month after the event date. For change requests related to birth or adoption, change takes effect on the first day of the month the event occurs. Please review the examples below:

• Your spouse loses coverage and will be covered on their current insurance until May 31. You will want to enter May 31 in the "Date Event Occured" field. This will ensure that their coverage with the university begins on June 1, when they would no longer be covered under their previous policy. If you were to enter June 1 as the effective date in the "Date Event Occured"  field, your spouse's coverage would not begin until July 1. Changes will take effect the first day of the month after the event date. An exception to this rule is the example below;
  • You have a new baby born on May 16. You will want to enter the date of birth/adoption of May 16. Baby/adoptees will be covered by the university beginning May 1. Changes will take effect the first day of the month when the baby is born or adoption is finalized.

You are not done! This is a two-to-three-step process, depending on what type of qualifying life event you experienced. First, please watch for an email from the Benefits Change Request team. This email alerts you that you may return to Employee Self-Service and work on your benefits change.

Note: If your request is received during the last six working days of the month, University Benefits cannot make changes until the second working day of the following month due to our payroll processing.

After receiving your approval email from the Benefits Change Request team—approximately 24 hours following form submission—you can make your benefit changes in Employee Self-Service under the Benefits Enrollment link.  

To follow step-by-step instructions on how to work your change event, please visit our Enroll, Change, or Term Benefits page.

After submitting your benefit change elections to the University Benefits Office:

You will be notified by email when final confirmation of your elections is available for your review, approximately 24-48 hours after submitting your new elections. 

If a correction is needed, follow the steps from your Benefits Confirmations page in Employee Self-Service. You will have five (5) days from the date on your confirmation statement to request a change. Please be very specific in your request; these changes are made manually on our system's back end. 

If you added a new dependent(s), please read Step 3 and plan to take the required action. 

The University Benefits Office collects information to verify the dependents' eligibility in our health and dental plans. Action will be required to cover a spouse, domestic partner, or dependent children.

After submitting your elections to University Benefits, within approximately 24-48 hours, you will receive an email from our office asking you to verify eligibility for those dependent(s) you added to your plans. If complete documentation is not received within four weeks, your unverified dependent will be removed from coverage and cannot be added without a qualifying life event or waiting until the next annual benefits open enrollment period.

Please visit the dependent eligibility process and information webpage for more information and review the required documentation list. It is always a good idea to start collecting your documents as soon as possible, as you may need to order a new copy of a specific document. 

**Since the temporary employee is not in a regular benefits-eligible position, they should not use the Benefits Change Request form within Employee Self-Service as it will get denied.

If the temporary employee experiences a qualifying life event, they must email the University Benefits Office at benefits@uiowa.edu within 30 days of the event date.

In the email to University Benefits, please include the following information:

1. Your university ID number
2. Type of life event (e.g., marriage, divorce, death, birth)
3. The date the event took place (e.g., date of birth, date of marriage, loss of coverage date)
4. Any other pertinent information that will help our team process your request

ATTENTION:

Department Contributing with MFK
If your department is contributing toward your temporary insurance premiums, our office cannot add dependent(s) without approval from the department first. It may be ideal to talk with your department before submitting your request or copy the departmental admin on your email. 

Once University Benefits has reviewed your email request to change your benefits, you will receive an email from our office:

1. If your request is approved, you will have an enrollment form attached. 
   1. If you add dependents, you must include the date of birth and Social Security numbers for those you add to coverage. 
   2. Once completed, please email your form back to University Benefits at benefits@uiowa.edu. Our team will manually update your changes, which will take effect the first of the month following your event date, unless a birth or adoption.
2. If your request is denied, you will receive an email stating the reason for the denial.  

**Since post-docs and fellows are not in regular benefits-eligible positions, they should not use the Benefits Change Request form within Employee Self-Service as it will get denied.

If the post-doc or fellow experiences a qualifying life event, they must email the University Benefits Office at benefits-students@uiowa.edu within 30 days of the event date.

In the email to University Benefits, please include the following information:

1. Your university ID number
2. Type of life event (e.g., marriage, divorce, death, birth)
3. The date the event took place (e.g., date of birth, date of marriage, loss of coverage date)
4. Any other pertinent information that will help our team process your request

Benefits changes may also be made during the employee annual open enrollment period in early November or one of the student insurance open enrollment periods below. Emails are sent notifying you of this opportunity before the end of each year.

Student Open Enrollment Periods:

• Fall Semester: Aug. 1-Sept. 9
• Spring Semester:  Jan. 1-Feb. 9
• Summer Semester: May 1-June 9

Once University Benefits has reviewed your email request to change your benefits, you will receive an email from our office:

1. If your request is approved, you will have an enrollment form attached. 
   1. If you add dependents, you must include the date of birth and Social Security numbers for those you add to coverage. 
   2. Once completed, please email your form back to University Benefits at benefits-students@uiowa.edu. Our team will manually update your changes, which will take effect the first of the month following your event date, unless a birth or adoption.
2. If your request is denied, you will receive an email stating the reason for the denial.