Quick start
If you take a military leave of absence from a university job, you are entitled to choose one of the following two options:
- Continue enrollment in some or all of the benefits in which you were already enrolled, provided you pay the amount that would normally have been deducted from your paycheck for the monthly premiums.
- Suspend enrollment and coverage while on leave, and resume within 31 days of your return to benefit-eligible university employment.
Details on military leave under each plan
- Medical and/or dental insurance
- Long-term disability insurance
- Short-term disability insurance
- Accidental death and dismemberment insurance
- Life insurance
- Retirement plan
Medical and/or Dental Insurance
Employees called into active military duty and granted a military leave of absence from the UM System should be aware of these considerations:
Continue university coverage
- Continuation: An employee may continue medical and/or dental coverage as long as applicable insurance premiums are paid. However, the university’s plans have a specific war exclusion. For details, see the appropriate plan’s Summary Plan Description (SPD) under the forms and guides section of this webpage.
- Ineligibility for dependents on active duty: Dependents, including spouses, on active duty in the Armed Forces are not eligible for the university’s medical or dental insurance coverage. For an individual who meets the requirements of an eligible dependent, coverage may resume within 31 days of discharge from Armed Forces active duty.
Suspend university coverage
- Suspension: If an employee chooses to suspend insurance enrollment, coverage is suspended for the employee and all dependents—meaning coverage for your spouse and/or dependent child(ren) is also suspended.
- Resumption: An employee may resume medical and/or dental insurance coverage upon return to active, benefit-eligible employment with the university, provided you resume enrollment within 31 days of the date of your return. Upon returning to work, the coverage for the spouse and eligible dependents may be resumed along with the employees’ coverage.
Enroll in the military health plan(s)
Employees on military leave are automatically covered under the military health plan when they are called to active duty. Employees may also enroll their families in a separate military health plan for dependents if called to active duty for more than 30 days. Immediately contact appropriate Armed Forces personnel for information related to these plans, or visit .
Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance
Long-Term Disability coverage can continue while on military leave; however, the plan will not cover any loss caused by or resulting from war, whether declared or undeclared, or act of war, insurrection, rebellion, or terrorist act. Employees called into active military duty and granted a military leave of absence from the UM System should be aware of these considerations:
Continue university coverage
The salary upon which benefits are determined during a military leave of absence will be the salary rate in effect immediately prior to the commencement of the leave of absence.
- Automatic continuation of Option A: Since the UM System provides the base LTD benefit (Option A) at no cost to employees, coverage at that level will continue for all employees while on military leave.
- Continuation of Option B: An employee enrolled in Option B of the LTD Plan can continue that level of coverage by paying the applicable premium during the leave.
Suspend Option B
- Suspension of Option B: An employee enrolled in Option B of the LTD Plan may suspend that portion of coverage while on military leave.
- Resumption: In order to obtain Option B coverage upon return to active, benefit-eligible employment, statement of health must be resubmitted and approved. Benefits related to the Option B portion of coverage will be subject to the plans’ three-year pre-existing conditions exclusion.
Short-Term Disability (STD) Insurance
Short-Term Disability coverage will continue while on military leave; however, the plan will not cover any loss caused by or resulting from war, whether declared or undeclared, or act of war, insurrection, rebellion, or terrorist act.
Continue university coverage
The salary upon which benefits are determined during a military leave of absence will be the salary rate in effect immediately prior to the commencement of the leave of absence.
Accidental death and dismemberment insurance
The university’s Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan will not pay for any loss as a result of war, whether declared or undeclared, or act of war, insurrection, rebellion, or terrorist act. Employees called into active military duty and granted a military leave of absence from the UM System should be aware of these considerations:
Continue university coverage
- Employees may continue coverage by paying the applicable premium during the leave,
Suspend university coverage
- Suspension: Employees may suspend coverage while on the leave.
- Resumption: Upon return to active, benefit-eligible employment, coverage can be resumed within 31 days.
Life insurance
Employees called into active military duty and granted a military leave of absence from the UM System should be aware of these considerations:
Continue university coverage
Under the UM System’s Life Insurance Plan, there are no provisions which exclude coverage for death occurring during active duty in the Armed Forces. Accordingly, benefits will be paid while on an approved military leave of absence so long as coverage is continued and applicable premiums have been paid by the employee. The salary upon which benefits are determined during a military leave of absence will be the salary rate in effect immediately prior to the commencement of the leave of absence.
- Automatic continuation of Plan A: Plan A life insurance will remain in effect since the university provides it at no cost to the employee.
- Continuation of Plan B: An employee enrolled in Plan B under the Basic Group Term Life Program may remain enrolled so long as applicable premiums are paid.
- Additional coverage: Employees enrolled in the university’s Additional Life Insurance Plan may not continue coverage during a military leave of absence, but it may be reinstated upon return to university employment as described below.
Suspend Plan B
- Suspension of Plan B: The employee may suspend coverage for Plan B while on military leave.
- Resumption: In order to obtain Plan B coverage upon return to active, benefits-eligible university employment, statement of health must be resubmitted and approved.
Reinstate Supplemental Life
- Coverage under the Additional Life (Optional/Universal Life) Insurance Plan may be reinstated only upon approval of satisfactory statement of health.
Retirement plan
- Death benefit while on military leave: The pre-retirement death benefit provision of the university’s retirement plans will provide benefits in the event that a vested employee dies while a qualified member is employed by the university. The member’s beneficiary would be entitled to receive the pre-retirement death benefit under the plan. For the purposes of determining the pre-retirement death benefit under a univeristy retirement plan, an employees’ final annual salary will be the basis.
- Service credit: Service credit will continue to accrue under a UM retirement plan while an employee is on an approved military leave of absence. This service credit is used to calculate benefits as well as to satisfy the vesting requirements of the plan.
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Reviewed 2023-09-25
