1413 - Long Term Disability Insurance (Historical View)

** Effective: 11/21/2016 2:44:39 PM - 11/21/2016 2:57:31 PM **

Status: Active

Change Notes

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Category

Benefits and Insurance

Audience List

Synopsis

This policy:

Introduction

The voluntary Long Term Disability Insurance Program (LTD) was implemented in 1988 for active excluded employees. This benefit is intended to provide income protection in the event an employee becomes disabled due to an illness or injury and is unable to work for six months or longer. The California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) Benefits Division, maintains responsibility for the program and for providing departmental personnel offices with information regarding premium changes or open enrollment periods. The LTD carrier is Standard Insurance Company (The Standard).

Statement

The LTD program offers two income protection benefit options to select from, either 55 percent of the first $18,182 or 65 percent of the first $15,385 of the employee's pre-disability earnings (monthly base salary), reduced by other deductible income benefits.

Eligible current employees may enroll in the Plan during the annual open enrollment period.  Newly hired eligible employees may enroll in the Plan within the first 60 days of employment.

Eligibility Criteria

Employees must be permanent or probationary, excluded from collective bargaining, have a time base of half-time or greater, and have one of the following designations to be eligible to enroll in LTD.

Employees in limited-term appointments, who otherwise meet the eligibility criteria may enroll in LTD only if they have a mandatory right of return to a position that meets the above criteria.

Excluded employees who are appointed to permanent-intermittent positions and Rank-and-File employees are not eligible for LTD.

Premium Rates and Administrative Fee

Monthly premium rates are determined by multiplying the employee’s monthly base salary by the factors indicated below and adding the administrative fee, which is currently 80 cents. The maximum monthly base salary is not to exceed $15,385 for the 65 percent plan option and $18,182 for the 55 percent plan option.

Current Premium Rates

Option A – 65% Miscellaneous/Non-Safety/OASDI* Employees (075-111)

Option B – 65% Peace Officers/Firefighters/Safety/Non-OASDI* Employee
(075-112)

Option C – 55% Miscellaneous/Non-Safety/OASDI* Employees (075-119)

Option D – 55% Peace Officers/Firefighters/Safety/Non-OASDI* Employees
(075-120)

* The Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program, commonly known as Social Security.

Annual Age Review

Premiums for employees who moved to the next higher premium age group (e.g., from age 39 to 40, 49 to 50, etc.) will increase annually on January 1, which will be refected in the December pay period.

Open Enrollment

Open enrollment for LTD is held annually every April. During open enrollment, eligible employees may enroll and employees who are currently enrolled may change their coverage option. Employees already enrolled are not required to re-enroll during open enrollment in order to continue their current current coverage. Employees can cancel coverage any time throughout the year.

Effective Date of Coverage

The employee’s effective date of coverage will begin on the first day of the pay period following the first premium (payroll) deduction.

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*Enrollment forms signed, dated, and received by the personnel office by April 30, will be processed by SCO through May 10 with an effective date of June 1.

Employee Communications for Open Enrollment

Eligible employees NOT currently enrolled in LTD

In March, CalHR will mail a notice of the upcoming open enrollment to the homes of eligible employees. In late March, a second notification will be mailed that provides more information on how to enroll. In mid-April, a final reminder postcard will be mailed to remind employees that the open enrollment period will end on April 30.

Employees currently enrolled in LTD

In late March, a postcard with information announcing the open enrollment period will be mailed to current enrollees. This will be the only notification for currently enrolled employees.

Completing the LTD Enrollment Authorization Form

Employees are required to complete Sections A, B, and C of the enrollment form and submit the completed form to their departmental personnel office.

Personnel offices are responsible for verifying that the employee is eligible to enroll in LTD, and has accurately completed sections A, B, and C of the form. Personnel offices must verify the monthly base salary listed on the form, complete section D, include “Eligible employee enrolling during open enrollment” in the remarks section, and submit the form to SCO by the dates indicated in the effective date of coverage section listed above.

Ordering Enrollment Forms

Personnel offices should always maintain an adequate supply of the current marketing and enrollment materials during the annual open enrollment, for employees who become newly eligible during the year, and for employees who wish to cancel LTD coverage. CalHR does not maintain these materials for distribution to departments. Please order supplies directly from The Standard by:

When ordering, request form number (SI17533D-643146) for LTD forms and form number (SI10386-643146) for brochures.

Your request must include your department name, name of contact person, the actual physical street address with zip code, room number, suite or mail station, telephone number and extension, and the quantity of enrollment kits needed. The Standard ships via UPS ground delivery and supplies are not deliverable to a P.O. Box (allow five to ten business days for delivery).

Application

Not Applicable.

Authorities

Resources

FAQs

Forms

PML

Web Pages

Authorized By

Desi Rodrigues
Program Manager, Benefits Division

Contact Person

Monica Hernandez
Benefits Program Analyst, , Benefits Division
Phone: 916-324-0533
Fax: 855-238-3276
Email: monica.hernandez@calhr.ca.gov

Superseded Policies

Not Applicable.