Life Insurance Overview Employees with active basic life insurance coverage at the time they leave State service may continue the coverage in their retirement so long as they formally retire through the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI) immediately after leaving State service. There is no supplemental life coverage for retirees. Enrollment and premium deductions are handled entirely by ERSRI as part of the retirement process. The Hartford is the State’s current life insurance carrier, having purchased Aetna’s group life insurance book of business in 2017. Any existing retiree life policies that were previously carried by Aetna are now carried by The Hartford. Coverage Details Coverage Information Retirees that have elected to continue their group term life insurance in their retirement are covered in accordance with the below Life Insurance Schedule while they are retired and paying premiums through post-tax pension check deductions. 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 a retiree’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. Life Insurance Schedules Basic Schedule All employees: If you retire before age 65: 100% of your last base annual salary (excluding overtime) as an active employee, rounded to the next highest $1,000. If you retire on or after age 65: 100% of your base annual salary (excluding overtime) at age 65, rounded to the next highest $1,000. Maximum: $150,000 Age Reduction Rule Policy value will start to decrease from age 65 onward as shown below. Premiums are based on the current value of your policy. Employee Age Value of Policy 65 76% 66 52% 67 28% 68+ 25% The Hartford Policy Details State of Rhode Island Policy Number: GL-804857 Hartford Retiree Life Insurance Booklet PDF file, less than 1mbmegabytes Customer Service and Claims Processing 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 Eligibility You are eligible to maintain basic coverage if you are a retiring State employee who had basic coverage as an active employee. Deferring retirement to a later date can result in a forfeiture of eligibility. You must formally retire through ERSRI immediately after leaving State service to continue your basic life insurance coverage. College employees not eligible for retirement under ERSRI should ask their college HR office if they are eligible to continue their group life insurance coverage in their retirement. Enrollment At your time of retirement, ERSRI will provide you with a Basic Group Life Insurance Election Form along with all other retirement paperwork. You must complete and return this form to ERSRI prior to retirement in order to maintain group life coverage. College employees not eligible for retirement under ERSRI should ask their college HR office how they can continue their group life insurance coverage in their retirement. Beneficiary The State of Rhode Island does not maintain any beneficiary information for retiree group life policies. Group life beneficiary information is maintained exclusively by The Hartford. To designate beneficiary(ies): Complete and send the Beneficiary Designation Form to The Hartford, or Call The Hartford’s beneficiary management line 1-855-396-7655. Premium Rates Group life premium rate is $0.448 per $1,000 of coverage, regardless of age. Premiums are based on the current value of your policy, including any decrease based on the Age Reduction Rule. Group life premiums are deducted post-tax from your monthly pension check. Deductions will be displayed in your monthly earning statement (available via the member portal at ERSRI). Additional Services 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 Conversion Conversion is a way you can preserve life insurance coverage lost due to a reduction in policy value based on the Age Reduction Rule. 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 retirees do not have). Also please note that portability is not available for the retiree life insurance benefit. To convert coverage, obtain The Hartford’s Portability and Conversion Application (with the employer section completed) from the Office of Employee Benefits and return it to The Hartford. You must apply to convert coverage to The Hartford within 31 days after your policy value is lost. Contact 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