Department of Civil Service

NY01-33
PE01-28

TO: State Agency and Participating Employer Benefits Administrators
FROM: Employee Benefits Division
SUBJECT: Annual Update Statement of Management/Confidential Life Insurance Program
DATE: August 24, 2001

Enclosures sent with this memo include an enrollment master list, new biweekly and monthly master rate schedules and individual account information statements which list the applicable coverage, premium costs and biweekly payroll deductions for all employees of your agency who are enrolled in the NYS Management/Confidential (M/C) Group Life Insurance Plan. Please duplicate the rate schedules as needed.

RATE SCHEDULE

The aggregate premium rate for the plan year beginning September 1, 2001, has decreased. The component changes are as follows:

• Approximately 20% decrease in the personal life insurance premium cost
  
• Approximately 10% decrease in the dependent spouse life insurance premium cost
  
• Approximately 10% decrease in the dependent child life insurance premium cost
  
• Approximately 1700% increase in the Accident & Sickness cost*

* Only for employees enrolled in the M/C Accident & Sickness Insurance Plan

EFFECTIVE DATES OF NEW COVERAGE/DEDUCTIONS

For active employees enrolled in the M/C Life Insurance Plan the following dates will apply:

* Changes are effective 12:01 a.m.

State agencies and Participating Employers that prepare their own payrolls must initiate any deduction changes for their enrolled employees.

ENROLLEES NOT ACTIVELY AT WORK AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2001

Coverage changes due to salary changes for enrollees on leave without pay will not take place until the first day of the payroll period coincident with or next following the date that the enrollee returns to actively-at-work status. Do not distribute the account information statements to these enrollees. Please return the appropriate account information statements to the M/C Life Insurance Unit noting that the enrollee is on leave.

ENROLLEES OFF THE PAYROLL OR WITH PAYROLL TRANSACTIONS IN JULY OR AUGUST

Please examine the data on the master list and compare it with your enrollment file and payroll records. Pay particular attention to the data and records of any enrollee who may have been off the payroll for any part of July or August 2001, or for whom a personnel or payroll transaction, including line item change, was processed for that period. Contact the M/C Life Insurance Unit for any changes not reflected on the statements. ALL REQUESTS FOR COVERAGE CHANGE, DUE TO A SALARY CHANGE, NOT REFLECTED ON THE MASTER LIST, MUST BE MADE BY THE ENROLLEE BEFORE SEPTEMBER 30, 2001, AND RECEIVED BY THE M/C LIFE INSURANCE UNIT BY OCTOBER 31, 2001. A COPY OF THE PAY STUB MUST BE ENCLOSED WITH EACH REQUEST.

CHILD COVERAGE

Each enrollee with dependent child coverage should check the child’s continued eligibility. A child is eligible for dependent life coverage only if he or she is a natural or adopted child or stepchild, is unmarried and over 14 days but under 19 years of age, or is a full time dependent student at an accredited school, under age 25, and receiving more than one half of their support from the enrollee. (Up to 4 years spent in military service may be subtracted from child’s age for purposes of determining maximum age for dependent student eligibility.)

Disabled dependent(s) - Unmarried children age 19 or over are eligible provided they are incapable of supporting themselves because of a mental or physical disability acquired before coverage would otherwise have ended.

When an enrollee advises you that his/her child is no longer eligible for dependent life insurance, you should provide the enrollee with the appropriate form (PS 934) to cancel this coverage and adjust the premium accordingly. Upon the loss of eligibility, a child may be entitled to convert to an individual policy, in the amount of $4,000, with Metropolitan Life without proof of insurability. The enrollee must request a conversion form from you.

DISTRIBUTION OF ACCOUNT INFORMATION

Please keep the master list for your agency records and distribute the individual account information statements to your enrollees. If you detect any errors or omissions, or if you require additional information or assistance, please call the M/C Life Insurance Unit at (518) 457-5765 or 457-5778.

M/C LIFE INSURANCE CALCULATOR

The M/C Life Insurance Calculator, available to state agencies via WinFrame, will be updated with the new rate structure effective August 27, 2001, for all new enrollee premium calculations scheduled for paychecks dated September 6, 2001, and any subsequent paycheck dates.