Flexible Credits & Options Overview
Management and Professional Staff
Enrolment
Biennial Re-Enrolment
Eligible employees enrol in the Flexible Group Benefits Plan when they are first hired and Flex Option choices remain in place until the next re-enrolment period. Re-enrolment periods occur every odd year. Re-enrolments are effective every odd year: Jan. 1, 2023, Jan. 1, 2025, Jan. 1, 2027, etc. The next re-enrolment period will be effective January 1, 2023.
Self-Service Enrolment
The self-service enrolment tool (for either initial enrolment or re-enrolment) will calculate your Health and Dental annual price tags and excess flex credits available based on your dependent status and Flex Options selected. You will have the opportunity to consider different scenarios prior to submitting your choices.
Qualified Life Events
If you experience a Qualified Life Event (for example, birth of a child, marriage, divorce, substantial gain/loss of spousal coverage), you need to update your personal information to ensure your benefits accurately reflect your family status. Credits may be impacted by some life events.
Flexible Credits and Options Overview
The flexible group benefit plan is comprised of three components: flexible options and spending accounts, core benefits, and voluntary benefits. Each benefit component has a variety of options to choose that best suits individual needs.
Flex Options and Spending Accounts
- Health (five Options to choose from) - flex credits are used to pay for Health
- Dental (five Options to choose from) - flex credits are used to pay for Dental
- If the annual price of health and dental options selected cost less than your annual flex credits, excess credits can be allocated to a health spending and/or wellness spending account
- Basic Life (three Options to choose from) - you pay for this benefit through payroll deductions
- Long Term Disability (three Options to choose from) - you pay for this benefit through payroll deductions. If you become disabled and your long term disability is approved, your benefit payment will be non taxable
Base Benefit
Basic Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) principal sum of $100,000 for all Management and Professional Staff members without having to provide any medical evidence of insurability. The benefit provides 24-hour coverage should you experience an accident resulting in death or serious injury. The amount that is paid will depend on the type of injury.
The premiums for this coverage is fully paid for by the University of Calgary.
Voluntary Benefits
Available on a voluntary basis for you and/or your family:
- Optional Life Insurance
- Voluntary Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D)
- Voluntary Critical Illness (CI)
You pay for these benefits through payroll deductions. Medical evidence is required for some benefits.
Flexible Benefits Enrolment Rules
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Your Flex Choices will be locked until the next MaPS Flex Re-enrolment date.
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Re-enrolment periods are every two years effective Jan. 1 of each odd year (e.g. 2021, 2023)
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You may change your choices if you experience a qualified Life Event (e.g. birth of a child, marriage, divorce, substantial gain/loss of spousal or common-law coverage), in which case you have 31 days to enter your qualified Life Event in Self-Service, referring to the Life Event section for details.
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Flex credits are provided to you based on your dependent status and are applied to the cost of your Health and Dental choices.
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You must enrol according to your true dependent status – Single, Couple or Family. Single means you have no spouse (married or common-law) and have no eligible dependent children. Couple means you have only one eligible dependent (spouse or one child). Family means you have more than one eligible dependent.
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You must select one Health and one Dental Flex Option. You cannot waive coverage even if you are covered under your spouse's group insurance plan.
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You must designate whether excess flex credits, if available, are to be allocated to the non-taxable Health Spending Account, or the taxable Wellness Spending Account or a portion to both and specify the dollar value. All credits will automatically default to the Health Spending Account.
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You must select one Basic Life Flex Option. You cannot waive coverage.
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Medical evidence is not required at initial enrolment or if you select a higher Basic Life Option when you experience a qualified Life Event.
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You will be required to provide medical evidence of insurability to move to a higher Basic Life Option at Re-enrolment—e.g. moving from Option 1 to Option 2 or moving from Option 2 to Option 3.
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The cost of providing medical evidence is your responsibility.
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You must select one Long Term Disability Flex Option. You cannot waive coverage.
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Medical evidence is not required at initial enrolment or if you select a higher Long Term Disability Option when you experience a qualified Life Event.
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You will be required to provide medical evidence of insurability to move to a higher Long Term Disability Option at Re-enrolment; e.g. moving from Option 1 to Option 2 or moving from Option 2 to Option 3.
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The cost of providing medical evidence is your responsibility.
- All employees receive $100,000 in coverage.
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You may select any or all of these benefit coverages at initial enrolment or at any time, providing you remain eligible to participate in the benefit plan.
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Medical evidence of insurability is required for all amounts of Optional Employee and/or Spousal Life.
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Medical evidence of insurability is not required for Optional Child Life, Optional Employee and/or Spousal AD&D.
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Medical evidence of insurability is not required for employee and spousal Voluntary Critical Illness up to the guaranteed amounts provided you apply within 31 days of becoming a new MaPS employee, or within 31 days of certain life events including (marriage or meeting the definition of common-law spouse and birth/adoption of first child).
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Medical evidence of insurability is required for employee and spousal Voluntary Critical Illness for all levels of coverage above the guaranteed amount or in all situations other than those stated above.
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The cost of providing medical evidence is your responsibility.
Basic Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D)
As an eligible MaPS employee, you are automatically insured for Basic AD&D coverage.
Flexible Benefits and Options Overview
Health and Dental Options
There are different coverage options for health and dental care. This allows employees to chose the plan that best suits their individual needs.
Voluntary Benefits
Voluntary Critical Illness (CI) (Employee and Spousal)
Voluntary Critical Illness Insurance is designed to cover the gap between Disability insurance and Life insurance. Due to medical advances, people are now surviving what were once terminal illnesses. Survival may, however, create very substantial lifestyle changes which carry a heavy financial cost. Critical Illness can ease these costs. In the event of a specified illness being diagnosed, a non-taxable lump sum benefit is payable. There are no restrictions on how these funds are used once received.
