Information Regarding Illness and Health Care

• What should staff do if they become ill with COVID-19 or have symptoms of fever and cough?
  Stay home and contact your supervisor. Use sick leave, short-term disability, and Family/Medical Leave (FMLA) according to Wesleyan’s current sick time and leave policies. If you will miss more than five days of work, you must apply for short-term disability and FMLA, if eligible.

• How should employee illness be reported?
  As always, employees should alert their supervisor if they are sick, especially with symptoms of fever and cough. Supervisors should alert Dr. Tom McLarney (tmclarney@wesleyan.edu), of any staff who are ill or quarantined due to COVID-19.

• Does Wesleyan’s Cigna health plan cover testing and treatment of COVID-19?

  Wesleyan has included testing (including antibody testing) for COVID-19 as a preventive benefit, when doctor-recommended, therefore, it will be covered in full (waiving co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance). This benefit will cover the test kit for patients who meet CDC guidelines for testing and who receive the testing at an authorized LabCorp or Quest location. Please note that although prior authorization is not required, a health care provider must order the test, so please contact your primary care provider, an urgent care center, or either of Cigna’s telemedicine providers if you believe you have contracted the illness to arrange for testing. You will not be able to receive testing if you go to LabCorp or Quest without a doctor’s order for the test.  

  Effective immediately, Wesleyan is covering COVID-19 treatment with no cost to covered members through February 15, 2021, in all three of our health plans including the High Deductible Plan.   

  Please refer here for plan details.

• How can employees get prior authorization for prescription refills if providers are overwhelmed right now?

  Cigna has suspended prescription authorization requirements for refills for 90 days.  This is  so undue pressure isn’t put on health care providers at this time.  Please note that this is only for refills, not for those new prescriptions for which prior authorization is required.

• Will Cigna allow early refills of medication due to the coronavirus crisis?
  Current conditions do not call for Cigna to enact early refills, but they are monitoring the situation closely and will update their information and policy should the need arise. If you have any questions or concerns about an individual situation, Cigna pharmacists are available 24/7 at 1-800-244-6224.

• Can employees get reimbursed for over-the-counter medications and menstrual products, as the CARES Act now allows, through Wesleyan’s Medical Expense Reimbursement Accounts and Health Savings Accounts?
  Yes, the Act allows participants to use health savings account (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA) funds for over-the-counter medical products, including those needed for quarantining or social distancing, without a prescription from a physician, as well as menstrual products.

• Can staff use the Cigna telemedicine option if they have symptoms or need medical advice?

  Yes. If symptoms are not life-threatening, the telemedicine option is a great way to seek care while containing the spread of illness. To use Cigna’s telemedicine option, please register with Cigna’s telemedicine partner at www.mycigna.com:

   

  MDLive

  mdliveforcigna.com

  1-888-726-3171

• What if staff need to care for family members who become ill with COVID-19?

  Use accumulated sick leave. If you will miss more than five days, you must apply for FMLA, if eligible.

• Can employees cancel their medical insurance if their needs have changed due to the pandemic without a qualifying life status event?

  You may prospectively cancel your medical coverage in 2020 without a qualifying life status event if you attest that you are or will be enrolled in other health coverage. Please contact benefits@wesleyan.edu to request the attestation.

• What other benefit changes are allowed due to the pandemic?

  If you have had a qualifying life status event due to a HIPAA special enrollment event, the 30 day deadline to notify Wesleyan has been extended to 60 days past the lifting of the national emergency declaration.  Those events that qualify as a special enrollment are:

   Loss of eligibility for other coverage - Employees and dependents who decline coverage due to other health coverage and then lose eligibility or employer contributions have special enrollment rights. For example, an employee who turns down health benefits for herself and her family because the family already has coverage through her spouse's plan can request special enrollment for her family in Wesleyan’s plan.

    Certain life events - Employees, spouses, and new dependents are permitted to special enroll because of marriage, birth, adoption, or placement for adoption.

  Proof of the qualifying event is required, as well as a completed enrollment form.

  Extra time is also being given for participants and their dependents to meet certain deadlines affecting COBRA continuation coverage, filing claims for benefits, appeals of denied claims, and external review of certain claims.  Please contact benefits@wesleyan.edu with any questions regarding these extended deadlines.

Information about Taking Leave

• How do staff apply for Short-Term Disability if they become ill?
  Contact UNUM at 1-866-679-3054 Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. ET, or visit the website. Report the need for time off to your supervisor and Denise White-Patterson at benefits@wesleyan.edu.

• How do staff apply for Family Medical Leave?
  Contact Denise White-Patterson at benefits@wesleyan.edu. You should also report the need for time off to your supervisor.

