Benefits Information for New Hires

All employees are eligible for insurance if hired into a benefit eligible (.5 or greater and working 1,000 hours). Insurance plans are optional. Health insurance premiums are paid by the employer and employee. Optional life insurance plans are paid by the employee only.

Group Health Insurance (GHI) (31 day deadline)

• Coverage is effective on the first day of employment
• Enrollment through the State of Kansas Membership Administrative Portal (MAP)
• Notification sent from State of Kansas when portal is open
• Dependent documentation required
  • Spouse: marriage certificate or Pages 1 & 2-signatures required of 1040 or 1040a
  • Child(ren): birth certificate or birth confirmation letter
• Documentation in another language: submit in native language and translation
• Employer and employee pays

Prescription Drug Insurance

• Provided with health coverage, no additional cost

Dental Insurance

• May have dental without medical coverage.

Vision Insurance

• For vision hardware. Glasses or contacts. May have vision without medical coverage.

Lab Benefit Programs

• Quest Diagnostics Preferred Lab Benefit
• Stormont Vail/Cotton O'Neil Preferred Lab Benefit

HealthyKids Program

• HealthyKIDS program helps eligible State employees cover the cost of the premiums for their children enrolled in the State Employee Health Plan.

(31 day deadline)

• Certain restrictions apply-may need to enroll in HRA
• Employer funded
• May be employee funded
• Contributions belong to employee - portable
• Contributions roll from year to year

(31 day deadline)

• Employer only funded
• Contributions belong to State – not portable
• Contributions do not roll from year to year

HealthQuest

• Incentive to reduce standard health insurance premiums

Flexible Spending Account (FSA) (31 day deadline)

• Employee only funded
• Dependent Care – Childcare or elder care – may enroll without insurance
• Full Health Care – May use with any plan that is not a high deductible plan or with a HRA – may enroll without insurance
• Limited Health Care – May use with Plan C or Plan N with HSA-limited to dental and vision hardware

Basic Life Insurance-Standard Insurance Company underwriter

• No cost coverage for the employee equal to 150% of your annual salary

Optional Group Life (OGLI)-Standard Insurance Company underwriter

• Guarantee issue of $250,000 without medical if enrollment within 30 days
• Premiums determined by age and coverage amount
• May apply at any time, subject to medical underwriting
• Spouse coverage available
• Child(ren) coverage available

Teachers and Employees Association (TEA) Optional Group The Hartford underwriter

• Guarantee issue of $150,000 without medical if enrollment within 30 days
• Premiums determined by age and coverage amount
• May apply at any time, subject to medical underwriting
• Spouse coverage available
• Child(ren) coverage available

Voluntary Short Term Disability Insurance

• Voluntary coverage for non-occupational short term disability
• Must enroll within 30 days of hire

Benefits-eligible Faculty and Professional Staff participate in the Kansas Board of Regents mandatory retirement plan.

Eligibility: Faculty and Professional Staff participate in the KBOR Mandatory Retirement Plan after one year of service in a benefits eligible position. This one-year waiting period may be waived if specific criteria are met and the request for immediate participation is received within the first 90 days of employment. If you qualify, Form PER-33 needs to be completed and returned to benefits@ksu.edu.

Who Pays: The employee contributes 5.5% of salary in pre-tax funds and the University contributes 8.5% of employee’s salary to the employee’s selected provider. You are 100% immediately vested in this retirement account.

Q. What are the Investment Choices?

A. Retirement plan providers are Voya Financial, and TIAA.

Q. Where can I receive advice?

A. Each provider has financial advisors available to provide assistance. Advisors are available via phone, or on campus at designated times.

Related Information

• KBOR Retirement Plan Information
• Comparison of the Kansas Board of Regents Mandatory Retirement Investment Providers (pdf)

Forms:

• Investment Agreement - Mandatory Retirement Plan (Kansas Board of Regents) (PER-13)
  
• Documentation of Service for Immediate Participation in Regents Retirement Program (PER-33)

All University Support Staff who are hired into a benefit eligible position (regular position requiring 1,000 hours or more per year) will immediately begin participation in the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS). Participation in the retirement system is mandatory for all employees in covered positions. KPERS is a defined benefit plan, meaning when you retire, you will receive a guaranteed monthly benefit for the rest of your life.

Generally, employees hired January 1, 2015, or after, become KPERS Tier 3 members. If you had previous KPERS covered service, you may be in a different tier. For more information regarding KPERS Benefits, visit the KPERS website.

KPERS Tier 3
Who is a member?	All members first employed on or after 1/1/15 in a covered position
Contributions	Employees contribute 6% of gross earnings (pre-tax to Federal income tax and taxable to State of Kansas income tax). Employer contributions are contributed to the KPERS general fund and are not credited to individual employee accounts
Vesting (guaranteed benefits)	After 5 years of participation in KPERS
Full Retirement Eligibility	Age 65 plus 5 years of service OR Age 60 plus 30 years of service
Early Retirement Eligibility	Age 55 plus 10 years of service with a permanently reduced benefit

All covered employees should complete a Designation of Beneficiary form. Completed forms can be submitted to benefits@ksu.edu.

For more information regarding KPERS Benefits, visit the KPERS website.

The State of Kansas, Kansas Board of Regents and Kansas State University offer additional ways to save for retirement. These retirement programs can be started, changed, or stopped at any time. Contributions are withheld from your paycheck bi-weekly.

The Voluntary Savings Plan 403(b)

The Voluntary Retirement Plan offers benefits-eligible employees the opportunity to invest through payroll deduction with a retirement provider approved by the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR). Annual limits are established by the IRS and include a base limit, an additional amount for employees who are age 50 or above and, an amount available to employees with at least 15 years of service at K-State who qualify for a higher annual limit.

KPERS 457 Plan

Deferred compensation is a supplemental retirement savings option which is administered by Empower for all Kansas State employees. The annual contribution limits are established by the IRS. Employees who are age 50 or above may qualify for a higher annual limit.

LearningQuest

All Kansas State University employees are covered under the State of Kansas Workers’ Compensation Insurance provided through the State Self Insurance Fund (SSIF). The university pays the cost of this coverage. Anytime an employee has a work-related incident or injury it must be reported to through the Electronic Incident Report as soon as possible. The reporting form and additional instructions can be found on the Human Resources Workers Compensation website.

Injuries Requiring Medical Attention

Emergency

Life or limb‐threatening emergency situations require immediate medical attention from the closest medical facility. Injuries such as broken bones, profuse bleeding, head injuries, wounds that require stitches, chemicals in the eye(s), etc. are some examples of emergency situations.

Prior authorization is not required for emergency treatment but the supervisor should inform as soon as possible both Benefits Administration at 785-532-6277 and the SSIF at 785‐296‐2364.

Non-Emergency

Before seeking medical treatment in non-emergency situations, the supervisor should contact the SSIF at 785-296-2364.

More information, including Frequently Asked Questions (pdf), can be found on the SSIF website.