TYPES OF BENEFITS*
Your benefit package will be divided into two parts: Core Benefits and Benefits
of Choice.
CORE BENEFITS
A core benefit is a benefit which Bryn Mawr College provides at no cost
to you. These benefits are given to you regardless of your selection of additional
benefits. Your core benefits are as follows:
Basic Life Insurance
$20,000 term life coverage (This amount is reduced by 50% for participants age
70 or older). Insurance is provided by The Hartford.
Long-term Disability Insurance
60% of monthly wage base to a maximum benefit of $14,000 per month, less
Social Security and other offsets.
Benefits start after 180 days of total disability as defined by CIGNA, the long-term disability insurance carrier.
Dental Insurance (single
coverage)
Insurance is provided by Delta Dental.
Employee Assistance Program
This benefit is provided by Horizon Care to assist employees and their families
with a wide range of issues, including:
* Your benefits are briefly described
here. Individual booklets with details of all benefits offered through the Flexible
Benefit Plan are available in Human Resources.
BENEFITS OF CHOICE
A benefit of choice is a benefit that you will select. Bryn Mawr College
provides you with a budget/subsidy to assist you in "buying" your
medical plan of choice. In the event you do not need to purchase medical insurance
through the College's group plans, you may elect to use the budget to purchase
other benefits. Bryn Mawr College has made available the following selection
of benefits from which to choose:
Blue Cross/Blue Shield/Major Medical
Keystone Health Plan East
Dental Insurance (dependent coverage)
Supplemental Life Insurance
Cash
EXPLANATION OF COLLEGE BUDGET AND MEDICAL SUBSIDY
The budget is $120.00 per month and is added to the pay of all Flexible Benefit
Plan eligible employees. Eligible employees who do select a medical plan through
the College receive an additional medical subsidy. The budget plus the additional
medical subsidy equals the College contribution amounts listed on the Rate Sheet.
An employee who waives medical coverage receives the $120.00 budget amount as taxable income unless she or he selects other benefits, in which case the $120.00 would offset those costs. If the other benefits selected cost less than $120.00, the employee will receive the difference as taxable income (see "Taxation of Your Contributions").
In order to waive medical coverage, the employee must document that she or he has comprehensive medical coverage available from a group medical plan that is not affiliated with the College.
Employees who select benefits that
cost more than the amount of the budget plus the additional medical subsidy,
will have their taxable income reduced by the amount of the difference (see
"Taxation of Your Contributions").
TAXATION OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS
(See separate section for Domestic Partners)
Any contributions you make under the Flexible Benefit Plan are not subject
to federal withholding, Pennsylvania State and Social Security (FICA) taxes
for the following plans:
1. Medical Insurance
2. Dental Insurance
3. Employee Supplemental Life Insurance - for amounts up to and including $30,000
Since employee contributions to the Flexible Benefit Plan are not subject to FICA taxes, Social Security income upon retirement may be affected.
IRS Code provides that employee group life insurance coverage in excess of $50,000, including both employer-paid and employee-paid coverage, must be reported as imputed income. The amount of imputed income is determined not by the actual premium paid, but is instead based on a uniform premium established by the IRS. The amount of imputed income is subject to FICA and federal income taxes, but not to Pennsylvania state tax. See Section IV, "Uniform Premiums for $1,000 of Group-term Life Insurance Protection".
There is no income reduction at the state or federal levels for life insurance premiums paid for spouse, domestic partner and/or dependent children coverage.
PLEASE NOTE Medical and dental insurance premiums paid by you through payroll may not be used as a tax deduction when filing Schedule A (Question 1) Form 1040.
TAXATION OF DOMESTIC PARTNERS CONTRIBUTIONS
Any contributions made by the College or the employee for domestic partners
coverage are subject to federal withholding, Social Security (FICA) and Pennsylvania
State Tax. The IRS does not recognize domestic partners in their definition
of an eligible dependent, and for this reason, domestic partners coverage is
provided outside of the Flexible Benefit Plan as a fully taxable benefit. The
tax benefits will remain in effect for College and employee contributions attributable
to the employee's own coverage.
