Benefits » Other Insurance » Supplemental Disability Insurance
If you want to supplement your LANS-paid disability plan, you can enroll in Supplemental Disability, which pays a higher level of disability benefits for a longer period. The plan pays benefits if you are unable to work due to pregnancy/childbirth, disabling injury, or illness.
Benefits will start after your chosen waiting period (7, 30, 90, or 180 days) or after you exhaust your required sick leave, whichever occurs later. As with Short-Term Disability, you must be under a doctor's direct and continuous care.
Your cost will depend on several factors, including:
| Combined Short-Term and Supplemental Disability Benefits | |
|---|---|
| Pays | For how long? |
| 70% of your eligible earnings, ≤ $10,000/month |
≤ 12 months |
| 50% of your eligible earnings until you reach age 65 |
≥ 13 months |
Supplemental Disability is not an Open Enrollment benefit—you must enroll in this benefit during your period of initial enrollment (PIE), which starts the day you become eligible.
If you enroll after your PIE, you must submit a statement of health, which is an application that informs the insurance company about your medical history.
If you want to reduce your waiting period, you must complete a statement of health form, which provides the insurance company with information about your medical history.
To request the statement of health form, follow these steps:
For more information on Supplemental Disability insurance, contact the Lab's Benefits Office at 505-667-1806.
While on a disability-related leave, you may continue your insurance coverage by paying premiums directly to the Lab's Payroll Office.
Note: Before you take any kind of leave without pay, please contact the Lab's Benefits Office at 505-667-1806 to ensure your insurance(s) remain active.
If you decide to enroll in the Supplemental Disability plan, you will need to select a waiting period of 7, 30, 90, or 180 days. (A waiting period is the time from the day you are unable to work due to an injury, illness, or pregnancy until the day the disability benefits start. In general, you must use your accrued sick leave first, then supplement any remaining portion of the waiting period with vacation leave and/or leave without pay.)
Because you must choose a waiting period for the Supplemental plan, your waiting period for Short-Term will match it automatically. (No matter what waiting period you choose—7, 30, 90, or 180 days—your benefits are the same.)
| About the Waiting Period | ||
|---|---|---|
| If you are covered by | Disability benefits start after | During the waiting period, you must |
| Short-Term Disability | 7 days (min.) | use your accrued sick leave to cover up to the first 30 calendar days of disability (22 working days, not including paid holidays) before benefits begin.* |
| Short-Term and Supplemental Disability | your chosen waiting period: 7, 30, 90, or 180 days | |
| To increase your waiting period at any time, contact the Lab's Benefits Office at 505-667-1806 or e-mail benefits@lanl.gov.** | ||
*If you have not accumulated enough sick leave, you may supplement the remainder of the required waiting period with your vacation leave and/or leave without pay.
Note: Using vacation is voluntary not mandatory.
** When you increase your waiting period, your disability premium will be reflected in the first paycheck of the following month (i.e., your September disability premium deduction is reflected in the October 3, 2005, paycheck).
This is only an overview of the Supplemental Disability insurance plan. Issues associated with defining the waiting period can be confusing. You may review the information in the Benefits Program Summary (pdf), then contact the Lab's Disability Benefits Office to talk with a disability benefits specialist.
Questions? Contact the Lab's Benefits Office at 505-667-1806.
In August, LANS will make a one-time adjustment to its collection for supplemental disability insurance premiums in order to simplify business operations. Currently this insurance is collected one month after the month of coverage (ie. June coverage is collected in July). This is the only employee insurance plan premium collected after the fact. To make the collection and payment for this insurance premium consistent with all others, LANS will make a one-time deduction in the August 16 paycheck for the August premium. LANS has selected the August 16 payroll to perform this transaction as it is one of the two months in 2007 where employees receive three paychecks. In summary, the July premium will be collected on August 2 and the August premium for the same amount will be collected on August 16.
Q: Why did you do this to me?
A: In the past, only supplemental disability insurance premiums were collected the month after the month of coverage (ie. the June premium was collected in July). It was decided to simplify operations and process all premiums in the same manner. August was selected to perform this action as there are three paychecks in that month (instead of the usual two) and it is believed implementing this "catch up" action then would have the least impact on employees’ personal finances.
Q: Isn't this a change to the terms and conditions of my work agreement, requiring a comment period?
A: No. This change is to improve our insurance premium billing and payment process. It has no impact to the terms and conditions of your work arrangement.
Q: How does this affect my retirement or disability coverage if terminated?
A: It will have no effect. Insurance coverage and premium payments are always reconciled as a part of the employee separation or retirement process.
Q: What if I want to quit this insurance right now?
A: You may do so. However insurance is paid and coverage is provided in full month increments. If you had elected to terminate the coverage under the old method, you still would have had the premium deduction (ie. If you decided to terminate disability insurance on June 3rd, it would be effective at the end of June and the June premium still would have been deducted in July).
Contact payroll@lanl.gov for additional information.