Existing Seasonal Employees

Eligibility
Enrolling for Benefits
When Coverage Begins and Ends
Changing Your Benefits
Options to Continue Health Benefits for Those on Seasonal Leave Without Pay

Eligibility

The ASEA Health Trust provides benefits to eligible employees and their dependents.

Benefits are provided to permanent and long-term nonpermanent employees covered under the General Government bargaining unit:
- Full-time employees scheduled to work 30 or more hours a week on a regular basis
- Full-time seasonal employees
- Part-time employees scheduled to work at least 15 but less than 30 hours a week on a regular basis who elect to participate in the Plan
  - Special rules apply for part-time employees who want to participate in the Group Health Plan. See the Eligibility section of the Plan Booklet for more details.
Eligible dependents include:
- Your spouse (you may be legally separated but not divorced)
Your children, from birth to age 26
- The Plan Booklet’s Eligibility section details the rules concerning natural and adopted children as well as stepchildren, foster children, students and other dependents.

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Seasonal Employees

Enrolling for Benefits

Seasonal employees must enroll within 30 days of your date of hire or status change (if you transferred from another bargaining unit).

You must enroll for health benefits if you are:

A full-time seasonal employee who wants to elect a plan other than the default plan (Plan A / Full Plan for Employees and Families)
A full-time seasonal employee who wants to participate in the Health Care Reimbursement Account (HCRA)
A part-time seasonal employee who wants to enroll for health benefits coverage
- Part-time employees are not required to enroll for benefits. If you do not enroll, you will not have health benefits during this plan year.
- Part-time employees may also elect to participate in the HCRA program if they elect health benefits.
- If you are a part-time employee and you choose to enroll for benefits, you must do so within 30 days of your date of hire or status change in order to have health coverage. Part-time employees are responsible for half of the total contributions due for benefits.
  - The State of Alaska provides a lower monthly contribution for part-time employees than for full-time employees. Therefore, the payroll deductions for part-time employees will be greater than for full-time employees.

Before enrolling, it is important to take the time to choose the plan that’s best for you and your family.

The ASEA Health Trust will mail an Enrollment Packet to you. It will include information about the plan choices and information you need to log in and enroll online if you choose. You may enroll online, or by submitting a completed enrollment form through Contact Us, by mail or by fax.

You may change your mind after you enroll either by revising your online enrollment or by completing and turning in a new Benefits Enrollment Form via Contact Us, mail or fax to the ASEA Health Trust Administrator within 30 days of your date of hire or the date you change bargaining units, or move from part-time to full-time or vice versa.

If you have been with the ASEA Health Trust and are being rehired to the State of Alaska, you must re-enroll. You may enroll online, or submit your Flexible Benefits Enrollment Form for Full-Time Employees or the Flexible Benefits Enrollment Form for Part-Time Employees directly to the Health Trust Administrator:

Enrollment forms that you do not submit directly to the Trust (e.g., you give to Human Resources or your supervisor to submit) are not guaranteed to be received timely which will result in a default into Plan A, the most expensive plan, if you are a full-time employee. Part time employees that fail to enroll timely will not have coverage. Once your forms have been received by the Trust Administrator, you will receive confirmation in the mail. If you do not receive confirmation in the mail, please contact the Trust Administrator.

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Seasonal Employees

When Coverage Begins and Ends

If you are a new full-time seasonal employee, you and your eligible dependents are covered on the first day of the month following 30 consecutive days in paid status, provided you have health benefit contributions reported to the ASEA Health Trust on your behalf.

For example, if you begin work on October 10, you are covered on December 1, assuming you have no periods of leave without pay and you do not terminate your employment during that time.

If you are a new part-time seasonal employee, you and your eligible dependents are covered on the first day of the month following 30 days in paid status, provided you elect coverage within the first 30 days of employment and you have health benefit contributions reported to the ASEA Health Trust on your behalf.

