Employer Update

The sign-up process for the health insurance plan has changed for retiring state employees and those on long-term disability.

Retiring state employees and employees who are transitioning to long-term disability must sign up for their DHRM-administered health insurance benefits directly through their online Cardinal member accounts. Employees must apply for the State Retiree Health Benefits Program within 31 days of their last day of employment.

Retiring Employees:

• Before retiring, members should make sure that their personal email addresses are associated with their myVRS accounts. VRS will then provide this information to DHRM.
• Employers also will need to work with retiring members to let them know that they can enroll in their retirement health benefits through Cardinal employee self-service. Members should verify their personal email addresses in Cardinal so they will have uninterrupted access to manage their health benefits in retirement.
• When an employee retires, employers will enter the effective retirement date and switch the email option in Cardinal to the personal email address provided by the employee.

Employees on LTD

• Employees who have transitioned to long-term disability must register their personal email addresses in Cardinal. They will use the self-service portal to enroll in health insurance.

Next spring: DHRM will notify existing retirees of the shift to online health benefits management during the health benefits open enrollment period and provide guidance on how to register in Cardinal.

Refer to the VRS Retirement and LTD Processes for Human Resource and Benefits Administratorsfor a detailed look at the new workflow.