Benefits A-Z
developed by HR communications

Benefits Eligibility

Important Note about Dependents' Benefits Eligibility

Plans are underway for a benefits audit designed to ensure that the individuals enrolled in U-M medical plans as dependents are qualified for coverage. The audit will begin in February 2010 and will be preceded by an amnesty period to run from now until December 18, 2009.

 

Eligibility Chart (PDF)

Your eligibility for benefits at the University of Michigan is based on your benefits group or job/career family, your appointment percentage, and the duration of your appointment.

You may also be eligible for benefits as a graduate student or medical school student, or as a U-M retiree.

If you are a new hire or are newly eligible for benefits, your specific benefits options will be shown on Self Service > Benefits after you complete an I-9 (available at New Employee Orientation or from your department) and your personnel record is created online by Human Resource Records and Information Services (HRRIS).

Benefits Eligibility for You and Your Dependents

Click on a link below to see the benefits for which you and your dependents are eligible.

Your Eligibility

Your Dependents' Eligibility

A qualified family status change allows you to add newly-eligible dependents to your benefits. You must act within 30 days of the qualifying event for the change to be accepted by the University, otherwise you will have to wait for the next Open Enrollment period to add your dependents with the change effective the following January 1.

Simplified Other Qualified Adult Eligibility Criteria, effective January 1, 2009

Under the Other Qualified Adult (OQA) program, a U-M employee who does not already enroll a spouse in the health or other benefit plans may enroll one adult individual for benefit coverage if all of the following eligibility criteria are met:

  • The employee is eligible for U-M benefits; and
  • The Other Qualified Adult, at the time of proposed enrollment, shares a primary residence with the employee and has done so for the previous 6 continuous months, other than as an employee or tenant.

The following individuals are not eligible for participation in the OQA program if they are the employee’s or the spouse of the employee’s:

  • Parents
  • Parents’ other descendents (siblings, nieces, nephews)
  • Grandparents and their descendents (aunts, uncles, cousins)
  • Renters, boarders, tenants, employees
  • Children* or their descendents (children, grandchildren)

*Eligible children of an Other Qualified Adult may also be enrolled. Eligibility for children is defined by the eligibility criteria for dependent children. (see Your Dependent's Eligibility above).

OQA Questions and Answers (PDF)

More OQA information, including Taxation of OQA Coverage

Limitations
The University of Michigan in its sole discretion may modify, amend, or terminate the benefits provided with respect to any individual receiving benefits, including active employees, retirees, and their dependents. Although the university has elected to provide these benefits this year, no individual has a vested right to any of the benefits provided. Nothing in these materials gives any individual the right to continued benefits beyond the time the university modifies, amends, or terminates the benefit. Anyone seeking or accepting any of the benefits provided will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the benefits programs and the university's right to modify, amend or terminate them.
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the benefits information in this site. However, if any provision on the benefits plans is unclear or ambiguous, the Benefits Office reserves the right to interpret the plan and resolve the problem. If any inconsistency exists between this site and the written plans or contracts, the actual provisions of each benefit plan will govern. The University of Michigan in its sole discretion may modify, amend, or terminate the benefits provided with respect to any individual receiving benefits, including active employees, retirees, and their dependents.