Once an employee has made benefit choices for the year, they may not be changed unless he/she has a qualifying change in family status. The federal law, Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) states that qualifying changes in family status generally include:

• Marriage or Divorce
• Birth or Adoption of a Child
• Death of a Spouse or Dependent
• Employees Spouse Stopping or Starting Work
• Employee or Spouse Changing Employment Status (e.g. switching from full-time to part-time or vice versa, or taking an unpaid leave of absence)

Employees who need to make a coverage change must notify Human Resources in person and complete the appropriate forms within 60 days of his/her status change.

All eligible employees will receive an email and USPS mail notification with information about the Annual Enrollment Transfer Period (AETP). During this time, members can make changes to their health benefits, including:

• adding or canceling coverage,
• switching between carriers (BCBST or CIGNA),
• changing the plan level option.

A complete list of changes that can be made during AETP can be found on the ParTNers for Health website.

Employees can make changes to their insurance benefits using Employee Self Service (ESS) in Edison by following the directions and information in the letter or email that employees receive.

Each year, during the Annual Enrollment Transfer Period, employees who do not need to make any changes to their health benefits, do not have to do anything to continue with their current health plan.