• What should staff do if they don't have any available leave to cover a needed absence?
  Please contact Human Resources.

Information about Student Workers

• What is happening with student workers who are no longer on campus?

  Departments that had employed students may continue to do so if the nature of the work lends itself to remote work and you can adequately supervise the student employees while remote.

  Please submit time for your student employees only to the extent the time has been actually worked.

  For students that had received work-study awards as part of their financial aid package, if they are unable to continue their jobs remotely, they will continue to receive a weekly payment calculated as the average weekly earnings they earned during the spring semester. These payments will continue for the remainder of the semester or until the student has met the maximum allocations in their financial aid award.

• How can departments find student workers to do remote work?

  Departments looking to post a job for remote work should do so on the Student Employment website.

  Use the form on the Posting & Removing a Position page to submit information regarding a newly available position to be posted to the Available Positions webpage. Be as specific as possible about the position and necessary requirements (such as specific time/scheduling needs and technical experience) to help students understand exactly what you are looking for and to narrow down the pool of applicants to only interested and qualified students.

  When a position that is posted has been filled, please notify the Student Employment Office through the Posting & Removing a Position form. 

Information about Retirement Accounts and Finances

• Will Wesleyan allow employees to take money out of their retirement plans if they are affected by COVID, per provisions in the CARES Act?

  Yes, Wesleyan will participate in these provisions of the CARES Act. If you are eligible, there are two opportunities to access funds through the SRA plan if you are affected by COVID-19.

  1. You may be eligible to take a hardship withdrawal of up to $100,000 through December 31, 2020, without the 20% mandatory federal tax withholding or 10% early withdrawal penalty. While the 20% withholding will not be taken from distributions, you will have the option to add withholding if you want.  Distributions will be subject to taxation, and you will have the option to pay taxes due over a three-year period. We suggest you consult with your personal tax advisor.

  The Act also allows you to reinvest withdrawn funds within three years regardless of that year’s contribution limit, making it easier to replace the amount of your distribution in your retirement account.

  2. You may be eligible to take a loan from your TIAA SRA account. The maximum loan amount is being increased from 50% of your vested account balance to 100% through September 23, 2020.  Please note that for TIAA Collateral loans, you must maintain 100% collateral in TIAA Traditional. As a result, TIAA cannot pay up to 100% of the vested account balance.

  To discuss a hardship withdrawal or taking a loan from your account, contact TIAA at 1-800-842-2776.

  If you have assets with Wesleyan’s former providers, Vanguard, Dreyfus and Scudder, please reach out to those providers directly at the customer service number on your statement.

  Dreyfus 800-695-7526

  Vanguard 877-893-5426

  Scudder – 800-645-6561

• How does the CARES Act determine if one is affected by COVID-19?
  Eligibility for the pension provisions considers if you, your spouse, or dependent have been diagnosed with COVID-19 using a CDC approved test or if you are experiencing adverse financial consequences as a result of COVID-19 (either you are quarantined, you or your family member has been furloughed, laid off or your hours reduced, you or your family member cannot work due to lack of childcare).

• What can employees do if they already have a loan through their TIAA SRA plan but now will have trouble repaying it due to COVID-19 changes?
  Through December 31, 2020, participants can request a suspension of loan repayments up to one year. Please contact TIAA at 1-800-842-2776 or Fidelity at 800-343-0860.

• Can employees change the amount in their medical expense reimbursement account (MERA) or their dependent care reimbursement account?

  Wesleyan has adopted the IRS’s special 2020 relaxation of the change rules to reimbursement accounts. You may prospectively enroll in either the MERA or a dependent care reimbursement account or prospectively increase, decrease or revoke your current election. Please contact benefits@wesleyan.edu to make changes to your reimbursement account elections.

Information Related to the Hiring and Compensation Freeze

• Will salary increases be available for staff who assume additional duties or are promoted into a new position?
  If the new duties warrant a salary increase and market data supports this, increases will be considered but the available funding for such increases is very limited and will be reviewed on a case by case basis. In all cases, supervisors must work with HR and Finance before increases are communicated to staff. In cases of title changes only without significant job duties changes, increases will not be considered.

• How is the University handling staff searches that are in progress?
  Nearly all staff searches are on hold. Questions regarding recruitment can be directed to Anjali Tamhankar, atamhankar@wesleyan.edu.

• Can grant funded positions be filled during the hiring freeze?
  Generally, yes, grant funded positions can be filled. While the majority of Wesleyan's operations remain remote, the positions must be able to be productive in a remote arrangement.

• Can temporary employees be hired during the hiring freeze?
  Temp positions are subject to the hiring freeze.

• Will the University be accepting new money requests?
  Requests will only be approved on an exception basis during this period.