The County of Sonoma will be transitioning its Life Insurance Plans to UnitedHealthcare effective June 1, 2021. Your current Basic, Supplemental and Dependent Life elections will transition to UHC with no additional action required from you.
For the upcoming annual enrollment period, March 8 - 26, 2021, UnitedHealthcare is offering a Special Enrollment opportunity to all eligible participants to enroll in Supplemental Life without providing proof of good health.
Guaranteed Issue (GI)
The GI limit has been increased! During this Special Enrollment opportunity, you can elect Supplement Life insurance up to 3x your Basic Life coverage without providing proof of good health. Any Supplemental Life elections over 3x your Basic Life coverage amount requires Evidence of Insurability (EOI). Your combined Basic and Supplemental Life coverage cannot exceed $500,000.
Examples of Supplemental Elections
Understanding Evidence of Insurability
The Supplemental Life Rates will remain unchanged for the 2021-2022 plan year.
Beneficiary Designation
UnitedHealthcare will accept your current Beneficiary Designation form on file. It is recommended that you complete a new Beneficiary Designation Form if;
- It has been more than 5 years since you last completed your beneficiary designation
- You have a spouse and they were not elected as your beneficiary
- You do not recall who you elected as your beneficiary
If you would like your Beneficiary Designation to be effective prior to June 1, 2021, you will need to complete The Hartford's Beneficiary Designation form. You do not need to complete a form for each provider. UHC will accept The Hartford's Beneficiary Designation form. UHC has two Beneficiary Designation forms to choose from. In most circumstances you will use the standard Beneficiary Designation form. If you will be electing someone other than your Spouse as your Primary Beneficiary, even partially, you will need to complete the Community Property State Beneficiary Designation form.
Portability
At the time of retirement or separation from the County of Sonoma, you can elect to port your Basic, Supplemental and Dependent Life insurance to a Term Life Plan with UHC. To view portability premiums, see page three of the Request for Portability of Basic and Supplemental Employee & Dependent Life Insurance enrollment form.
To be eligible for portability, you must be employed with the County for a minimum of 3 months from initial start of the plan. If you enroll, or increase, your coverage now, your elections will be effective June 1, 2021. To be eligible to port the newly elected amount you will need to remain actively employed by the County for a minimum of 3 months, or September 1, 2021.
Determining your Current Basic Life Coverage
Your Basic Life coverage is determined by your Bargaining Unit. To help you determine your Basic Life coverage, review the Levels of Coverage chart.
Making Election Changes
To take advantage of this Special Enrollment, login to Employee Self Service (ESS) and make your elections along with all other benefit plan changes within Annual Enrollment. The Special Enrollment period ends March 26, 2021.