Health, Retirement and Other Insurance Benefits

Flexible Benefits Plan
    All regular full- and part-time employees are eligible to participate in the Tennessee Board of Regents Flexible Benefits Plan, which is an Internal Revenue Code Section 125 sanctioned plan, whereby the IRS allows certain benefits to be purchased through the plan on a tax-free basis.
    Employees may participate in the following benefits: State Group Medical and Dental Premiums - Employees currently enrolled in the State Insurance Program and the State Group Dental Plan may pay their medical and dental premiums before taxes through the Plan.
    Medical Expense Reimbursement Account - Employees may direct pre-tax dollars to pay for valid medical expenses incurred by the employee or their dependents.
    Dependent Day Care Reimbursement Account - Employees may be reimbursed for eligible dependent day care expenses incurred inside or outside the home, during the plan year to pay for the care of dependent children 12 years or younger who reside in your household; and the care of adults/children mentally or physically incapable of self-care who spend at least 8 hours a day in your household. For more detailed information, consult the Tennessee Board of Regents Flexible Benefits Plan Handbook.

Health, Accident and Life Insurance
    All full-time regular employees have the option of joining the State Group Insurance Plan, which offers term life insurance, special accident insurance and a comprehensive medical and hospitalization program. For the medical program, the state pays 80 percent of the basic medical premium and the employee pays the remaining 20 percent of the premium subject to certain conditions. Employees may elect to participate in the Blue Cross PPO Plan, Blue Select Point of Service Plan, or Aetna Health Maintenance Plan (HMO).
    Refer to the State of Tennessee's Member Handbook for life insurance and special accident schedule of benefits provided.
    An employee wishing to join the insurance program should notify the Human Resources Office within the State Insurance Office's deadline for enrollment. Those not electing coverage for themselves or for dependents upon initial employment and who later decide to enroll can enroll only if a specific event occurs and causes the loss of other medical coverage. Documentation will be required within 60 days of the event. The insurance premium that is paid each month includes payment for Comprehensive Medical, Term Life and Basic Special Accident Coverages.
     If the employee does not enroll during their eligibility period and does not qualify under a special enrollment provision, the employee may apply for health coverage by means of a health care evaluation application on the employee and eligible dependents.  The cost of the evaluation, along with the designated application fee is the employee's responsibility.
    Basic Term Life insurance provides a benefit in the event of the employee's death while covered under the plan, but does not include any paid-up insurance or cash value accumulations.
    The Perma Plan (permanent life insurance) adds permanent features to all or a part of your Basic Term Life insurance: These features include paid-up life insurance and cash value accumulations. Perma Plan is no longer open for annual enrollment.
    Special Optional Accident Insurance provides additional coverage to the Special Accident insurance offered in the State Insurance Plan.
    For more detailed information, consult the Group Insurance Plan's Employee Brochure.

COBRA
    The federal law, Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, referred to as "COBRA," allows employees and dependents whose medical and dental insurance otherwise would terminate to continue the same medical and dental coverage for specific periods of time under certain conditions. The amount of time a participant may continue coverage is based on which "qualifying event" occurs that causes the participant to lose medical coverage. For more specific information, contact the Human Resources Office.

Dental Insurance
    Employees may choose one of two plans available in the State of Tennessee Dental Insurance Program.
    The Prepaid Dental Plan in which the state has contracted with established general dentists to deliver a wide variety of dental services to participants and/or their dependents. Employees participating in this plan must select a dentist from a list of designated dentists. In addition, the plan covers pre-existing conditions, there are no deductibles, no annual maximum limits, no claim forms to process, and no pre-determinations.
    The Preferred Dental Organization Plan (PDO) allows you to visit any dentist you choose and receive maximum savings when you visit a network provider. This plan pays a percentage of maximum allowable charges for services listed in the group policy. When you visit a non-preferred provider, benefits are paid after the applicable annual deductible has been met. For more specific information, contact the Human Resources Office.

Employee Assistance Program
    The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides problem assessment and an action plan within a limited number of counseling sessions. The counseling sessions are strictly confidential and free of charge to employees and their eligible family members to help address a wide range of personal or work related problems. EAP can help with:

    The Employee Assistance Program sponsors anonymous, free Depression and Alcohol Screening for employees and dependents. The service is available by telephone and on-line. To participate in the screening by telephone, call 1-800-433-4468. The on-line service is now available at www.mentalhealthscreening.org/ screening. The keyword to use for this screening is tnscreen. Results are given immediately on-line upon completion of the survey.
    To call for help, the national toll-free number  1-800-308-4934 or TTY 1-800-842-9489. For additional information, contact the Human Resources Office.  You may also refer to the following website www.state.tn.us/finance/ins/eap/eap.html.
     The Frontline Supervisor--is a monthly newsletter for supervisors and rReap the Benefits is a monthly newsletter for employees.  To access go to www.state.tn.us/finance/ins/eap/news.html.  

Long-Term Disability
    Long-term disability insurance provides a monthly benefit to the covered employee during a period of total disability. For more specific information, contact the Human Resources Office.

Optional Universal Life and Term Life Insurances
    The Universal Life Insurance Plan offers a death benefit as well as a savings feature. Premiums are higher than the term life insurance plan because it includes cash accumulation, a loan provision and paid-up features. Also, premiums do not increase as the participant's age increases. Employees may not cover their spouse and eligible dependents.
    The Term Life Insurance Plan offers a death benefit from month to month. The premium is less than the Universal Life Insurance Plan because there is no cash accumulation or paid up feature. Premiums automatically increase as the participant's age increases. Employees may also elect to cover their spouse and eligible dependents. For more specific information, contact the Human Resources Office.

Retirement
    Austin Peay State University offers two types of retirement options to its employees. Clerical and support employees must join the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS); administrative and professional employees have the option to join either the TCRS or Optional Retirement Program (ORP). Both options are paid by the University as a fringe benefit. Membership in a retirement program is mandatory for all regular employees except part-time employees. For more detailed information concerning TCRS, consult the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System's Noncontributory Membership Provision Handbook. For more detailed information concerning the ORP, consult the printed publications that you received from the Human Resources Office. You may also refer to the following web pages www.treasury.state.tn.us/tcrs/index.htm,  http://www.treasury.state.tn.us/orp/orp-1.htm, www.tiaa-cref.org, http://www.aetna.com/index.htm,
http://www.aigvalic.com/valic2000/valicweb.nsf, and http://www.ssa.gov/mystatement/.