Benefits

Making Changes

menu-menu-benefits-introduction

Making Benefits Changes

When life happens, certain events may occur that impact your benefits. During your employment at Stanford, you may update or change your benefits:

  • At Open Enrollment: The annual period in the fall in which all employees may change health care plans and add or drop eligible dependents from coverage. Open Enrollment 2016 is scheduled October 26–November 13;

         or

  • After a life event: An experience that changes a person's family or work status. In such circumstances, employees may change health care plans and add or drop eligible dependents from coverage within 31 days after the event occurred.

Qualified life events, include:

Life Event infographic

How to Make Benefits Changes

Now that you know when you can make changes to your benefits, here's how you make changes. Review the list below to determine the best approach to updating your benefits elections:

Online: Log in to My Benefits
Click “My Benefits” in top right corner to log in

Phone: Call the University HR Service Team
650-736-2985 or toll free (877) 905-2985 (option 9)
  • Marriage/Partnership (includes divorce/dissolution)
  • Birth/Adoption of a child (includes foster or guardianship)
  • Spouse/Domestic Partner/Child Gains or Loses Coverage
  • Other Changes (e.g. day care cost change, change in Health Savings Account contributions)
  • Death and Survivorship of spouse/domestic partner/child
  • Leaving Stanford (retiring, COBRA, enrolling into retiree health care)
  • Leave of Absence
  • Employment Change (job status, FTE)
  • New Hire or Rehire (or recalled retiree same year)
  • Become Medicare eligible
31-Day Deadline:
You’ll have 31 days from the date of the qualifying life event to make changes to your benefits. Change requests cannot be made prior to the life event. If you miss the 31 day deadline, you will need to wait until the annual Open Enrollment period or experience another qualified life event to make changes.