During the year, certain changes in your life will allow you to sign up for or change your benefits outside of the normal annual enrollment period. Those changes are called “qualifying life events” and include:

  • Marriage or divorce

  • Birth or adoption of a child

  • Gain or loss of other coverage

  • Change in your dependent’s eligibility status
    • Removing the spousal surcharge is a different process – see below.

  • Change to benefits-eligible status

You have 30 days from the qualifying life event to enter it on the benefits enrollment website. You’ll need to provide proof of the qualifying life event (marriage certificate, divorce decree, birth certificate, gain or loss of coverage letter, etc.) to make the change.

Removing the spousal surcharge during the benefits year:

  • If your spouse experiences any of the changes below, email BenefitsConnection@kumc.edu. At that time, the $50 surcharge will be removed. The surcharge cannot be removed retroactively or a refund provided, so alert the Benefits team as soon as possible if:
    • Your spouse is no longer offered medical insurance through their employer, including if their employment ends.
    • Your spouse enrolls in their own employer-sponsored health insurance and they no longer need to be on our plan.