Eligibility

Benefits Eligibility at a Glance

New Hires/Newly Benefits-Eligible Employees.

Eligibility to Enroll

Employees hired into a benefits-eligible position are eligible to complete their benefits enrollment as of the first day in their benefits-eligible position.

Eligible employees must complete their benefits enrollment within a 60-day enrollment period (60 calendar days), starting with the date of hire into their new position.

For Enrollment details, visit the Enrollment page.

 

Benefits Effective Date

Medical: Newly benefits-eligible employees have two options when enrolling for medical coverage:

  • Option 1: Benefits are effective the first day of the month after the completed Enrollment Form is received and approved by the Benefits Department, or
  • Option 2: Benefits are effective the date the completed Enrollment Form is received and approved by the Benefits Department
    Note: Premiums will not be prorated regardless of the date your coverage becomes effective

 

Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending Accounts, Life Insurance*, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Disability* and Long-Term Care Insurance benefit elections are effective the first day of the month after they have been received and approved by the Benefits Department.

*May be subject to approval by The Hartford Life, AD&D and Disability insurance company

 

Benefits-Eligible Employees

  • Regular staff employees who are full-time or part-time and have an appointment percent of 50% or greater
  • Term or contract staff employees who are full-time or part-time, have an appointment percent of 50% or greater, and have a minimum three-month term appointment or contract
  • Temporary staff employees who have an appointment percent of 75% or greater and have a minimum three-month appointment are eligible for certain Benefits Plans
  • Faculty members who have a minimum three-month contract and an appointment percent of 50% or greater
  • Adjunct faculty who have a minimum three-month contract and an appointment percent of 75% or greater are eligible for certain Benefits Plans
  • Post-doctoral fellows who have a minimum three-month contract and an appointment percent of 50% or greater are eligible for certain Benefits Plans

 

Benefits-Ineligible Employees

  • Part-time employees with an appointment percent of less than 50%
  • Non-credit teachers
  • On-call employees

 

Eligible Dependents

  • Your legal spouse
  • Your domestic partner as defined and outlined in the UAPPM #3790 - Domestic Partners
  • Surviving Spouses: Your surviving spouse requires new enrollment forms within 60 calendar days to continue current health benefits:
  • Your children up to age 26 (coverage ends at the end of the month of your child's 26th birthday)
  • Your mentally/physically disabled dependent children over the age of age 26,if disabled prior to turning age 26, have maintained health coverage since turning age 26 , and providing documentation certifying disability (periodic recertification of disability may be required.

 

If your spouse and/or child has health coverage as a UNM employee, UNM graduate student, Resident Physician or UNM Affiliate (such as UNM Medical Group, UNM Rainforest Innovations or UNM Hospital Consolidated Group), he/she may not enroll as your dependent while he/she remains an covered under one of these UNM health plans (medical, dental and/or vision) . Likewise, if both you and your spouse/domestic partner work for UNM and are covered as employees, your child(ren) may only be enrolled as dependents under one employee.

If a dependent no longer meets the listed eligibility requirements, you must dis-enroll your ineligible dependent within 60 calendar days from the date your dependent loses eligibility. Contact HRBenefits@unm.edu to instructions on removing ineligible dependents.

 

Proof of Dependency is Required for Dependent Enrollment

 

Dependent Eligibility Verification

All employees and Pre-65 retirees with dependents (spouse/domestic partner and/or children) enrolled in a UNM health benefit plan will be required to provide documents to prove dependent eligibility. Dependent verification documents will be reviewed and upon approval your dependents will be added to your coverage. Failure to provide proof of dependent eligibility upon request may result in the cancellation of dependent coverage.

Examples of proof documents required include but are not limited to:

  • Marriage Certificate
  • Birth Certificate
  • Affidavit of Domestic Partnership and one proof of joint ownership
  • Recent Tax Return Documents
  • Court Documents supporting Legal Guardianship

Provide copies of proof documents to Benefits & Employee Wellness via upload to the Secure Document Submission upload portal or fax to 505-277-2278. You may also submit documentation to the UNM HR Service Center, located at 1700 Lomas Blvd NE, Suite 1400.

If you enroll your dependent in a UNM Medical Plan, dependent social security numbers are required in order to meet IRS requirements and may be requested by UNM Medical vendor or UNM Benefits & Employee Wellness to satisfy this requirement . For more details, see Collection of Dependent Social Security Numbers for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Reporting Purposes located below.

Collection of Dependent Social Security Numbers for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Reporting Purposes

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also referred to as Healthcare Reform, requires UNM to report to the IRS all individuals enrolled in any of the UNM Medical Plans. The IRS requires UNM to provide the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of each individual enrolled in the UNM Medical Plans. In order to meet the new reporting requirements, Alight’s Dependent Eligibility Verification Center will solicit dependent SSNs during the Dependent Verification process.

Please comply with the request for dependent SSNs, as UNM is subject to substantial penalty for failure to comply with the new reporting requirements. Should you need assistance or have questions about Dependent Eligibility Verification, you can contact Alight’s Dependent Verification Center at 800-725-5810.