MySLC

Eligibility

• Contractual tenure-line faculty
• Regularly appointed staff who work at least 21 hours per week for at least 9 months per year. 

Eligible employees hired before July 1, 2005 and aged 40 and above on July 1, 2005:

These employees who retire at age 65 or above must apply for Medicare Parts A and B. Upon retirement at normal retirement age (65), as defined in the Retirement Policy, provided you have completed 10 years of service with the College and are insured under a College-sponsored or College-subsidized medical plan, as an active employee (and your spouse or eligible partner was insured if applicable) immediately preceding retirement, the College will subsidize the cost of the employee and his/her spouse or eligible partner in a Medicare Supplement plan. There may be no interruption in coverage between the employee's coverage while working at the College and their enrollment in the subsidized health insurance plan.  In the event of your death during retirement years, if your spouse or eligible partner was covered on your medical insurance policy prior to and during retirement, the College will continue the subsidy for your spouse or eligible partner, until he or she remarries. Information about the amount of the college’s contribution (subsidy) to these plans is available in Human Resources.

Employees who retire between age 55 and 65, who have completed 10 years of service with the College, and are insured as active employees immediately preceding retirement, may continue membership in the active employee health plan, at their own cost, until the retiree reaches age 65, or until the completion of the retiree or the dependent’s COBRA eligibility -- whichever is later. Upon reaching age 65 (or the completion of COBRA eligibility) the retiree and or spouse must find alternative coverage. In the event of your death during retirement years, if your spouse or eligible partner was covered on your medical insurance policy prior to and during retirement, your spouse or eligible partner may continue membership at his or her own expense until he or she remarries, reaches age 65, or completes COBRA eligibility, after which he or she must find alternative coverage.

Eligible employees who are hired on or after July 1, 2005, or eligible employees hired before July 1, 2005 who were under age 40 on July 1, 2005:

After one year of eligible service, the college will open a medical investment account (VEBA) and will make monthly contributions up to a maximum of $1,000 per year. Contributions will NOT be made for spouses/domestic partners. The college contributions will begin after one year of service and continue for a maximum of 25 years. You may choose how the funds are invested from among the TIAA-CREF Funds offered. College contributions will only be available to you (will vest) when you retire from SLC at age 65 or later with 10 years of service. When you retire you may purchase the Emeriti Medicare Supplement Plan or you may use the funds for other medical expenditures or to purchase a different Medicare Supplemental Plan.

The Medical Coverage in Retirement policy is subject to change at any time.

The College currently offers two post-retirement health insurance benefits through Emeriti, a consortium of higher education institutions:

• One benefit provides a defined subsidy for a specific group of eligible retirees who enroll in an Emeriti Medicare Advantage program upon retirement from the College.  The group of employees eligible to receive this benefit must have been hired before July 1, 2005 and aged 40 or above as of that date.  

• The second post-retirement benefit is provided to the rest of the College’s benefits-eligible regular employees, as defined by the College’s policy, for whom the College deposits $1,000 per year into a VEBA (healthcare reimbursement account). This account is currently invested with TIAA prior to retirement, and may be used during retirement for eligible medical expenses.

• For many years, Emeriti has contracted with TIAA for recordkeeping and investment services for both the subsidized medical and the VEBA benefits, and with CBIZ for third party administrator and claims processing for the retirees enrolled in an Emeriti plan. 

• Over the last year, Emeriti undertook an RFP process and, effective January 1, 2025, will contract with OneBridge for the recordkeeping, investment management and third party administrator function previously held by TIAA and CBIZ. 

• There is no change to the structure or level benefits provided under the College’s post-retirement health insurance policy as a result of this change in Emeriti’s vendors.

As a matter of its appropriate due diligence, Emeriti undertook the RFP process for recordkeeping, investment management and third party administrator functions.

• Services offered through OneBridge will be a significant improvement in the end-user experience for current and future retirees. 

• There will be a single portal to use for claims management, enrollment, drawing down on investment funds, rather than retirees who participate in an Emeriti Medicare Advantage plan having to work between TIAA and CBIZ as they currently do. 

• There will be a reduction in cost to administer the Emeriti plan compared to current rates (some of which is paid by employees/retirees currently through deductions from their accounts). This is a benefit to the College’s retirees and current employees who hold VEBA accounts. 

• If you currently hold a VEBA account, that account will be migrated from the TIAA platform to OneBridge in January 2025. 

  • The investment portfolio available for VEBA accounts housed with OneBridge has been created by mapping the current investment portfolio available through TIAA to comparable funds.

  • Employee accounts will be migrated and invested in the same investments to which they are currently allocated. 

  • In the coming months you will receive several mailings directly from OneBridge with the details of this transition and information about how to set up your account login.

  • Beginning in January 2025, changes to employees’ VEBA account investments will be handled through the OneBridge platform, rather than with TIAA. 

• If you do not hold a VEBA account, but are eligible for the defined post-retirement subsidy, there is no impact to you at this time. 

  • At the time of your retirement from the College, Human Resources will assist you with coordinating your enrollment in post-retirement health coverage and creating your account through OneBridge.

Please contact Associate Director for Human Resources, Jimar Estevez, with questions regarding these benefits.