Eligibility & Enrollment

OSU Benefits offers a unique service assisting employees at Orientation and Benefits Enrollment, as well as, providing one-on-one support to help you enroll and use your benefits.  Review the 2025 Benefits Guide for information on 2025 elections and the 2026 Benefits Enrollment Guide for information on 2026 elections. 

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Eligibility

If you are appointed to work at least a six month assignment and have 0.75 FTE or greater in an eligible staff or faculty employee position, you may participate in OSU's insurance plans. 

 

All spouses and dependents recognized under applicable law are eligible for university benefits in accordance with the university's plan documents. Review the Working Spouse Rule page for specifics on covering a spouse. 

 

Review the following for more information about eligibility for the university’s student insurance coverage.

 

Under health care reform, all group health plans and health insurance companies (including OSU and BlueCross BlueShield) must offer group insurance to “adult” children who wish to remain covered under our health plan until the end of the month that the child turns 26 years old. This health benefit is not considered taxable income.

 

To be eligible for health, dental and vision plans, your adult child:

• may be married or unmarried;

• does not need to be enrolled as a student; and/or

• may have a separate residence from you.

• may be employed

Employees should carefully review the dependents they are covering on medical, dental and/or vision insurance. During Annual Enrollment, employees should drop coverage for anyone who does not meet the criteria listed for an eligible dependent.

 

When can you enroll?

There are three opportunities when you may make insurance selections. Once you enroll, your benefits will remain in effective for the entire plan year (January 1 – December 31), unless you experience a Qualifying Life Event (also known as QLE).

 

Initial Enrollment

You have 30 days from your first day of employment to make your insurance coverage selections. Your benefits are effective the first of the month following your hire date. We recommend attending an Orientation and Benefit Session to learn more about OSU and the benefits available to you. REGISTER NOW

 

Annual Enrollment

Annual enrollment occurs each year in October or November. During this time, you may make changes to your insurance and add or remove dependents from coverage using the online enrollment system through your employee self-service portal, my.okstate.edu. University Human Resources will send communications regarding Annual Enrollment to your OSU email. Changes you make during Annual Enrollment will start January 1 or later when your Evidence of Insurability is approved, if required.

 

Qualifying Life Event

QLEs are defined by IRS regulations for plans governed under Section 125, like the OSU/A&M System’s health plan. These rules determine when benefit changes are permitted outside the annual enrollment period.

 

You’ll have 30 days from the date of the event to notify OSU Benefits or submit your request through the benefits administration platform. Most approved changes take effect on the first day of the month following the date of the event, except for the birth of a child - coverage begins on the child’s date of birth.

 

Supporting documentation is required for all QLE changes. Evidence of Insurability (EOI) may also be required for certain benefit updates. For details on what you’ll need to provide, please refer to the Documents for Dependent Verification section below.

 

If the 30-day deadline is missed, you will not have the opportunity to change your benefits until the next Annual Enrollment period. Financial hardship and provider network changes are not considered qualified life events.

 

Common QLEs include (this is not a complete list):

• Marriage, divorce or legal separation
• Birth, adoption, or placement of a child
• Death of a dependent or spouse
• Gaining or losing other group coverage (such as a spouse’s employer, COBRA, or a student plan)
• Significant change in employment status for you or your spouse (for example, moving from part-time to full-time or returning from a leave of absence)
• A dependent losing eligibility (such as turning 26)
•  Gaining or losing eligibility for Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP

Benefit changes must be consistent with the QLE, meaning the update must be directly related to the situation that occurred. For example:

 

• If you get married, you can add your spouse and stepchildren to your coverage, but you can’t remove other dependents at the same time.
• If you have a baby, you can add the child to your plan, but you can’t use that event to switch to a different plan option unless specifically allowed.
• If you lose other group coverage, you can enroll in OSU/A&M’s plan, but you can’t make additional changes that aren’t tied to losing that coverage.

Benefits with Year-Round Changes

You can begin, change, or stop contributions and enrollment to certain benefits at any time during the year. No qualifying life event is required for:

• Voluntary Retirement Plans (403(b) and 457 plans)
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA), up to current year’s published federal limits
• MASA Medical Transport
• AFA Cancer Insurance

Changes typically take effect on the next available payroll cycle, depending on timing and carrier processing.

 

Supplemental Life Insurance (Lincoln Financial Group)

Employees may decrease or cancel Supplemental Life, Spouse Life, or Child Life coverage at any time during the year. However, increases or new enrollment in Supplemental Life, Spouse Life, or Child Life require:

• A Qualifying Life Event, and
• Evidence of Insurability (EOI), as required by Lincoln

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Things to Consider

Evaluate the health plans available at OSU. Your choices depend on multiple factors:

• How often you tend to visit the doctor
• Whether you anticipate a change in your health care needs
• Whether you have more dependents to cover, like a new baby
• Whether you take regular prescription medications
• How much the plan will cost you

Look into the voluntary dental and vision plans:

• A vision discount plan typically offers lower premiums, but only for a percentage discount off services from participating eye practitioners.
• Ask yourself these key questions in terms of dental coverage:
  • Do you only need to cover preventive checkups and cleanings?
  • Or do you anticipate needing such services as root canals, oral surgery or orthodontics in the coming year?

Determine if you want to participate in an FSA or HSA.

• A tax-advantaged way to help offset some out-of-pocket medical costs, you can consider opening either a flexible spending account (FSA) or a health savings account (HSA).
• Both types of accounts enable you to use pretax money to cover eligible health expenses, such as premiums and deductibles, over-the-counter medications, prescription eyeglasses, and acupuncture.

Consider other voluntary options like life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, cancer coverage, and savings for retirement and consider the initial enrollment benefits compared to applying for these benefits later.

 

Review dependent eligibility information to determine who you may be able to include in your coverage.

• Consider your dependents eligibility, every year.

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Managing Your Enrollment

You can manage your benefit elections online using OSU's Benefits Administrative System.

• New hires must enroll in benefits online using OSU's Benefits Administration System. 

• You can also use this platform to make qualified life event changes to your benefits at any time.

You can enroll online and/or make qualified life event changes online:

1. 1. Visit your employee portal at my.okstate.edu

   2. In the "Employee" tab found in the top navigation bar, click "Benefits: Enroll, Verify, Qualifying Event."

   3. Follow the instructions on your screen. 

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Documents for Dependent Verification

 

Any employee who adds a dependent to their OSU medical, dental, and/or vision benefit coverage will be required to provide documentation within 30 days of the benefit effective date to verify that the dependent meets OSU’s eligibility criteria for the benefit being selected.

 

The tables below include acceptable documentation for the dependent verification program.

 

Please note, if any required documentation is not written in the English language, you will be responsible for also providing a certified (or notarized) translation in addition to a copy of the original document.

 

Documents label as uncertified copies are not accepted.

 

 

 

Uploading your documents

 

Dependent verification documentation can be uploaded to the Benefits Administration Platform via the following instructions:

• Log in to Employee Self Service, my.okstate.edu
• Select the “Employee” tab
• Select “Benefits; Enroll, Verify, Qualifying Event”

PDFs are preferred whenever possible, as they typically are the clearest. Images can often not be as clear, but may be required for original documents.