Group Term Life Insurance Plans

The university’s group term life insurance plan consists of :

• Basic life insurance that is fully paid by the university.
• Optional employee, spouse, and dependent children life insurance that is fully paid by the participant.
• A death benefit for the beneficiaries of eligible retirees.

Both basic and optional life insurance end when the participant’s Wesleyan employment ends unless the participant is eligible for benefits under the long term disability plan or as an early retiree.

Basic Life Insurance

Equals annual base salary up to $50,000. Coverage is automatic and does not require a medical questionnaire or examination. You must, however, designate a beneficiary. As salary increases, basic life insurance automatically increases (on July 1) up to the $50,000 maximum. Basic life insurance reduces to 60% of annual base salary (up to the $50,000 maximum) at age 65 and to $5,000 at age 70.

Optional Employee Life Insurance

Faculty and staff may purchase additional term life insurance equal to 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 times annual salary, up to a maximum of $750,000, at any time. Evidence of insurability, however, may be required depending on when and how insurance is purchased. No questionnaire or examination is required for the first $200,000 of optional life insurance or less that is purchased during the first thirty days of employment or during the first thirty days after marriage, or birth or adoption of a child. Optional life insurance purchased at other times and all optional life insurance in excess of $200,000 requires medical evidence of insurability satisfactory to the insurance company. This may consist of a medical questionnaire or a medical questionnaire and an examination.

Optional life insurance may be reduced or cancelled at any time by the participant. The amount of optional life insurance an employee may obtain and premiums change on July 1 each year based on any salary increase.

Rates for optional life insurance are based on age. For each thousand dollars of optional life insurance coverage, the monthly rates are:
  

Example: if you are 43 year old non-smoker with an annual base salary of $30,000 and you elect optional life insurance equal to three times your annual salary or $90,000, you pay $6.30 a month.

At age 70, optional life insurance reduces to 50% of what it would otherwise be for an actively employed faculty or staff member, and ends at age 68 for faculty early retirees and age 65 for librarian and administrative staff early retirees.

Optional Spouse/Domestic Partner Life Insurance

Optional spouse or qualified domestic partner life insurance may be purchased in the amount of $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 or $70,000. Medical evidence of insurability is not required for the first $30,000 of spouse/qualified domestic partner life insurance if purchased during the first 30 days of employment or during the first 30 days after marriage or the date on which a qualified domestic partner is first eligible. Medical evidence of insurability satisfactory to the insurance company (a questionnaire or a questionnaire and an examination) is required for spouse/qualified domestic partner insurance in excess of $30,000 or that is purchased at any other time.

Spouse/qualified domestic partner rates are the same as employee optional life insurance rates.

Optional Dependent Children's Life Insurance

$5,000 of insurance on the life of each dependent child after the age of 15 days and through age 18 years (through age 24 years if a full-time student) may be purchased without evidence of insurability during the first 30 days of employment or during the first 30 days following the birth or adoption of the child. At other times, medical evidence of insurability satisfactory to the insurance company is required. The total cost is 36¢ a month, regardless of how many dependent children are covered.

Life Insurance Payments and Beneficiary Designation

Participant payments for life insurance are automatically deducted from faculty or staff member’s pay.

A beneficiary must be designated for employee life insurance. The faculty or staff member is assumed to be the beneficiary for spouse/qualified domestic partner and dependent children life insurance unless a different beneficiary is designated.

Life insurance forms are available in Human Resources.

Termination of Coverage and Retiree Death Benefit

Both basic and optional insurance coverage ends when Wesleyan employment ends unless the participant is eligible for benefits under the long term disability plan or as an early retiree. The designated beneficiary of an eligible retiree who has completed ten years of continuous service will receive a death benefit of $5,000 if the retiree dies after basic and optional insurance coverage has ended.