Divorce

Your options to change coverage will depend on who was covered by your SEGIP-sponsored coverage on the day before the divorce.

Under all circumstances:

• You may not drop your former spouse’s coverage in anticipation of a divorce.
• You may not change your medical plan administrator due to a divorce.

If you cover:

Only you

• You may add an eligible dependent child through age 26 who lost coverage due to the divorce and increase your contributions to pre-tax accounts.
• You may not change coverage for yourself.

You and your former spouse

• You must drop your former spouse from all of your coverages, and you may decrease your pre-tax contributions.
• You may add an eligible dependent child through age 26 who lost coverage due to the divorce, and you may increase your pre-tax contributions.
• Your former spouse will be offered COBRA.

You, your former spouse, and your children

• You may not make any changes for yourself or your covered children unless the divorce results in a loss of coverage.
• You may add another eligible child through age 26 if that child loses other coverage due to the divorce.
• You must notify SEGIP. Your former spouse will be offered COBRA.
• You will still be eligible to receive the employer contribution toward the cost of family health and dental insurance that you received before the divorce.

You, your former spouse, and any stepchildren

• Your former stepchildren are no longer eligible for coverage when you are not married to their parent. You must remove them from medical, dental, vision, and child life coverage. They will be offered COBRA continuation coverage for their medical and dental insurance.

Medical and Dental

• Make allowable changes to your medical and dental coverage by submitting the A Qualifying Status Change form.
• Your former spouse and any children losing coverage due to the divorce will be sent an offer of COBRA upon notification of loss of coverage.

Spouse Life Insurance and Spouse Accidental Death and Dismemberment

• Make allowable changes to these coverages by using the Optional Coverage Application.

Pre-tax accounts

• Make allowable changes to your Medical Dental Expense Account (MDEA) and Dependent Care Expense Account (DCEA) by completing and returning the MDEA/DCEA Enrollment & Change form to SEGIP.

You must remove your former spouse from your coverage within 60 days of the divorce, including the day of the divorce.

Medical and Dental

• If you need to add medical and dental coverage, you must do so within 30 days of the divorce, including the day of the divorce.

Spouse Life Insurance and Spouse Accidental Death and Dismemberment

• You must drop your former spouse's optional spouse life coverage within 60 days of the divorce, including the day of the divorce.

Pre-tax accounts

• Changes to pre-tax benefits must be made within 30 days of the divorce, including the day of the divorce.

Timing is everything

• An enrollment is completed by submitting the required forms to the SEGIP office no later than the last day of the enrollment period.
• Do not delay submitting your application by the deadline. Call SEGIP at 651-355-0100 within your enrollment period when there is a delay in obtaining documents. Otherwise, late applications will not be processed.
• If the enrollment is not completed within the allowed period, your next opportunity to change your coverage is during the next annual Open Enrollment or upon another qualified life event.

Tell SEGIP About a Divorce within 60 Days

If you notify SEGIP about your divorce within 60 days, the coverage will end on the first day of the month after the court files the divorce. The changes impact your medical, dental, vision, spouse life, and spouse accidental death and dismemberment coverage. The divorce date must match the one stated in the divorce papers. 

Your former spouse can get coverage through COBRA for up to 36 months.

Send an email or call 651-355-0100.

Tell SEGIP About a Divorce After 60 Days

If you wait more than 60 days to report your divorce, changes start the first day of the month after SEGIP gets your divorce papers. The changes impact your medical, dental, vision, spouse life, and spouse accidental death and dismemberment coverage. 

Your former spouse cannot get COBRA coverage.

These changes can be made to your benefits at any time: 

• You can make changes to Employee Additional Life, Spouse Life, Employee AD&D, Spouse AD&D, and Short Term Disability, by completing the Optional Coverage Application form.
• You can make changes to your Parking Expense Account (PKEA) and Bus Pass/Vanpool Account (BVEA) by completing and returning to SEGIP the Transit Enrollment and Change form. 

Be sure to make these updates if needed:

• Name changes: submit this change to your Human Resource office. 
• Address changes: update your address in Employee Self Service. Send your former spouse's name, address, email, and phone number to segip.mmb@state.mn.us 
• Tax withholdings: contact your agency’s payroll department. Retirement account: contact MSRS at info@msrs.us, 651-296-2761, or 800-657-5757. 
• Life and AD&D beneficiary changes: Securian Financial.

Go to the Find a Form page for most forms.

Pretax expense account forms are on the Benefit Resource (BRI) website.