Benefits
Benefits FAQ
Health Insurance
Health Insurance provides financial assistance in meeting your family's health care needs. You have the peace of mind that you and your loved ones will be taken care of in times of illness. Preventive health care can provide for a longer and healthier life. Health insurance is another important benefit that Mason offers to help its employees.
Without health insurance, your health care costs become your sole responsibility. While the decision to purchase health insurance is a personal one, Mason prides itself on offering four different programs with different costs, provider networks and benefits to help meet your family's health care needs. With health care costs always on the rise, even a minor illness could cost you more than your annual premium.
The Commonwealth of Virginia provides health insurance coverage to full-time employees and part-time faculty and classified staff who work at least 30 hours a week, as well as their eligible dependents.
Faculty and Staff who work a minimum of 20 hours but less than 30 hours per week are also eligible for health insurance but pay the Total Premium (Employer and Employee portions), payroll-deducted on a pre-tax basis.
The Commonwealth of Virginia and George Mason University do not formally offer health insurance to part-time employees who work less than 30 hours a week. Employees and their dependents may enroll in one of the individual and family health insurance plans. The employee will be responsible for paying the entire insurance premium if they and/or their dependents enroll in one of the health plans. Payroll deduction is not available for these premium payments. The insurance company can direct bill you on a monthly basis.
Eligible employees have three opportunities to enroll, within the first 30 days of employment, during annual open enrollment or within 60 days of a qualifying life event.
First 30 Days of Employment
Employees must enroll within 30 days of employment. Employees who waive health insurance when first hired, can only elect coverage under a qualifying event or during the annual open enrollment. Coverage is effective on the first of the month coinciding with or following the date of employment.
Annual Open Enrollment
Each spring, the state holds an annual health insurance Open Enrollment period to allow employees to change their health plan/options or membership levels. HR & Payroll communicates open enrollment dates to the university community.
Within 60 Days of a Qualifying Event
Membership changes can be made within 60 days of a qualifying mid-year event and will take effect on the first of the month following receipt of a completed enrollment form. If you don/t qualify for the state-sponsored plan but need health insurance coverage, see the information on available direct pay insurance plans.
To learn more, please visit our health insurance page.
You should receive your welcome packet and health insurance card information within 10-14 business days after the effective date of your coverage and it will be mailed directly to you from the provider to the address you had listed on your enrollment form.
Should you need to contact Cova Care after the effective date but before you receive your welcome packet and id card, you can call Cova Care at 1-800-552-2682 or https://www.anthem.com/ The group id number is 12000000. Your plan id number is YTX(then your state id number)XU.
Should you need to contact Kaiser Permanente after your effective date but before you receive your welcome packet, you can contact Kaiser Permanente at either http://my.kp.org/commonwealthofvirginia/ or member services at 800-777-7902 (DC only 301-468-6000) Each person covered by Kaiser must select a primary care physician.
Should you need to contact Cova Health Aware after the effective date but before you receive your welcome packet and id card, you can call Aetna at 855-414-1901 or www.covahealthaware.com Your plan id number is 00(then your state id number).
Another good link for information about your benefits is the Virginia state site at http://www.dhrm.virginia.gov/healthcoverage. There is a ton of information on this site, including plan specific flyers and the Spotlight on Your Benefits brochure that was provided to you during your new hire orientation.
For more information, visit our Life Changes page.
For more information, visit our Life Changes page.
For more information, visit our Life Changes page.
The provider mails out one card to the participant of the plan. If you need additional insurance cards, you would need to order them by calling your respective insurance provider. For COVA Care (Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield), contact 800-552-2682. For COVA HealthAware (Aetna), contact 855-414-1901. For Kaiser Permanente HMO, contact 800-777-7902.
Your child will no longer be covered under your health insurance policy through GMU at the end of the year he/she turns 26. That means that the last day of coverage is 12/31. The State will automatically remove your child, but will notify you approximately 6 to 8 weeks in advance of 12/31. Along with the notice, you will receive a letter explaining what it would cost for your child to continue with the same coverage. If your child chooses to continue with the same plan, your child will have to pay the entire cost; there is no contribution from George Mason. Your child may choose to explore other coverage options… a policy from his/her employer if employed or a policy from healthcare.gov.
If you turn 65 and are still working you may enroll in Medicare Part A. It is extra Hospitalization coverage and there is no premium. You should NOT enroll in Medicare Part B, the doctor coverage, because you have coverage with your Mason health plan as an active employee. Also, Medicare Part B has a premium. You can find more details on the medicare website.
No, the dental and vision plans are only available if you also participate in a health care plan.
No, all family members will be on the same health care plan.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) is a tax-saving benefit that allows you to set aside a certain amount of money to pay for future out-of-pocket medical expenses (Health Care FSA) or dependent medical expenses (Dependent Care FSA). You can contribute to one or both of these account types. You may want to consult with a tax advisor when determining the annual amount to contribute.
You may enroll in an FSA even if you are not enrolled in a health insurance plan. Please note that FSAs do not carry over year to year, so you must re-enroll each year during open enrollment to have access to your FSA in the next plan year.*
For detailed information about FSAs, refer to the FSA Sourcebook and Spotlight on Your Benefits.
