Life Insurance
Overview
Rhode Island State employees working at least 20 hours per week are eligible for group term life insurance coverage provided by The Hartford. There are three levels of coverage available: basic, 1-times-salary supplemental ("1X supplemental") and 2-times-salary supplemental ("2X supplemental").
Subject to the age reduction rule (more details in the "Coverage Information" section below) and maximum policy values, the value of State employee life insurance coverage is based on the total annual salary of the employee (excluding overtime) rounded to the next highest $1,000. The maximum policy value for basic and 1X supplemental coverage is each $150,000. The maximum policy value for 2X supplemental coverage is the lesser of two times the salary rounded to the next highest $1,000 or $300,000.
Unless coverage is waived at hire, State employees are automatically enrolled in basic coverage without having to satisfy evidence of insurability (EOI) requirements with The Hartford. They may also choose to enroll in supplemental coverage at the time of hire without having to satisfy The Hartford’s EOI requirements. More information on EOI can be found on the “Enrollment/Waiver” section below.
Employees pay the full cost for life insurance coverage.
Accidental death and dismemberment coverage is included in basic coverage, and it does not require an additional premium.
Coverage Details
State employees that have elected group term life insurance are covered in accordance with the below Life Insurance Schedules while they are employed by the State of Rhode Island. Accidental death and dismemberment coverage is included with basic life insurance coverage.
The first $50,000 in policy value is deducted on a pre-tax basis (“GROUP LIFE PRETAX” on employee paystubs) and any remaining premium deduction is done on a post-tax basis (“GROUP LIFE” on employee paystubs). The premium amounts are determined in accordance with the rates posted on the “Premium Rates” tab of this page. Pursuant to the below Age Reduction Rule, beginning at age 65 an employee’s life insurance coverage decreases in value as the employee ages. Premiums are based on current policy value, including any decrease based on the Age Reduction Rule.
Policy value will start to decrease from age 65 onward as shown below.
The Hartford Policy Details
State of Rhode Island Policy Number: GL-804857
Any State employee that satisfies all of the following criteria is eligible to enroll:
- Holds a non-seasonal position
- Scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week
- Not on leave without pay (LWOP)
New hires are automatically enrolled into basic life insurance coverage at the time of hire unless they elect to waive life insurance coverage.
To enroll in life insurance coverage or waive life insurance coverage, make your election in Workterra during an enrollment period.
Evidence of Insurability
If you want to add supplemental coverage at a later date, or if you initially waived all coverage and want to elect some level of coverage at a later date, you are considered a late applicant and will need to provide evidence of insurability (EOI) to The Hartford when prompted by The Hartford after submitting your election in Workterra. “Providing EOI” usually only means completing a medical history questionnaire, but The Hartford may request additional information/documentation. Life insurance coverage for late applicants is not effective unless and until The Hartford approves the application. The EOI process is handled entirely by The Hartford.
The State of Rhode Island does not maintain any beneficiary information for employee group life policies. Group life beneficiary information is maintained exclusively by The Hartford.
To designate beneficiary(ies):
- Log into The Hartford’s member portal at enroll.thehartfordatwork.com/soribene
- Each employee’s log-in credentials are:
- User ID: Employee initials followed by the last four digits of the employee’s SSN
- Password: Employee initials followed by date of birth (MMDDYYYY)
- Example: Jane M. Doe, born 01/05/1975 with “1234” as last four digits of SSN has a user ID of jd1234, and password of jd01051975
- Employees will be required to reset passwords during their initial login
- Each employee’s log-in credentials are:
- Call The Hartford’s beneficiary management line 1-855-396-7655
Premium rates are quoted per $1,000 of coverage.
