Beginning July 1, 2024, USU will have a new provider, The Standard, for short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance. For more than 100 years, The Standard has been dedicated to its core purpose: to help people achieve financial well-being and peace of mind. The Standard is a nationally recognized provider of group employee benefits. Learn more about The Standard.
Current enrollment in short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance will transfer from The Hartford to The Standard, so no action is needed on your part unless you want to make changes.
Special Life Insurance Enrollment Offered by The Standard
Whether it is your first time enrolling, or you’re already enrolled in supplemental life insurance, you may elect any coverage amount below the guaranteed $500,000 issue amount without providing evidence of insurability. You may also elect up to $20,000 of spouse life insurance without providing evidence of insurability.
Life Insurance
Life insurance helps take care of your family if something happens to you. It can help your loved ones get through a difficult time and pay for important things, like a home or college plans. Additional Life insurance can protect the people you care about if you’re no longer here to provide for them. They can use the payout to help pay expenses like funeral and medical costs, or housing, college tuition and child care. USU offers several life insurance options for you and your family:
- Employee Basic Term Life Insurance – The university pays the premium for Basic Life Insurance of one times your annual salary (up to $250,000) rounded to the next higher $1,000, if not already a multiple of $1,000.
- Dependent Basic Life Insurance – You may enroll in Dependent Basic Life Insurance for $1 per month, which provides $10,000 of coverage for your spouse and $5,000 for qualified children.
- Employee Supplemental Life Insurance – You may enroll in supplemental life insurance for yourself in increments of $10,000 to a maximum of $1.5 million. During this open enrollment period, if you enroll in any amount over $500,000, evidence of insurability will be required. Please refer to table below for premiums.
- Spouse Supplemental Life Insurance – You may enroll your spouse in supplemental life insurance in increments of $10,000 to a maximum of $250,000. During this open enrollment period, if you enroll in any amount over $20,000, evidence of insurability will be required. Please refer to table below for premiums.
- Child Supplemental Life Insurance - You may enroll your children in supplemental life insurance in increments of $5,000 to a maximum of $20,000. Please refer to table below for premiums.
Cost for Employee and Spouse Supplemental Life Insurance
| Age at the beginning of the plan year | Cost per $1,000 per month |
|---|---|
| <25 | $0.045 |
| 25-29 | $0.050 |
| 30-34 | $0.050 |
| 35-39 | $0.062 |
| 40-44 | $0.088 |
| 45-49 | $0.134 |
| 50-54 | $0.207 |
| 55-59 | $0.473 |
| 60-64 | $0.329 |
| 65-69 | $0.746 |
| 70-74 | $1.149 |
| 75+ | $1.854 |
Costs for Child Supplemental Life Insurance
| Coverage | Cost per month |
|---|---|
| $5,000 | $0.80 |
| $10,000 | $1.60 |
| $15,000 | $2.40 |
| $20,000 | $3.20 |
Short-term Disability
Short Term Disability insurance can replace part of your income if a disability keeps you from working for a short time (120 days or less). It pays you 66.67% of your salary directly to help cover expenses during recovery, like housing, food and child care. The employee premium for short-term disability coverage is $4.50 per month (a reduction from the 2023-2024 plan year).
If you are not currently enrolled in short-term disability and choose to enroll during this open enrollment, you may be subject to an Extended Benefit Waiting period of 60 days during the first 12 months of coverage for disability caused by: physical disease, pregnancy, or mental disorder.
If you would like to opt out of the Short-term Disability coverage, you can fill out this form and return it to HR by emailing HR@usu.edu or uploading it to this Box link.
Long-term Disability
Long Term Disability insurance can help pay the bills if you become disabled and can’t work for an extended period. That could be a few months or several years. This coverage helps replace part of your paycheck by paying 66.67% of your pre-disability salary, which can help you protect your lifestyle and savings. USU pays the full premium for long-term disability insurance.