Adoptive parents
Taking a leave of absence
As an adoptive parent, you may qualify for and consider taking a leave of absence through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for your baby. Eligible employees may be entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new child, among other circumstances. To qualify you must have been employed for 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours in those 12 months, from the time of the start of your leave.
Our leave of absence partner, The Hartford, recommends submitting your leave of absence request 30 days prior to your planned adoption date. To begin the process, call The Hartford at 866-315-0809 (reference policy 675446) and have the following information ready:
- Your name, address and other key identification information
- The name of your department and the date of your anticipated last full day of work
- The nature of your leave request
Within five business days of initiating a leave request, The Hartford will mail an eligibility packet to your provided home address. When you receive the packet, review all the documents and confirm the deadline for returning your forms. All documentation related to a leave of absence should be sent directly to The Hartford, not to your manager. While your leave of absence claim is being processed, the status of the claim will be pending upon your confirmation of the start date of your leave. Because due dates may vary, or other issues may arise during the process of adoption, The Hartford will not activate your leave until you have confirmed the start date. Your manager will receive notification of your pending claim from The Hartford. After filing your claim, you should discuss your plans for a leave of absence with your manager.
Using paid time off (PTO)
While you are out on a continuous leave of absence, our Human Resources team will automatically pull and use any paid time off (PTO) that you have. If you qualify for short-term disability, your PTO will be adjusted to account for the short-term disability benefit. If you do not want to use your PTO while out on leave, you must email AskHR@kumc.edu before the date your PTO would be used.
The health system does require you to use your available Extended Illness Reserve (EIR) bank during your FMLA leave (continuous leave only), unless otherwise prohibited by state law. Any EIR taken for this reason will be designated as FMLA leave and counted toward the total amount of FMLA leave you have available to use in the applicable 12-month period.
During your leave
Focus on your family during your leave. You should not work while on leave. Your Leave Consultant and a representative from The Hartford may be in contact with you regarding your leave during this time.
Your benefits while on leave
If you are using PTO or EIR to supplement your pay while on leave, all applicable insurance premiums will continue to be deducted as they normally are. These premiums include medical, dental, vision, buy-up short-term disability, supplemental life insurance, supplemental AD&D insurance, spouse/child life insurance, critical illness insurance, hospital indemnity insurance, accident insurance, legal insurance, ID theft insurance and spousal surcharge.
If your leave is no longer being supplemented by PTO or EIR and you are on unpaid leave, all applicable premiums must continue being paid. Premium payments can be:
- Paid by personal check while on leave; a personal check can be made out to The University of Kansas Health System and sent to The University of Kansas Health System Attn: Leave Administration at 5799 Broadmoor St. Suite 650 Mission, KS 66202.
- Deducted at 1.5 times per pay period upon return from leave until all missed premiums are repaid.
In some cases, you may need to make additional arrangements to ensure your benefits do not lapse:
- Whole life insurance: You are responsible for contacting Boston Mutual at 800-669-2668 ext. 222 to make direct bill payments or set up auto-draft payments while you are on leave. If your payments fall more than 60 days behind, the policy will lapse.
- Home, auto and pet insurance: You will be moved to a direct-bill status and receive a bill for missed premiums directly from MetLife while on leave.
- Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA): Any missed contributions that would typically have been deducted from your pay will be recalculated and split among the remaining pay periods in the calendar year, upon your return from leave.
- Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA): Your contributions will stop while you are on leave. Email BenefitsConnection@kumc.edu to restart contributions upon your return from leave.
- Retirement contributions will temporarily pause while you are not receiving pay from the health system and will automatically start again upon your return from unpaid leave.
Returning to work
Before returning to work, you will need to complete a Return to Work form and return it to our Occupational Health team prior to your return.
How to add a baby to your health insurance
Outside of annual benefits enrollment, you can make changes to your health insurance coverage when you have a qualifying life event, and adopting a child is considered a qualifying life event. You have 30 days from the qualifying life event to submit documentation on our benefits website. New family members, including newborns, are not automatically added to your insurance plan. You’ll need to provide appropriate documentation for the qualifying life event (birth certificate or letter of birth) to make the change. For assistance, call 888-494-9119.
Keep in mind that if our insurance plan administrator receives a hospital or medical claim for the birth of a child, and the child has not been added to your insurance plan during the 30-day window, the claim will not be covered until the child is added to your insurance.
Using Healthcare FSA, Dependent Care FSA and HSA accounts
If you have a Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or a Health Savings Account (HSA), you can use these to pay for qualified expenses associated with the birth of a child. A Dependent Care FSA can be useful to pay for care for a child or dependent adult, including expenses like preschool, summer day camp and day care. See the chart below for more information.