Example: A 30-year old employee earning $43,217 per year is enrolled in basic and supplemental life insurance
- His basic and supplemental life insurance would each provide coverage of $44,000 (rounded up to the nearest $1,000)
- Since premium rates are quoted per $1,000 of coverage, he would have $44,000 / $1,000 = 44 units of coverage
- Assuming he is on the 26 pay period schedule, his biweekly premium cost would be:
- 44 x $0.2010 = $8.84 for basic coverage (all deducted pre-tax because the policy value is less than $50,000)
- 44 x $0.0370 = $1.63 for supplemental coverage
- The premium attributable to $6,000 of supplemental policy value would be deducted pre-tax: 6 x $0.0370 = $0.22 (when added to the $8.84 pre-tax deduction for basic coverage above, the total pre-tax premium deduction would be $9.06)
- The premium attributable to the remaining $38,000 of supplemental policy value would be deducted post-tax: 38 x $0.0370 = $1.41
If you are enrolled in group term life insurance coverage from The Hartford, you and your beneficiaries will have access to several additional services:
- Estate Planning - create a simple will free of charge
- Travel Assistance & Identity Theft Protection - obtain pre-trip assistance and information, emergency medical assistance and personal services while on a trip, and identity theft assistance
- Beneficiary Assistance - counselling and assistance services for your beneficiary
- Funeral Concierge - funeral planning services
Portability & Conversion
Portability and conversion are ways you can preserve life insurance coverage lost due to your termination from State employment or a reduction in policy value due to the Age Reduction Rule.
Porting coverage results in group term life coverage similar to active coverage that features comparable premium rates. You are eligible to port coverage so long as you’re under your Social Security Normal Retirement Age. Porting coverage is generally viewed as a temporary option that helps fill a gap between periods of life insurance coverage.
Converting coverage results in an individual whole life policy that is significantly more expensive than group term coverage.
Review The Hartford’s Guide to Portability and Conversion for additional details. Please note that this document is not specific to the State of Rhode Island’s life insurance benefit so there are references in it that are not applicable to you (for example, it references dependent coverage which State Rhode Island employees do not have).
Port/conversion notices are mailed to employees by The Hartford.
LWOP Life Insurance Eligibility:
If you are on leave without pay you may be eligible to continue your life insurance under one of the following provisions:
- Limited continuation of coverage for anyone on an approved leave from the workplace
- There are several different triggering events for this continuation, and they each have their own duration.
- See the different reasons and different durations for each type of leave this provision applies to on pages 20 and 21 of The Hartford's Plan Document here.
- Portability and conversion would both be available at the end of the applicable life insurance eligibility period.
- Disability extension
- Only available if a severe disability event occurs prior to age 65, and continuing coverage is only available until age 65.
- See more details on pages 21 and 22 of The Hartford's Plan Document here.
- Conversion would be available at age 65.
Please note that if you port or convert your coverage before retiring under ERSRI, you will not be able to continue State life insurance coverage in your retirement. Additional information on portability and conversion can be found in the “Portability and Conversion” section.
Paying Premiums:
Leave without pay (LWOP) employees - LWOP employees on leave without pay can pay their premiums pursuant to the invoicing process described on the life insurance tab of the Leave Without Pay (LWOP) Employees page.
Employees on leave with pay (discharging accrued time) - employees discharging time will continue to pay their life insurance premiums via paycheck deduction so they will not receive invoices in the same way that LWOP employees do.
Please contact The Hartford for claims processing and additional assistance:
- For beneficiary management assistance, policy value inquiries or other general questions, call 1-855-396-7655
- To initiate a claim, call 1-888-755-1503
The Hartford’s Member Portal
After your election in Workterra passes to The Hartford, you will be able to login to The Hartford portal and see your policy value and name your beneficiaries. If you are a new hire and you are unable to login to The Hartford portal after making a life insurance election in Workterra, this likely means your election has not yet passed to The Hartford – please wait until the next Thursday and try again. If you made your life election in Workterra during an open enrollment period, you will need to wait until after the first of the following year to login to The Hartford portal.
The Hartford portal is enroll.thehartfordatwork.com/soribene
- Each employee’s log-in credentials are:
- User ID: Employee initials followed by the last four digits of the employee’s SSN
- Password: Employee initials followed by date of birth (MMDDYYYY)
- Example: Jane M. Doe, born 01/05/1975 with “1234” as last four digits of SSN has a user ID of jd1234, and password of jd01051975
- Employees will be required to reset passwords during their initial login