Qualifying Life Events
Employees can choose to participate in any eligible State Health Plan and NCFlex benefit plan within 30 days of their eligibility, such as their hire date. After election deadlines have passed, enrollments, changes and cancellations can only be made during annual enrollment or due to a qualifying life event.
Qualifying Life Events include, but are not limited to:
- Birth of a child
- Adoption or placement of adoption of a child
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Legal separation
- Death
- Unpaid leave of absence for you or your spouse
- Gain other coverage (self or dependent)
- Change in your employment status (i.e. changing from full-time to part-time)
- Loss of other coverage (self or dependent)
- Change in your spouse’s employment
- Dependent turns age 26
Qualifying life events allow members to make certain changes (i.e. add/drop dependents) within 30 days of the event. A qualifying life event does not allow you to change the health plan(s) in which you are enrolled, and supporting documentation for the State Health Plan and NCFlex is required for any changes.
Action needed
If you experience a qualifying life event, you need to closely review all of your benefits and take action where needed (i.e. add them to the plan, update your beneficiary, etc.) within 30 days of the event.
Where to make changes
- Access eBenefits for medical changes and UNC System Benefit Empyrean for NCFlex and UNC System benefits changes
- Enter your NinerNET credentials
- Follow the system instructions for making qualifying event changes
- Use the Document Center for qualifying event documentation (letter of lost/gained coverage, dependent verification)
Deadline
- 30 days from the qualifying life event to submit coverage changes, additions or cancellations, and upload supporting documentation.
- Note: This includes making elections to add newborns to coverage within 30 days of their birth.
Deductions
Premium changes, retroactive refunds, and collections are processed within the next available payroll cycle, per the deduction frequency noted below. If you need special arrangements made to spread collections over multiple checks, please contact the Benefits Office when you enter your qualifying event in the enrollment system.
Deduction Frequency
- Health Insurance: bi-monthly – deducted a month in advance of coverage
- Collection of retroactive premiums: $400 or less over two paychecks, more than $400 over four paychecks
- Other Insurance bi-monthly – deducted the month of coverage
- Collection of retroactive premiums: $50 or less over one paycheck, more than $50 over two paychecks
- Health and dependent care spending accounts: annual amount spread over remaining paychecks