Health savings account (HSA) | Healthcare flexible spending account (FSA) | Dependent care flexible spending account (FSA) | |
Who can open the account? | Employees who elect the HSA Advantage Medical Plan. | Benefit-eligible employees who are not enrolled in the HSA Advantage Medical Plan. | Any benefit-eligible employee. |
Why should I open an account? | To save for future healthcare expenses in 2023 and beyond. Money goes in tax-free, is invested tax-free and can be used to pay for qualified medical, dental and vision expenses. The health system contributes $500 for employee-only coverage; $1,000 for family. | To save for healthcare expenses expected in 2023. The money you set aside in the FSA is not subject to payroll taxes, so you take home more of your paycheck. | To save for dependent care expenses expected in 2023. The money you set aside in the FSA is not subject to payroll taxes, so you take home more of your paycheck. |
How can I use the money? | To pay for medical, dental and vision expenses including deductibles, coinsurance, prescriptions and other eligible expenses. | To pay for medical, dental and vision expenses including deductibles, coinsurance, prescriptions and other eligible expenses. | To pay for eligible expenses at licensed day or elder care centers, nursery schools, day camps and home care with valid tax ID numbers. |
What if I don’t use the money in 2023? | All unused funds roll over each year. | Any unused funds are forfeited. You have until April 30, 2024, to submit claims for eligible expenses incurred Jan. 1, 2023-Feb. 29, 2024. | Any unused funds are forfeited. You have until April 30, 2024, to submit claims for eligible expenses incurred Jan. 1, 2023-Feb. 29, 2024. |
When can I use the money in my account? | Money you contribute from each paycheck is available as soon as it’s added to your account. Funds provided by the health system are available Jan. 1 or, for newly eligible employees, as sson as their account is activated. | Your total annual elected amount is available for you to use beginning Jan. 1, 2023. | Money you contribute from each paycheck is available as soon as it’s added to your account. |
Can I invest the money in my account? | Yes | No | No |
How much can I contribute? | $3,850 individual, $7,750 family. Age 55 and over can contribute an extra $1,000. | $2,850 | $5,000 |
To learn more about a HSA, Healthcare FSA and Dependent Care FSA, including how these accounts work, how to enroll and how to contribute, click here.
Note: You typically cannot have both an active HSA and a Healthcare FSA account. However if you are a benefits-eligible employee, you can have a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA) even if you have an HSA or Healthcare FSA.
How to find a pediatrician
Expecting parents should select a pediatrician before or soon after the adoption of a child. If you are adopting a newborn and the baby is born within the health system, a pediatrician in the hospital will talk with you about when your newborn should be seen by their pediatrician, typically one to three days after being discharged from the hospital. They will assist with the scheduling of your baby’s first appointment.
To find and schedule any future appointments with a pediatrician, call 913-588-1227 or request an appointment online. As a reminder, if you are covered under the health system’s medical plan, selecting a health system pediatrician is the most affordable option of care for your family.
Perks For You discounts for your growing family
With Perks For You, you and your family can save money with exclusive savings and discounts from thousands of local businesses and national brands – including maternity and baby care items. Perks For You is a digital portal that gives all health system employees, regardless of benefits eligibility, and their spouses access to thousands of discounts. Save on baby gear, clothing, parenting classes and even tuition at local daycares, as well as electronics, tickets, travel, transportation, food and more. Sign up for your free account and download the BenefitHub app on your phone.
Family care benefits
The health system offers family care solutions to benefits-eligible employees through our partnership with Bright Horizons to help you care for your loved ones. This benefit is available only in Kansas City.
Back-up care
When you have a disruption in family care, you won’t have to skip a beat. Back-up care is available to support you for many needs including:
- Your child’s school is closed.
- The sitter is on vacation.
- Mom or Dad needs support in their home.
- Your child is mildly ill and can’t attend school or child care.
- Your 5-18-year-old needs additional tutoring in any subject.
Benefit-eligible employees can use up to 10 days of back-up care per year. For in-home care, there is a 4-hour minimum up and a 10-hour maximum.
- $15 per child or a maximum of $25 per family for use of center-based child care.
- $6 per hour for in-home care services for any age, from children through elders.
- $15 for up to 4 hours of virtual tutoring.
To reduce your stress, register now before the need for back-up care arises. That way, you can easily secure back-up care when you need it:
- Visit BackUp.BrightHorizons.com
- To register, click “Join Today”
- Use employer username: KansasHealthSystem and password: Benefits4You
- For maximum convenience, download the app: Search “Bright Horizons back-up care”
Call 877-242-2737 with questions and read the frequently asked questions.
Additional family supports
When you need more permanent solutions or additional care resources, you have access to more services including:
- Free membership to a comprehensive database and additional resources to help employees find full-time childcare in a Bright Horizons® center
- Tuition discounts at high-quality partner centers
- A database of sitters, nannies, pet sitters and housekeepers
- Senior care solutions
- Discounted tutoring and test preparation
Visit Clients.BrightHorizons.com/KansasHealthSystem. When registering, use employer username: KansasHealthSystem and password: Benefits4You.
Call 877-242-2737 with questions.
Preparing your family’s finances
The health system and our financial wellness partner, Fidelity, have a robust library of resources to help you prepare financially for the birth or adoption of a child. To learn about their financial planning tools, benefits-eligible employees can log in to their account at NetBenefits.com/AtWork to access:
- Articles on financial considerations of having or adopting a child
- Goal booster tool to help you save for childbirth or adoption expenses
- Help with estate planning
- College savings tools
- Guidance on updating your policy beneficiaries
- Information about utilizing flexible spending accounts (FSA)
- Insights about the financial considerations of being a stay-at-home parent
Establishing a 529 education savings plan
It’s never too early to start saving for the future, and saving now for future education expenses can add up big over time. The health system makes it easy with the option to deposit part of your paycheck in a Learning Quest Education Savings 529 account. This benefit is open to all employees, regardless of benefits eligibility.
Click here to learn about the tax benefits and key features of a 529 plan, how to open a new account, how to contribute to an existing account via direct deposit and more.