- Coverage is available for employees and for spouses.
- Coverage can be purchased in units of $1,000 up to a maximum of $225,000.
- Coverage is available up to age 70.
Voluntary Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D)
This coverage is available to employees and/or spouses and provides on and off the job, 24-hour coverage for death, dismemberment, paralysis, loss of sight, speech, and hearing resulting from an accident, as well as many other value added benefits.
Coverage can be purchased in units of $1,000 to a maximum of $250,000.
The monthly cost for voluntary AD&D is $0.014 per $1,000 of coverage. The cost for this benefit is your responsibility and is paid via payroll deductions.
You may select Voluntary AD&D coverage during initial enrolment or re-enrolment through the self-service tool or at any time during by contacting benefits@ucalgary.ca
Optional Life Insurance
Learn more about the optional life insurance available to MaPS.
Frequently Asked Questions
You are eligible to be covered under the MaPS Flexible Group Benefits Plan if you are on
- a regular appointment working at least 0.4 FTE
- a limited term appointment for a term 6 months or greater working at least 0.4 FTE
- a fixed term appointment for a term 6 months or greater working at least 0.4 FTE
- a temporary relief appointment for a term 6 months or greater working at least 0.4 FTE
Note: temporary relief appointments are not eligible for Long Term Disability benefits
Employees in Qatar are not eligible to participate in the MaPS Flexible Group Benefits Plan. MaPS employees in Qatar have core coverage equivalent to Health Option 3 and Dental Option 3 in addition to coverage under the Canadian Expatriate Medical Care plan.
The University of Calgary will provide the same amount of credits based on your dependent status regardless if you are working full-time or part-time as long as you are considered an eligible employee.
For new hire MaPS employees:
If you do not make and submit your option selections by the deadline, identified when you are invited to enroll in self-service, you will be defaulted into the following coverage levels:
- Life Insurance - Option 2
- Long Term Disability - Option 1
- Health - Option 3 with single coverage
- Dental - Option 3 with single coverage
- Any available excess Flex Credits will be allocated to your Health Spending Account (HSA)
For MaPS employees at re-enrolment:
If you do not make and submit your option selections by the re-enrolment deadline, you will be defaulted into your current coverage levels and any excess flex credits will automatically be allocated to the Health Spending Account. You will not be allowed to change your coverage levels or excess credit allocations until the next re-enrolment, unless you incur a qualified Life Event.
You will have the opportunity at re-enrolment to choose different Flex Options to meet your changing needs. You will receive an email notifying you to re-enrol.
The choices you make will be locked in until the next re-enrolment period which occurs every two years effective January 1 of each odd year. An automatic refresh of the flexible credits for MaPS, including excess credits, occurs on January 1 of even years.
If the Flex Options you’ve chosen still work for you when it’s time to re-enrol, you need to confirm your selections and allocate any excess credits. Should you experience a qualified Life Event before it’s time to re-enrol, you may change your options within 31 days of the qualified event.
You have 31 days from the date of a qualified Life Event to access benefits self-service and update your information.
As a result of these Life Events you will be eligible to choose new Flex Options. You are not required to make a new choice, but if you feel that the existing options are no longer best for your new situation, you can make a new selection.
- Adding a dependent through marriage, common-law relationship,
- The birth/adoption of a child,
- Losing a spouse through separation, divorce or death,
- Substantial gain or loss of spousal benefit coverage
- Change in dependent – when one no longer becomes eligible if there is a change in family status
- Death of a dependent child if there is a change in family status
If your dependent status and/or options change, your excess flex credits will be adjusted. Any unspent current year credits at the time of the event will be forfeited and will be replaced with new pro-rated credits.
Change in Dependent Status Only:
For the following situations, you are not eligible to change your Flex Option selections, but you will need to confirm or change a dependents’ status:
- A dependent losing eligibility (for example, a dependent reaches the age of 25 and is no longer covered, but you still have more than 1 eligible dependent)
- To confirm your dependent child that is over age 21 is still enrolled in an accredited educational institution
If you experience a dependent status change that isn’t a qualified life event flex credits will not be adjusted until the following January 1st.
You must enrol according to your true Dependent Status:
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Single - means you are single with no spouse (married or common-law) and have no eligible dependent children.
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Couple – means you either have a spouse (married or common-law) OR have only one eligible dependent child.
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Family – means either you have a spouse (married or common-law) with at least one eligible dependent child; OR are single (no spouse) with at least 2 eligible dependent children.
Eligible dependents include:
- Your legal spouse or common-law spouse (whom you have lived with for at least one year). You can only insure one spouse at a time.
- Your unmarried, unemployed dependent children including natural, adopted, or step children. Children of your common law spouse may be covered if they are living with you.
Dependent children must be:
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Under age 21
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Under age 25 if a full-time student attending an accredited educational institution, college or university
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Became totally and permanently incapacitated (due to a mental or physical disability) for a continuous period while still considered to be a Dependent under points 1 or 2 above .
You should review your beneficiary designation to be sure that it reflects your current intent. If your beneficiary dies before you or if there is no designated beneficiary, the benefit is payable to your estate. If one of your dependents dies while insured, the amount of the benefit will be paid to you. Once you have enrolled, make sure to send the paper beneficiary form to Human Resources as it is required in the event of a claim.
To learn more about death benefits and how they work see Beneficiary Designation Frequently Asked Questions.