*Note: Open enrollment is not the only time you can enroll in a Dependent Care FSA. For example, if you have a change in dependent care costs, it is considered a qualifying mid-year event (QME) and you will have 60 days to make an FSA election change.
You may access your account by clicking on the following link: https://inspirafinancial.com/individual/login
For information on eligible expenses, please see the expense guide for FSA Benefits, which can be found by clicking on the Inspira Financial website.
You may be reimbursed for eligible FSA expenses incurred through the end of the month in which you separate. You have a three-month run-out period from the end of your coverage period (end of the month in which you separate) to apply for reimbursement.
Sick Leave
Supervisors have the ability to request verification of sick leave after an employee has been absent for a minimum of three (3) consecutive days. This guidance is kin keeping with Department of Human Resources (DHRM) policies regarding sick leave documentation. The documentation should be submitted to the Human Resources Benefits Office at benefits@gmu.edu or mail stop MSN 3C3, not directly to the supervisor.
Verification Process
When requesting verification, supervisors should not review or retain any documents provided by the employee. Medical information is protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Please do not attempt to verify by calling a doctor, Googling for more information, or questioning the employee.
- Contact Benefits with questions or concerns related to absences and/or documentation.
This process protects the supervisor and the employee as medical information cannot be included in any personnel file.
Questions
Please call Human Resources at 703-993-2600 and ask to speak with a Benefits team member.
If you are under the VDSP you can use your Family and Personal Leave to cover absences needed to care for family members. See the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP) website for more information.
If you are covered under Traditional Sick Leave, you are allowed to use 48 hours of sick leave within a year to care for a family member.
Change or Add Beneficiary
For more information, visit our Life Changes page.
For more information, visit our Life Changes page.
Life Insurance
Please visit our Life Insurance webpage for more information
You can view your life insurance deductions by viewing your paystub. If you have additional life insurance coverage, you will see a deduction taken from your paycheck. If you have our free, basic life insurance coverage – you will see “Basic Life Insurance”, with a zero deduction. More information can be found on our Life Insurance page.
Yes. More information can be found: https://www.varetire.org/members/benefits/life-insurance/optional-group-life-insurance.asp
You may contact Securian Financial at 1-800-441-2258 to see who the beneficiary of file is. The Designation of Beneficiary Form may be updated at any time. When an employee or retiree passes, the most recently dated form is used. A link to the Designation of Beneficiary can be found at their website.
Leaving Mason
Sorry to see you go. Our Exit Process webpage should be able to answer most of your questions. If not, we're ready to help at benefits@gmu.edu.
Retirement
Congratulations on your upcoming retirement! Our Retirement webpage should be able to answer many of your questions.
Payroll date and posting date may not be the same date, so although the funds were deducted from paychecks, Mason does not send the payment to the vendor until the semi-monthly processing is complete. The contribution will post to participant accounts when the contribution file and funding are received in good order.
Employees may take up to 2 weeks of leave immediately preceding their retirement date.
First, you will want to make sure your address is updated in Patriot Web. It will automatically update Cardinal and Inspira, your insurance vendors, VRS, Voya, and TIAA. If you have a Fidelity account, the Benefits team will have to update this for you. Please reach out to benefits@gmu.edu with your requested changes.
You are enrolled in the Hybrid Retirement plan and make a total mandatory contribution up to 5% towards the Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution.
You may make additional elective voluntary employee contributions to the Hybrid Retirement plan (626622) of up to 4%. Changes are allowed each month on the Voya website https://www.voya.com/.
Once you begin making voluntary employee contributions to the Hybrid Retirement plan, you will begin receiving additional employer matching contributions of up to 2.5% depending on how much you contribute.
- You may contribute up to the IRS limit to a 403b Supplemental Retirement plan by submitting a Salary Reduction Agreement form using the dynamic portal (not email).
- You may contribute up to the IRS limit to a 457 Supplemental Retirement plan by enrolling on the Voya website. Changes are allowed each month.
- You must combine the voluntary employee 4% Hybrid (626622) and the 457 Supplemental Retirement plan (626627) together when determining the IRS limit.
- You do not need to combine the 403b Supplemental Retirement plan and you can contribute up to the IRS limit to this plan.
- If you contribute at least $40 ($54 if you are a 9m faculty member) per pay to a supplemental plan, AND the maximum allowed 4% to the Hybrid Plan, you will receive an additional employer match to one of the supplemental plans. The match is 50% to a maximum contribution of $20 per pay period.
- The vendors for the 403b are TIAA and Fidelity. If you are interested, you will need to fill out the 403b Salary reduction form and submit it through the dynamic portal. You will receive a confirmation email once your form has been processed. There is no deadline for the 403b plan and changes can be made per pay period. Please complete the 403(b) Salary Reduction Agreement (pdf) and submit it using the Dynamic Forms portal.
The 457 Deferred Compensation Plan is administered by VOYA. If you are interested you will need to log in to VOYA and create a username and password. Once you can log in, you will be able to enroll in your 457 Deferred Compensation plan (626627). Changes to this plan are monthly. So, if you make changes in March, the contribution amount will be effective starting with the first paycheck in April. If you need assistance with logging in, please contact 888-311-9487.
These plans offer cash match options. If you are a classified HYBRID employee, you will need to contribute the maximum 4% voluntary amount in the Defined Contribution plan first to receive a cash match in one of the Mason supplemental plans.