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Enroll in Medical Coverage

Need Help Enrolling?

Attend the New Employee Benefits Enrollment Workshop.

When will your benefit coverage begin?

Effective dates for basic benefits

When you first become benefits-eligible, your department will provide you with a benefits enrollment guide, and Employee Benefits will send you an e-mail message with the online enrollment information.

Refer to the map on Base Plans and Zones to verify your zone based on where you live or work. If you live in one zone but work in a different zone, you can choose a base plan from either zone. On the other hand, if you both live and work in one zone, you cannot choose the base plan for the other zone.

New Employees

You need to elect your medical plan within the first 60 days of employment or benefits eligibility. You have the option to change plans within the first 60 days, and the new plan will be made effective retroactive to your initial effective date of active coverage.

You have the option to obtain medical coverage for the waiting period from your first day of employment until your active coverage begins. You need to enroll within 30 days of your first day of employment and pay the full cost of the coverage.

You can elect to waive coverage and not have a medical plan. You would be permitted, however, to add coverage during the year if you were to experience a loss of other coverage due to an eligible family status change.

For Family Coverage

You need to elect your level of family coverage within the first 60 days of employment or benefits eligibility. Your eligible dependents include your legal spouse or registered same-sex domestic partner, and your unmarried dependent children from birth through age 24. To read a full definition of eligible dependents, refer to your Summary of Benefits.

If you do not enroll your eligible dependents at the time you are first eligible, you may enroll them later only during an Open Enrollment period or if you have a family status change.

To Enroll Your Spouse/Same-Sex Domestic Partner

To enroll your legal spouse or registered same-sex domestic partner, you must verify your spouse's or partner's eligibility. If your spouse or same-sex domestic partner works full-time for an employer and receives cash or credits (1) in place of medical coverage, or (2) in exchange for medical coverage with a deductible of $750 or greater, then he/she is not considered to be an eligible dependent under the University of Minnesota UPlan.

To be eligible for medical coverage, you must register your same-sex domestic partner with the University of Minnesota. To register, call Employee Benefits at 612-624-9090 or 800-756-2363.

Open Enrollment/Status Change

After your first 60 days of eligibility, you can make changes to your coverage only during an Open Enrollment period or due to a family status change such as marriage or birth of first child or due to a work status change such as an appointment change from part-time to full-time.

During Open Enrollment in November you can change plans or add or cancel dependent coverage. Within 30 days of a family or work status change, you can add or cancel dependent coverage.

Employee Benefits