Benefits Tips

Benefits Office Early Hours Reminder

The Benefits Office is open from 7:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays in room N146. Our main number is 4-1133.

Benefit Forms Jackson Medical Mall

Benefit forms are located in the Employment Office at the Jackson Medical Mall. These forms can also be accessed through Employee Self Service and in the Benefits Office, Room N146.

31 Days to Make Insurance Changes

Insurance policies and flexible benefits plan require changes to be made within 31 days following a qualifying event or change in family status. (Examples: marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, child age 19-25 and no longer in school, death of spouse or a child, spouses commencement or termination of employment or benefits). The only exception to the 31 days is for the State's and School Employees' Health Insurance Plan which allows for 60 days. The only other opportunity to make changes to your benefits is during the Open Enrollment period in October of each year for an effective date of January 1 of the following year. Any questions, contact Tracy Chambliss or Yolanda Townsend through email or phone them at 4-1128 or 4-1138, respectively.

College Student Insurance Notification

Medical Center faculty and staff who are eligible for insurance coverage through UMMC and have a child who will be attending an accredited college or university as a full-time student for the first time this fall and want them covered under their insurance, will need to provide the following information to the Benefits Office: a student verification letter from the school; and, the necessary enrollment/change forms for the applicable insurance plans if the student is not currently covered under applicable insurance plans,. Students can enroll for coverage if they are between the ages of 19 to 25.

Students continuing full-time status are required to provide, each semester, a student verification letter from the school if they are covered under the Dental Plan. The State's health insurance plan only requires this letter when enrolling for the first time or reenrolling if the student became ineligible.

Students attending part-time or who will no longer be in school or who will reach age 25, will need to be dropped from insurance. The necessary insurance change forms must be completed to cancel coverage. Medical Center faculty and staff who do not complete the necessary change forms by the deadlines indicated below and have premiums deducted on a pre-tax basis will be required to continue paying the applicable premiums until Open Enrollment for an effective date of January 1, 2008 or until another family status change at which time you will be allowed to drop the student upon completion of the necessary form(s) within the times indicated.

Insurance plans and flexible benefits plan require changes to be made within 31 days following a qualifying event or change in family status. (Examples include marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, child age 19-25 and no longer in school, death of spouse or a child, spouse's commencement or termination of employment or benefits). The only exception to the 31 days is with the State's and School Employees' Health Insurance Plan which allows for 60 days. The only other opportunity to make changes to your benefits is during the Open Enrollment period in October of each year for an effective date of January 1 of the following year.

Forms may be printed through Employee Self Service or they may be obtained from the Benefits Office room N146. Once completed the forms should be returned along with the student verification letter, if applicable, to the Benefits Office within the time frames indicated. For more information call Tracy Chambliss or Yolanda Townsend in the Benefits Office at 4-1128 or 4-1138 or send them an email through GroupWise.

Retirement

Where will your retirement income come from? Traditionally, retirees have received income from three primary sources: Social Security, employer pension plans such as Public Employees' Retirement System plan (PERS) or Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) and defined-contribution workplace retirement plans such as our 403(b) Tax Sheltered Annuity and 457 Deferred Compensation plans. Understanding how these three sources work together and doing your own assessment can help you determine if you've properly planned for your retirement.

Experts generally agree most people can retire up to 80% of their final salaries, so it only makes sense for workers to accumulate enough funds in their career years to support their retirement years.

Think of the three primary sources of retirement income as a three-legged stool. According to this concept, 15% to 25% of retirement income comes from Social Security, 0% to 60% from pension and defined-contribution workplace plans and any gap between the two is filled by private savings, the third leg. For growing numbers of retirees who haven't closed that gap, there's a fourth leg on the stool-continuing to work, at least part-time after retirement. This is why it is important to start planning and saving now, while time is still on your side.