When you return to work from leave without pay or from a layoff, you are covered starting the first day of the period for which you and your employer contribute health benefit contributions to the ASEA Health Trust unless you defer coverage. Your dependents are eligible at the same time.

If you are a seasonal employee, you may elect to defer your effective date for one or two months. Your coverage then ends on the last day of the month following the month in which you begin seasonal leave without pay. To defer coverage, you must file a Deferral of Health Benefits Form with the ASEA Health Trust Administrator, postmarked within 30 days after your hire date or return-to-work date as a seasonal employee. Deferrals apply only to that period of work. To defer coverage for each subsequent period, you must file a deferral each time you return to work. You cannot undo a deferral.

If you take leave without pay or are laid off, your coverage ends on the last day of the month in which you were last in paid status, unless you have filed a deferral.

For example, if you worked or were on paid leave status on January 15 and then placed on leave without pay or laid off, your coverage ends on January 31.

If you end employment or move to a nonparticipating unit, your coverage ends on the last day of the month in which you worked or were moved out of this bargaining unit, unless you have a deferral on file.

For example, if your last day worked is May 15, your coverage ends on May 31.

Coverage for dependents ends on the same day that your coverage ends, with a few exceptions.

See the When Coverage Begins section of this site or the Eligibility section of the Plan Booklet for more information.

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Seasonal Employees

Changing Your Benefits

Normally, you may only change your benefit selections during Open Enrollment. If you are on seasonal leave during Open Enrollment, you should still enroll, because your elected benefits will begin when you return.

If your family has a qualifying event at any other time of the year, you may change your benefits by contacting the ASEA Health Trust Administrator and making a new election within 60 days of the qualifying event. If you fail to change your election within 60 days of the qualifying event, you will have to wait until the next Open Enrollment period to make a change.

Qualifying events include:

Marriage
Birth or adoption of a child
Divorce or legal separation
Death of a dependent
Dependent ceases to be eligible or gains eligibility
Loss, gain, or significant change in spouse’s coverage. Exception: HCRA elections may not be changed following a change in the benefits under the spouse’s coverage or the cost of that coverage
Declaration of an open enrollment period by the Board of Trustees
Changing from full-time to permanent part-time status or vice versa

If you wish to make an appeal to change a benefit election you made when you enrolled, you must submit your written appeal along with any supporting documents to the ASEA Health Trust Administrator’s office within 45 days after the first payroll deduction resulting from the Plan election. The Trustees will review your written appeal at their next regularly scheduled appeals meeting, and send you a notification letter within 30 days following their decision.

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Seasonal Employees

Options to Continue Health Benefits for Those on Seasonal Leave Without Pay

If you are a seasonal employee, your health coverage eligibility ends when you are on seasonal leave without pay. To continue health coverage, you have the following options:

Elect the low option seasonal COBRA plan
As a seasonal employee, you are eligible to continue coverage through a Low Option Plan. This plan covers the employee only and offers medical coverage only. Contact the ASEA Health Trust Administrator's office for pricing.
Enroll in another group health plan
You may be eligible to enroll in coverage under another group health plan (like a spouse's plan), if you request enrollment within 30 days of the loss of coverage. If you or your dependent chose to elect COBRA continuation coverage instead of enrolling in another group health plan for which you're eligible, you'll have another opportunity to enroll in the other group health plan within 30 days of losing your COBRA continuation coverage.
Continue your current coverage under COBRA continuation coverage
The ASEA Health Trust Administrator will mail information about COBRA to you when your active coverage ends. Coverage under the COBRA plans is identical to the coverage provided to active employees.
Obtain coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace
Instead of enrolling in COBRA continuation coverage, there may be other more affordable coverage options for you and your family through the Health Insurance Market Place. Some of these options may cost less than COBRA continuation coverage. The Marketplace offers "one-stop shopping" to find and compare private health insurance options. Visit www.HealthCare.gov for more information about coverage offered through the Marketplace.

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