EXAMPLE:
Medical Plan Premium - Employee
Plus Partner $900 per month
Budget/Subsidy - Employee Plus Partner $700 per month
Budget/Subsidy - Employee Only $350 per month
The amount subject to federal withholding, Social Security and Pennsylvania State Tax is $550, the difference between the full premium cost for employee plus partner coverage and the budget/subsidy for single coverage.
IF YOU ARE MARRIED TO ANOTHER BRYN MAWR EMPLOYEE AND HAVE CHILDREN
Dental
Married employees with one dependent child should enroll as one single and one parent & child contract. Married employees with two or more dependent children should be enrolled as a family by the higher-paid employee. The lower-paid employee should elect single coverage on the Flexible Benefit Election Form. Insurance forms will be completed so that the lower-paid employee is a dependent of the higher-paid employee. The higher-paid employee will receive a dental subsidy equivalent to two times the cost of single dental coverage.
EXAMPLE:
Cost of family dental coverage: $90
Cost of single dental coverage: $25The higher-paid employee should enroll for family coverage at $90 per month. The lower-paid employee’s subsidy will be added to the higher employee’s subsidy. The combined subsidy of $50 per month will be applied against the cost of family dental coverage. The net effect is that the higher-paid employee’s pay will be reduced by $40 per month.
Medical
Married employees with children who elect the same Keystone plan should enroll as one single and one parent & child(ren) contract. Married employees with children who both enroll in Personal Choice should contact Human Resources. The College will adjust employee contributions if the married employees would otherwise be financially discouraged from enrolling in a manner that is least expensive to the College.
In this situation, the entire family should be enrolled by the higher-paid employee. The lower-paid employee should elect single coverage on the Flexible Benefit Election Form. Insurance forms will be completed so that the lower-paid employee is a dependent of the higher-paid employee. The employee contribution for the higher-paid employee will be adjusted to the equivalent of what both employees would have paid if they had elected coverage based on the employee contributions on the Rate Sheet.
Please contact Human Resources if you have any questions on these provisions.
CHANGES IN YOUR BENEFIT SELECTION
New Employment Status
You may enroll in the Flexible
Benefit Plan within 31 days of the date you first become eligible. Coverage
will be effective the first of the month coincident with or following employment
at a benefits-eligible level.
Open Enrollment
You will be given an opportunity
to make changes in your benefit selections once each year. This period of time
is referred to as Open Enrollment. Open Enrollment will be held in September
prior to the start of the new plan year, November 1. Notices will be distributed
to all employees eligible to participate in the Flexible Benefit Plan.
Life/Qualifying Event Changes
Benefit selections are fixed for each plan year. The IRS allows a change only if you have experienced what is referred to as a "life" or "qualifying" event. Examples of a "life/qualifying" event which may necessitate a change in your benefit selection at a time other than Open Enrollment include marriage, divorce or annulment, death, birth or adoption, loss of alternative group health coverage or the availability of alternative group health coverage. Having to change providers because a doctor or dentist no longer participates in a network plan is not a “life/qualifying” event. Documentation of the "life/qualifying" event change must be provided to Human Resources within 31 days of the occurrence in order to change your benefit selections.
If "life/qualifying" event changes are not reported within 31 days of the occurrence, benefit selections cannot be changed until the start of the new Plan Year, November 1.
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT
In accordance with the
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, an employee who has completed one full
year of service and worked at least 1,250 hours may request unpaid leave for:
The maximum length of unpaid leave is twelve weeks in a twelve month period. During this time, the employee is entitled to the continuation of College contributions to the Flexible Benefit Plan. If the employee does not return to work at the conclusion of the leave, the College may recover the cost of the health insurance premiums, up to the subsidy amount, paid during the leave.
An employee is expected to give written notice at least 30 days in advance of her/his intention to take a leave. The employee is also expected to provide medical certification in instances where the reason for the leave is the illness of the employee or a family member. Please contact Human Resources with any questions.
Updated 09/10/2010
Bryn Mawr College