Long Term Disability Plan enhanced

June 13, 2007 -- The Office of Human Resources has announced a new enhancement to the Long Term Disability (LTD) Plan that offers faculty and staff the opportunity to purchase at a reasonable monthly premium coverage for a shorter waiting period before the start of LTD benefits. This projected change was targeted as step No. 6 of the Benefits Plan for the Future.

Currently, an employee must complete a six-month medical leave of absence that restricts the performance of basic position responsibilities before the start of LTD benefits. Typically, an employee bridges this medical-leave period with salary continuation from accrued sick and vacation days.

However, an employee may not have accrued enough sick days to cover the full six-month period because of length of service or previous illness or injury.

The LTD buy-up benefit is 60 percent of an employee's monthly or bi-weekly salary for the fourth, fifth and sixth months of their medical leave or LTD waiting period.

The monthly premium for this LTD buy-up benefit is paid with an after-tax payroll deduction, so a portion of the three monthly payments and the LTD payments after the sixth month will not be taxed when received.

This benefit and the resulting monthly premium will change as an employee's base annual salary changes. If an employee's base annual salary is $160,000 or greater, the monthly benefit for these three months will be capped at $8,000.

The initial effective date for the LTD buy-up benefit is Aug. 1, and the initial monthly premium will be deducted from the July monthly or second biweekly paycheck.

To be eligible to enroll in the LTD buy-up plan, an employee must complete one year of service. If an employee will have one or more years of service by Aug. 1, he or she should have received an enrollment packet through campus mail the first week of June. Employees with less than one year of service by Aug. 1 will receive enrollment information in the month of their one-year anniversary.

To enroll, complete the enrollment form and return it by June 30 to Box 8002 on the Medical Campus or Box 1190 on the Danforth Campus.

For currently eligible employees, the coverage is guaranteed in the initial open-enrollment period of June 2007. For employees who become eligible after Aug. 1, coverage is guaranteed the month of their one-year anniversary. Outside of those periods, employees must complete a statement of health and be approved by Unum Provident, the insurer of the LTD plan.

Thirty-minute informational sessions on the LTD buy-up benefit are scheduled for:

Danforth Campus

Simon Hall, Room 113

• June 20, 10 a.m.
• June 26, 2 p.m.

Medical Campus

Cori Auditorium, McDonnell Science Building

• June 19, 10 a.m.
• June 21, 2 p.m.
• June 27, 10 a.m.

West Campus

Room A/ B, Library Conference Center

• June 20, 2 p.m.
• June 28, 10 a.m.

North Campus

Room 1312

• June 27, 2 p.m.

For more information, visit hr.wustl.edu.