Vision
The University of Alaska offers one vision plan through VSP.
Benefit-eligible Employees
Benefit-eligible employees who will be working a minimum of 20 hours per week.
Temporary Employees / Sikuliaq Employees
Check with your HR Coordinator and visit the temporary employee webpage.
Dependents
Dependents (spouse/FIP and child(ren)) can only be enrolled in the same plan as the
employee. Review the drop down for additional information on dependents.
The University of Alaska requires evidence of eligibility for all enrolled dependents. Supporting documents include birth certificate, marriage license, final adoption paperwork, tax returns showing claimed dependents, qualified medical child support orders, legal guardianship papers, etc.
If an employee enrolls in a medical plan, the following dependents are eligible for coverage, as well.
Spouse
The lawful spouse of an employee unless legally separated.
Financially Interdependent Partner (FIP)
Wherever “spouse” is stated in the health care plan, a FIP would also be included
(provided all requirements are met as specified by the University of Alaska).
Health care deductions for FIPs are post-tax.
- FIP Explanation Document
- Statement of Financial Interdependence
- View FIP Tax Rates to see how covering a FIP affects income tax.
Child(ren)
- Under 26 years of age
- Natural offspring of either/both employee or employee's spouse
- Legally adopted of either/both employee or employee's spouse
- Granted court-appointed legal guardianship
- Signed court order granting guardianship to employee or employee's spouse of the employee as of a specific date.
- When the court order terminates or expires, the child is no longer an eligible child.
- Domestic relations order to provide medical benefits as directed by a divorce decree, a medical child support order, or other court-ordered dependent coverage
- Foster child living with the employee
- Signed court order (or other order) signed by judge or state agency which grants guardianship to the employee or employee's spouse as of a specific date.
- When the court order terminates or expires, the child is no longer an eligible child.
- Placed for the purpose of legal adoption in accordance with state law
- Placed for adoption means assumption and retention by the employee of a legal obligation for total or partial support of a child in anticipation of adoption of such child.
Life Event Webpage
Review the Life Event Webpage to understand how this life event affects benefits.
Due Dates
If an employee is welcoming a new family member and would like to enroll their newborn
in coverage, the form must be submitted within 60 days of birth.
SSN and Birth Certificate
Do not wait for the social security number or official birth certificate before submitting
the Life Event Changes Form.
Submitting the Form
When completing the Life Event Changes Form submit
- the temporary birth certificate from the hospital, and
- use 0's for placeholders for the SSN.
Once the SSN is received, please reach out to us at ua-benefits@alaska.edu for instructions on how to add the SSN. Do not send any SSNs through email.
New Benefit-eligible Employees
Review the New Employee webpage for more information on enrolling in coverage. Employees have 30 days from their
hire date to enroll in coverage otherwise employees will be defaulted into Basic medical,
Basic dental, and vision for employee-only coverage.
Current Benefit-eligible Employees - Life Event
Please review the qualifying life events page to understand life events and their deadlines. Late forms will not be accepted.
Temporary Employees / Sikuliaq Employees
Check with your HR Coordinator and visit the temporary employee webpage.
VSP
Vision coverage is provided through VSP. There is one coverage option:
VSP has an extensive nationwide network of doctors who agree to provide vision care and materials to participants at discounted rates. Finding a VSP network doctor is easy — visit VSP's website and click on “Find a Doctor” or call VSP Member Services at 1-800-877-7195.
Online Portal
After an employee enrolls in the vision plan, all personalized benefit information
is available on VSP's website. Employees will need to register online by creating an account on VSP's website. The online portal includes plan details such as eligibility, enrolled dependents,
date of last eye exam and which VSP network doctor(s) used.
Member ID
Your VSP member ID is a zero (0) plus your University ID or the last four digits of
your University ID number. All dependents enrolled in your plan use the same member
ID. Your VSP member ID is not your SSN.
Chart of Pay Periods
Review the chart of pay periods to understand the deadlines and when coverage will end.
Unsure? Email ua-benefits@alaska.edu
To confirm when coverage begins or ends, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
New Employees - First Day Coverage
Coverage can begin on the first day of employment. To qualify for first-day coverage,
a new employee must submit their form by 5:00pm on the Thursday prior to the end of
their first pay period.
Current Employee - Day of Life Event
Coverage can begin on the day of the life event. To qualify for day of event coverage,
the form must be submitted on or before the day of the event.
Other Coverage Begin Dates
If a form is submitted after the deadlines above, but within the 30 day requirement (60 for birth), coverage will begin on the day the form is submitted.
Coverage End Dates
Coverage ends at the end of the pay period in which coverage is terminated via a life
event, open enrollment, or by separating from the university.
Plan Rates
The cost of the health care plan is shared between employees and the university. The
university covers 82% of the net plan cost. The biweekly premiums are in effect from
July 1 to the following June 30 each year.
