FAQs about Health Insurance

Coverage begins on the first day of employment, or the first day of eligibility. Eligibility dates are generally the first day that the employee becomes full-time (30 hours/week on a regular basis), the day the employee loses coverage under another plan, or the first day the parish begins offering the benefit plan. Eligibility can also occur in certain other circumstances, such as coverage under another plan that becomes more expensive or where coverage terms change significantly. Contact Human Resources at the diocesan offices if you have questions regarding eligibility issues.

Coverage for medical, dental and vision ends on the last day of the month in which the employee terminates. Termination would be the day on which the employee last actually worked, or the end of an approved leave-of-absence. For those who are dropping coverage because they have coverage elsewhere, coverage will end at the end of the month in which they terminate coverage. For those who are coming to the end of insurance continuation, the coverage will also end at the end of the month in which their continuation period ends.

Employees can drop insurance coverage during the plan year if they are transferring to coverage elsewhere. When employees enroll in the medical, dental or vision plans, however, they are enrolling for the plan year. Employees cannot drop coverage during the plan year unless it is to move to coverage under another plan.

Employees can enroll in the medical plan at any time during the plan year, if they are transferring to our plan due to the loss of other coverage. They can also enroll at the beginning of a plan year, if they do not have insurance, but they will be considered a "Late Enrollment". There may be some restrictions on coverage for pre-existing conditions for Late Enrollments. Employees can enroll in the dental and vision plans only at time of hire, or at the beginning of a plan year (August 1), or upon the loss of dental or vision coverage they were carrying elsewhere. If enrolling due to loss of other coverage, they must enroll in the diocesan plan within 31 days of the loss of other coverage, and the enrollment must be effective as of the date the other coverage was lost.

Parishes that do not currently participate in the diocesan medical, dental or vision plans can add one or another of those plans as of the start of any plan year, which is August 1. The plans can be added independently of one another. Parishes should contact the John Miller (608-821-3047) in late June or early July to enroll the parish. Once the parish has been enrolled, then employees can enroll in the coverage.

There is no requirement by the diocese that parishes use only the diocesan medical, dental or vision plans. These are offered to parishes and schools throughout the diocese as an option. If a parish or school wants to obtain their health plan coverage through other sources, they are free to do so. Parishes should be aware, however, that once they drop the diocesan plan there is no guarantee that the parish can re-enroll at a later date. The parish must wait at least 3 plan years to apply to re-enter the diocesan plan. After that period, the parish and its employees will need to go through underwriting by the insurer, and are not guaranteed acceptance. To do otherwise could result in parishes moving off the diocesan plan when they can obtain cheaper rates elsewhere, and going back on the diocesan plan when their rates increase due to heavy claims experience. This would place an unfair burden on other employees on the diocesan plan as high claims are shifted onto them by parishes who opt into the diocesan plan only when their claims experience is high and take out their own separate coverage when their claims experience is low.

No, the Diocese does offer Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability or Life Insurance plans at the parish level. In order to get premium rate quotes for group policies at a competitive rate, we need to be able to provide insurers with a known group of covered employees. We could not do this unless parishes participated on a consistent basis. Parishes are free to obtain LTD, STD, and Life insurance through local insurers, if they wish to provide that coverage for their employees on an employer-paid basis or an employee-paid basis.

Yes. If your parish participates in the church UC program, all employees should be notified and given a UC brochure at the time of hire. A brochure should also be posted where your employment law posters are posted. If employees were not notified previously, they should be given brochures now. You can get a supply of booklets from UC Management Services at 1-800-728-4635.

Yes. If your parish participates in the church UC program, all employees should be notified and given a UC brochure at the time of hire. A brochure should also be posted where your employment law posters are posted. If employees were not notified previously, they should be given brochures now. You can get a supply of booklets from UC Management Services at 1-800-728-4635./p>

No. All posters that are required are available free of charge from the state and federal governments. There is no need to buy any posters. In fact, the poster companies generally are selling laminated sheets that include a variety of different posters, all combined into one large sheet. But, many of those posters do not actually apply to your parish. The State UC program poster does not apply to parishes, for instance, and FMLA posters only apply to businesses with 50 or more employees.

Click here to print state employment posters.

This site also links to the pages with the federal posters. These pages also tell you which employers are required to post each poster.