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You may elect to continue your medical, dental and life insurances on a self-paid basis when you are on an approved unpaid leave or are laid off from UW employment. You choose which, if any, of the coverages you wish to continue. If you are on an approved educational leave, you may also elect to continue your long-term disability insurance on a self-paid basis (see below).
If you do not continue your life insurance on a self-paid basis, you may not be automatically reinstated when you return to work. Evidence of Insurability may be required before reinstatement. You may continue your medical, dental and life insurance coverage on self-paid basis:
If your leave is fully or partially covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), some of your coverages may not require that you self-pay for insurance coverage. Staff should contact their HR Consultant if you have questions about whether a leave may be covered by the FMLA. Faculty and librarians should contact Academic Human Resources for more information. If you receive written notification that a leave of absence without pay is covered by FMLA, you should email benefits@u.washington.edu for information about benefits eligibility under FMLA.
Long-Term Disability (LTD) insurance is typically not in force while an employee is on an unpaid leave of absence. An exception is that it an employee on approved educational leave without pay can self pay for long-term disability insurance. If an educational leave is partially paid, deductions are taken from the partial salary, and you can elect to self-pay the difference in order to maintain full long-term disability insurance coverage. If the additional premium is not paid, benefits, in the event of a claim, would be based on the partial salary. You can arrange to pay the portion of the insurance premium not covered by your partial salary by emailing Benefits & Work/Life. Employees on other types of unpaid leave may not self-pay to continue long-term disability insurance, but coverage can be reinstated if you apply within 10 days of your return from your leave without pay.
If you are called to active duty military service, special rules apply for continuation of your medical, dental, life and long-term disability insurance benefits. Learn more about eligibility while on active duty military leave.
If you choose to not to continue your benefits on a self-paid basis:
Employees re-hired from layoff who did not self-pay may not choose a new plan or add new dependents, unless an open enrollment has occurred between the last period of coverage and the re-hire date, or a marriage, birth or adoption has occurred.
If you allow your optional (employee-paid) life insurance to lapse and, if on approved education leave, your LTD insurance lapses, you must re-apply for coverage on return and provide proof of good health to the insurance company.
If you are returning from leave and self-paid premiums while on leave, you will receive employer contributions for coverage beginning the first of the month in which you return to work. If you have self-paid premiums for any month in which you are eligible for premium contribution by the UW, you will be reimbursed for any self-pay premium payment. If your medical premiums were not self-paid, coverage will begin the first of the month in which you return to work at least 8 hours.
Leave/Layoff
Insurance Topics
View the Benefits at Layoff Summary for a complete outline of your options for continuation of benefits at layoff.
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