Reviewing the Health Opt-Out Incentive Business Process in HRS

Overview

This procedure describes the business process for employees wanting to elect the Health Opt-Out incentive. Effective January 1, 2016, UW employees who are covered under the State Group Health Insurance program may be eligible to receive $2,000 by opting out of the program.

Process Considerations:

UW-Shared Services (UWSS) and Employee Trust Funds (ETF) determine if an employee is eligible for the Health Opt-Out Incentive.
Full and part-time employees under the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) are eligible for the Health Opt-Out Incentive.
Craftworkers and Grad/Short-term Academic Staff employees are not eligible for the Health Opt-Out Incentive.
An employee is NEVER eligible for the Health Opt-Out Incentive if they were eligible for State Group Health insurance but declined health benefits in 2015.
- If a Grad employee declined health coverage in 2015, and now is in an eligible WRS position, this does NOT negate their eligibility for the Health Opt-Out Incentive.
An employee is not eligible for the Health Opt-Out Incentive if they are currently a dependent under the State Group Health Insurance program.
If an employee receives State Group Health insurance at any point during the year under a WRS contract, they are not eligible to enroll in the Health Opt-Out Incentive. The next eligible enrollment opportunity will be the Annual Benefits Enrollment (ABE) period.
If an employee is on a LOA, Health Opt-Out Incentive follows the same guidelines as if they were enrolled in health insurance
- If paid LOA, the employee is eligible for the Health Opt-Out Incentive the whole time.
- If unpaid LOA, the employee is eligible for the Health Opt-Out Incentive for the first three months of LOA. After the third month, Health Opt-Out Incentive will cease and be removed from HRS.
If the employee is University Staff, the Health Opt-Out Incentives will begin when employer contributions begins.
If the employee is overpaid for the Health Opt-Out Incentive, UWSS will recoup incentive premiums by payroll or Benefits Billing.

You may click on the links below to navigate directly to a section:

Employee & Employer Share Incentive Payroll Schedule:

Instructions

Institution Process:

Verify the employee completes the following sections of the State Group Health insurance application:
- Section 1: Applicant Information
- Section 2: Spouse Information
- Section 12: Decline Health Insurance and Elect the Opt Out Incentive marked YES
- Section 13: Employee signature and dated
Complete the Employer Information section.
Enter information in Section 11 into HRS - Benefits Personal Data page.
Enroll the employee into the Health Opt-Out plan in HRS - On-Demand page.
Upon notification from UWSS of approval or denial of the Health Opt-Out Incentive, contact the employee with the determination.
If the employee rescinds their Health Opt-Out enrollment, update HRS to remove/change the Health Opt-Out enrollment.

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UWSS Service Operations Process:

Complete initial verification.
Send to ETF to verify eligibility.
Create a ticket with Empl_ID, Employee Name, and Health Opt-Out verification.
Notify the campus of approval or denial.
- If Health Opt-Out is denied, remove enrollment from HRS.

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Additional Resources

Related KBs:

[Link for document 17882 is unavailable at this time.]

Related Links:

Get Help

Click HERE to contact UW Shared Services or HERE for the Office of Technology Services (OTS) Helpdesk if you have any issues with these instructions.

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