EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Overview

What happens when you get married? What happens when you adopt or have a child? What happens when your dependent child no longer needs/is eligible for coverage? What happens when you begin a leave of absence or a sabbatical? Domestic Partner (Spousal Equivalent)

Preparing to Retire

Overview Retiree Medical Plan Medicare Information Retirement Plan Income Other Retiree Benefits

Terminating Employment COBRA

Other Retiree Benefits

Flexible Spending Accounts

Your before-tax contribution to your Flexible Spending Account ends when you retire from MIT. However, you may continue to submit claims for reimbursement from your account for expenses incurred before the date you retire.

When you retire, you may continue contributions on an after-tax basis to your Health Care Flexible Spending Account under the provision of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). By making after-tax contributions to your Health Care Flexible Spending Account, you can continue to submit claims for eligible expenses incurred between the dates you become ineligible and the end of the calendar year. Your account will remain open until the following March 31st. If you do not file your claims for reimbursement by that date, your account balance will be forfeited.

Dental Plan (Delta Dental Plan)

Dental benefits do not continue in retirement. You will be offered the option to continue your participation under the provisions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA). You will be offered the option to continue Dental coverage for up to 18 months after your retirement date. The cost of this coverage will be at 102% of MIT's full cost of dental coverage for active MIT employees.

Basic Life and Supplemental Life Insurance

When you retire, your Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage will end, but your Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance will continue until age 70. If you retire before age 65, your Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance coverage will continue at the same level in effect on your last day of active employment, and then decrease when you reach age 65. You have the option to reduce or cancel your Supplemental Life Insurance coverage at anytime. However, once you reduce or cancel coverage, you may not reinstate it.

Reductions in Coverage

If you are a full-time employee at the time of your retirement, Basic Life Insurance coverage will be reduced from $50,000 to $33,000 on the July 1st following your 65th birthday. On the same date, the maximum amount of Supplemental Life Insurance coverage will decrease from 5.0 times your final salary to 3.3 times. Coverage is pro-rated for part-time employees.

On the July 1st following your 70th birthday (or your retirement date, if later), your MIT coverage--both Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance--will end. However, within 31 days after your life insurance ends, you may either convert the lost coverage to a whole-life policy immediately or choose 11 months of term coverage with an automatic conversion to a whole-life policy at 12 months. For additional information, call the Hartford Life Insurance Company at (800) 322-6222. For the cost of Supplemental Life Insurance, see the MIT Retiree Rate Sheet.

To learn more about Health benefits that may be available to you from MIT, please see: Medicare Supplement Plan Comparison Chart (PDF).

To learn more about Health and Welfare benefits, please see these web sites:

United States Department of Labor
Health Benefits Education Campaign

Forms & Publications