| |
| LIFE INSURANCE |
 |
| Eligibility
& Enrollment |
Eligibility
You are eligible for life and accident insurance coverage on
the first of the month following your hire (or eligibility) date if
you are an active, full-time or part-time associate scheduled to work
at least 20 hours per week.
Dependent Eligibility
You may enroll your eligible dependents for Dependent Term Life Insurance.
Your eligible dependents include your:
- Spouse or domestic partner and
- Children, including unmarried children from 15 days up to age 19,
or up to age 25 if they are full-time students and dependent on you
for support. Children include your natural children, legally adopted
children and stepchildren who live with you, and children you support
under the terms of a court order (the court order must be on file
with Valassis). Coverage may continue beyond age 25 for a child who
became mentally or physically disabled before reaching the maximum
eligibility date and who depends on you for support and maintenance.
You may be asked to provide periodic proof of the continuing disability.
You must enroll your dependents within 31 days of their initial eligibility
date. If you don’t, your spouse may have to provide evidence of
insurability to be enrolled at a later date. If on the date your dependent
(other than a newborn), is to become covered under the policy for increased
benefits or for a new benefit, he or she is confined in a hospital or
confined elsewhere such coverage will not start until he or she is discharged
from the hospital or is no longer confined elsewhere and has engaged
in all the normal and customary activities of a person of like age and
gender, in good health, for at least 15 consecutive days. This deferred
effective date provision will not apply to disabled children who qualify
under the definition of dependent children.
If you do not have a dependent when you enroll, but later gain a dependent
— through marriage, civil union, domestic partnership or the birth
of a child, for example — or your dependent loses other coverage
due to the loss of your spouse’s job, you may enroll your eligible
dependent for Dependent Term Life Insurance coverage. You must do so
within 31 days of your marriage, the birth of your child, the day you
adopt or receive legal custody of your child or the date your spouse
loses his or her job. If you do not enroll your eligible dependent within
this 31-day period, you will have to provide evidence of insurability
to enroll the dependent at a later date.
Enrollment
Enroll for basic life insurance and AD&D insurance on your enrollment
form (for Valassis Communications, Inc. and NCH associates paid through
ADP) or on the enrollment system (for Valassis Direct Mail and Sales
& Marketing associates paid through PeopleSoft). If you are not
actively at work on your eligibility date, your coverage will take effect
on the day you return to work. (Special rules may apply if you are on
vacation on the date you become eligible for coverage.) You may waive
basic life (to avoid taxation of the benefits over $50,000) and AD&D
coverage.
Enrolling in Dependent and Voluntary Term Life
Insurance
Enrollment in Dependent and Voluntary Term Life Insurance is not automatic.
To participate, you must enroll. Coverage will take effect on the date
you meet the eligibility requirements of the plan, provided you are
actively at work on that date and enroll within 31 days of your eligibility
date.
If you do not elect coverage within 31 days of your eligibility, you
must wait until the next annual enrollment period, or until you have
a qualified family status change event. At that time, you may increase
your level of coverage by one level without evidence of insurability.
If you want increase your coverage by more than one level you and your
spouse (or civil or domestic partner) must provide evidence of insurability
to enroll for this coverage. You will be sent a medical questionnaire
to complete and return. (In addition, a physical examination may be
required.) The evidence of insurability must be approved by the insurance
company for coverage to take effect. You will be notified if the coverage
is, or is not, approved.
Cost for Insurance Coverage
Valassis pays the full cost of basic life insurance and AD&D insurance.
If you elect Dependent or Voluntary Term Life Insurance, you pay for
the cost at group rates through payroll deductions. Your contributions
are made with after-tax dollars, which means that they are deducted
from your pay after federal, Social Security and most states’
income taxes are withheld.
Rates for current coverage are provided when you enroll on-line (go
to www.valassisbenefits.com
and select the "Enroll or Make Changes" option in the upper
right hand corner of the home page (Valassis Direct Mail and Sales &
Marketing associates paid through PeopleSoft) or your Human Resources
representative (Valassis Communications, Inc. and NCH associates paid
through ADP).
Imputed Income Taxes
Since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) restricts the amount
of company-provided life insurance coverage that you may receive tax-free,
you have imputed income on amounts greater than $50,000. (This means
the IRS requires that the amount in excess of $50,000 be converted to
a taxable amount of income.) The amount of imputed income is determined
by an IRS premium schedule, your age and coverage amount in excess of
$50,000. The amount of imputed income resulting from your excess basic
life insurance coverage amount appears on your paycheck stub and on
your W-2 form. You may waive basic life insurance to avoid this taxation.
Designating a Beneficiary
When you enroll for coverage, you will be asked to name your beneficiary(ies)
to receive benefits if you die. Your beneficiary may be any person(s),
a trust, an estate, a charity, etc. You may choose the same beneficiary
for all coverages or a different beneficiary for each. You are automatically
the beneficiary of any dependent life insurance and any loss other than
a death benefit under AD&D insurance.
If you name more than one beneficiary, you should specify what portion
of your benefit you want each beneficiary to receive. (Your election
must total 100%.)
If your beneficiary is under age 18, a letter of guardianship for the
minor’s estate will be required in order to process the death
benefit claim. (Be sure to include the minor’s date of birth on
the beneficiary designation form.)
Associates may change beneficiary information at any time by submitting
a new beneficiary designation on Valassis' enrollment site. Simply sign
onto www.valassisbenefits.com
and choose the "Enroll or Make Changes" option in the upper
right hand corner of the Home Page. Sign on using your previously assigned
I.D. and password and choose the "Make Changes" option in
the top navigator bar. When Valassis receives this designation, the
change will take place as of the date you submitted the change. You
may also complete an beneficiary
designation form and submit it to the Associate Resource Center.
Note: It’s important to keep your beneficiary
designation up to date.
If your beneficiary does not survive you (or dies at the same time
as you or within 24 hours of your death) or if you don’t name
a beneficiary, Sun Life will make payment to the persons specified in
the underlying insurance contracts (surviving beneficiaries, your spouse,
children, parents, brothers and sisters or your estate).
|