Life Insurance

NOTE: As of January 1, 2009 The Hartford has assumed the contract for LANS Life Insurance programs. Any claim date after Jan 1, 2009 will be handled by The Hartford. If the claim date is prior to Jan 1, 2009 then Prudential will process the claim.

About Your LANS-paid Life Insurance Benefits

Life insurance offers your dependents financial protection in the event of your death. LANS automatically provides basic life insurance coverage for all eligible employees. If you are eligible, you may buy additional coverage for both yourself and your family.

LANS plans are group term life plans, which mean they stay in effect for a certain term. In this case, the term is as long as you remain an eligible employee. Term life policies do not accumulate a cash value over time.

There are two LANS-paid life insurance plans, Basic Life and Core Life, which provide a minimum amount of coverage. The amount of coverage varies, and you are automatically covered by the plan for which you qualify. The Basic Life plan provides life insurance equal to your annual base salary, up to $50,000. The Core Life plan provides $5,000 of life insurance.

Enrollment

If you are eligible for Full benefits, you are automatically enrolled in Basic Life insurance. If you are eligible for Mid-Level or Core benefits, you are automatically enrolled in Core Life insurance. You do not need to complete an enrollment form.

If you are enrolling in life insurance because of a family status change (e.g., marriage or birth of a child), the beginning of the period of initial eligibility (PIE) will be the date of the qualifying event (e.g., date of marriage or date of the child's birth).

If you enroll after your PIE, you must submit a statement of health to the insurance company. A statement of health is an application that informs the insurance company about your medical history. The insurance company may or may not accept your request for coverage based on the statement of health. (Note: LANS's life insurance plans carry no restrictions for preexisting conditions.)

You may not enroll family members in this plan, nor is it available to retirees.

Beneficiaries

All LANS employees must designate at least one beneficiary for their insurance elections. If no beneficiary is named, benefits will be paid to the first survivor in this list (in order):

1. Employee's legal spouse
2. Employee's children - in equal shares
3. Employee's parents - in equal shares, or
4. Employee's brothers and sisters - in equal shares

If none of these people survives the employee, benefits will be paid to the employee's estate.

For more information on beneficiaries, or how to designate them, go to our

Work Status Changes

Increase in salary

If your salary increases during the calendar year, life insurance coverage will not automatically increase to reflect a higher salary until the following January 1.

For example, as a Lab graduate research assistant (GRA), your salary on January 1 is $35,000. In March, you accept a full-time LANS Regular position and your salary increases to $65,000. Your coverage amount will not change until the following January 1. However, if you have a break in service between your GRA position and the LANS regular position, you are considered a new hire. If your new salary is $65,000, then your coverage amount would be based on the $65,000.

Full time to part time

If you change from full time to part time, your life insurance coverage is based on the full-time salary rate for your position as of January 1 of the current year, even if you work part time. Coverage will not automatically be reduced if your full-time salary rate is reduced.

Retirement

If you retire, you may not continue coverage into retirement, but you may be able to convert your group insurance coverage to an individual policy. Your Benefits Representative will provide you with all the information during your retirement election meeting.

This is only an overview of the Life insurance plan.

Questions? Contact the Lab's Benefits Office at 505-667-1806.