Title 2 . Administration

Chapter 37 . Public Information

Section 135. Benefit selection

2 AAC 37.135. Benefit selection

(a) An eligible employee may select benefit options under AS 39.30.160 during the election periods allowed.

(b) An open enrollment will be held once a year during a period and in a manner prescribed by the administrator. During this open enrollment period eligible employees may add, change, or delete benefit options for the next benefit year.

(c) A new employee or rehired employee has at least 60 days following the date of employment to select benefit options. A rehired employee who was previously enrolled in a benefit year may not select benefit options for the remainder of that benefit year.

(d) Changes in benefits may be allowed when one of the following events occurs: (1) marriage; (2) death of a spouse; (3) divorce; (4) birth or adoption of a child; (5) death of a child; (6) termination or commencement of employment of a spouse or commencement of an unpaid leave of absence by a spouse; (7) change from short-term non-permanent to long-term non-permanent or permanent employment status, or vice versa, by an employee or the employee's spouse; (8) change from permanent part-time to permanent full-time, or vice versa, by an employee or the employee's spouse, if there is an accompanying change in the underlying major medical coverage; (9) significant change in the health coverage of the employee or the employee's spouse attributable to the spouse's employment. Changes must be made within 60 days after the qualifying event or within 30 days after the return to work if the change occurred during a period of nonpay status.

(e) An employee who is on leave without pay of any type at the beginning of the benefit year, or at the beginning of open enrollment for that benefit year who has not previously selected benefit options for that year, has 30 days following the date of the first return to active employment to select benefit options.

(f) Benefit elections must be in a form prescribed by the administrator and are subject to the administrator's approval. Benefit elections are considered made only if received by the supplemental benefits system, or postmarked, within the election periods allowed. If a mailed benefit election form has an illegible postmark or an undated postmark, the postmark date is rebuttably presumed to be five working days before the day the benefit election form was received by the system.

(g) The changes adopted on October 10, 1989 adding some spousal events to (d) of this section and adding (e) of this section are applicable only to plan years beginning February 1, 1990 and later.

History: In effect before 11/7/85, Register 99; am 2/1/89, Register 109; am 5/5/89, Register 111; am 11/9/89, Register 114; am 3/2/90, Register 122; am 11/28/91, Register 123

Authority: AS 39.30.155

AS 39.30.160

Editor's note: The 11/28/91 amendment to 2 AAC 37.135 was not published in the AAC until Register 123, October 1992.