Review page 17 of the Enrollment Guide to view the vision rates for FY24.
Arrears
As of July 1, 2023, all employees - regardless of contract length - will be on a 26
pay period (12 month) deduction schedule. This means that employees who work less
than 26 pay periods in a fiscal year (9, 10, and 11-month employees) will accrue arrears
for missed deductions for the time they are off-contract or otherwise experiencing
leave without pay. Review the FAQ below to understand what arrears are and how they
apply. If there are any questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
Arrears are missed deductions.
For example: An employee who is off-contract and not receiving pay will not have deductions collected from their $0.00 paycheck. When an employee returns to work and begins receiving pay again, the deductions will restart and the arrears balance will begin to be repaid in the specific amounts listed in the "how are arrears repaid" drop down menu below.
Arrears apply to any employee who has active deductions that require arrears and that employee experiences a pay period where they do not receive pay.
Employees who are off contract
Employees who are in an off contract status are not receiving pay. This will generate
arrears for their missed deductions during the pay periods where an employee was off
contract. When an employee returns back to an on contract status, they will begin
paying for their deductions again, including any arrears that need to be paid off.
Leave without pay
Employees who experience leave without pay in excess of 10 days must reach out to
ua-benefits@alaska.edu to discuss the potential for Family Medical Leave (FML), Short-term Disability (STD),
and other benefits that might apply to a specific situation. Some cases - such as
an approved Leave of Absence - will be a COBRA event. Specific situations can be reviewed
with individual employees.
- Premium health care
- Basic health care
- HDHP
- Premium dental
- Basic dental
- Vision
- Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HC FSA)
- Corestream Voluntary Benefits
- Supplemental life - employee
- Supplemental life - spouse
- Supplemental life - child
- Accidental Death & Dismemberment - employee
- Accidental Death & Dismemberment - family
- HSAs
- FSA dependent care accounts
- Pet insurance (Pet insurance payments are made directly with ASPCA and are not included in payroll deduction. Employees are responsible for these premiums.)
There are two repayment schedules for arrears: 100% and 40%.
This repayment schedule is for:
- Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HC FSA)
- Corestream Voluntary Benefits
100% Schedule
Arrears will be paid biweekly when the employee returns to work at a rate of 100% of the current deduction(s) until the arrears balance is paid.
This means that the employee will pay 200% of the biweekly deduction until the arrears balance is paid off.
Example
An employee is currently contributing to a HC FSA at $100 per pay period.
This employee goes off contract for 4 pay periods. This means that the employee has missed $100 x 4 ($400) deductions for their HC FSA.
When the employee returns to work, the employee will pay $100 for their deduction and $100 toward the arrears balance ($200 deduction in total).
The arrears balance will be paid off in 4 pay periods. At that time, the deduction will return to $100 per pay period.
This repayment schedule is for:
- Premium health care
- Basic health care
- HDHP
- Premium dental
- Basic dental
- Vision
- Supplemental life - employee
- Supplemental life - spouse
- Supplemental life - child
- Accidental Death & Dismemberment - employee
- Accidental Death & Dismemberment - family
40% schedule
Arrears will be paid biweekly when the employee returns to work at a rate of 40% of the current deduction(s) until the arrears balance is paid.
This means that the employee will pay 140% of the biweekly deduction until the arrears balance is paid off.
Example
An employee is currently enrolled in premium medical, premium dental, and vision for
employee, spouse, and 2 dependent children. The employees current biweekly deduction for
these coverages is:
- $361.47 Premium medical family
- $25.94 Premium dental family
- $1.90 Vision family
- $389.31 total per pay period
This employee goes off contract for 4 pay periods. This means that the employee has missed $389.31 x 4 ($1,557.24) deductions for their coverages.
When the employee returns to work, the employee will pay $389.31 for their deductions and 40% of each of their deductions toward the arrears balance:
- $144.59 Premium medical family
- $10.38 Premium dental family
- $.76 Vision family
- $155.73 total arrears per pay period
This means the employee would pay:
- $389.31 total per pay period for deductions
- $155.73 total arrears per pay period
- $545.04 total
The arrears balance will be paid off in 10 pay periods. At that time, the deduction will return to $389.31 per pay period.
Employees can view arrears balance at any time on UAOnline by clicking on "Employee Service" > "Benefits & Deductions" > "Arrears Balance."
UA has several resources available to employees who need assistance. When in doubt, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu and we will be sure to direct the questions appropriately.
UA Benefits Team | ua-benefits@alaska.edu or Meet with Us
- Need help submitting a form or providing documentation for a dependent?
- Want confirmation of coverage begin and end dates?
- Want to set up a quick zoom for some basic questions?
VSP | 1-800-877-7195
- Having issues logging into the VSP portal?
- Wanting to confirm prior authorization for a certain service?