Group Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance Benefits

For the complete Group Health, Dental, and Vision insurance policy refer to Section 4.2.2. of NKY Health's Guide to Personnel Policies.

NKY Health participates in the Commonwealth of Kentucky Employees' Health Plan (KEHP) administered by the Department of Employee Insurance (DEI) in Frankfort, KY for Group Health, Group Dental, and Group Vision insurance.  This is the same plan available to thousands of "state" employees throughout the Commonwealth. 

By joining the larger risk pool with Commonwealth employees, NKY Health can offer better coverage at lower rates than if we purchased coverage on its own as well as a single portal for enrolling in/electing coverage. 

Benefits become effective on the first day of the month after the first full month following the date an employee is hired into an eligible full-time position. (For example, benefits for an employee hired on May 10 begin on July 1.)  Employees need to actively choose whether to enroll in or decline benefits.

Employees must actively enroll in/elect or waive benefits (similar to adding purchases to an electronic shopping cart) within 35 days of their hire date or the date they move from part-time to full-time. Those who fail to do so will be automatically assigned to a Group Health Insurance plan without Group Dental and Group Vision benefits and will be responsible for paying the employee portion of the premiums associated with that plan until changes are made during Open Enrollment (OE) or due to a Qualifying Event (QE). Rates for Group Health Insurance coverage are discounted as long as no one on the plan uses tobacco.

Except for Group Vision Insurance, the employee portion of the monthly premium is withheld on a pre-tax basis on the first two payrolls of each month.  (Employees may complete the "KEHP Federal Post-Tax" form (found on DEI's website) if they want the premiums to be withheld on a post-tax basis.) The employee portion of the Group Vision Insurance premium is withheld on a post-tax basis.

The head of Human Resources is the Insurance Coordinator (IC) for NKY Health. Payroll is responsible for withholding and paying premiums.

Employees who are eligible to be covered by NKY Health's Group Health Insurance but who waive coverage during initial enrollment or open enrollment because they are already covered by another qualified plan may elect/enroll in an HRA and receive $175/month to pay for eligible medical expenses not covered by the other plan.  (Note that some restrictions may be imposed by the plan the employee is enrolled in. For example, employees enrolled in government-sponsored plans such as Medicaid are ineligible to receive HRA funds.)

Employees who waive coverage in NKY Health's Group Dental or Group Vision plan do not receive any benefits for waiving coverage.

Employees who waive coverage due to a Qualifying Event do not receive benefits for waiving coverage until the next plan year.

The Benefits Selection Guide is available to help employees decide which benefits options are the best for them.  Although the guide is usually updated during Open Enrollment, most of the information in the guide is still relevant all year.  It contains all the details about each plan. 

• Summaries of the Group Health plans can be found in the Plan Options section here. Note that NKY Health pays 100% of the Employer Contribution and 50% of the Employee contribution towards any Kentucky Employees' Health Plan (KEHP) Group Health plan elected.  

• Summaries of the Group Dental plans can be found here. Note that NKY Health pays up to the cost of the single  coverage for the Silver Plan (the middle plan) towards any Kentucky Employees' Health Plan (KEHP) Group Dental plan elected.  

• Summaries of the Group Vision plans can be found here. Note that employees pay 100% of the cost of any Kentucky Employees' Health Plan (KEHP) Group Vision plan elected.

Before electing/enrolling in coverage, employees should note the following exception: 

• NKY Health does NOT offer Group Life Insurance through KEHP.

Unless otherwise instructed by Human Resources, employees who are not transferring from another participating agency must elect/enroll in benefits using Kentucky Employees Human Resources Information Systems (KHRIS), the Commonwealth’s enrollment portal.

If you are a new employee or an existing employee who is newly eligible for benefits and have not been otherwise instructed by Human Resources, then follow these steps to enroll in/elect benefits (Click here if you prefer more detailed instructions with pictures.):

1. Go to the  Kentucky Human Resources Information System (KHRIS) portal.

2. To set yourself up for the first time, click "Forgot User ID" and "Forgot Password" and then follow the prompts to get your user ID and password and then use these to log in.  (Be sure to write them down so you don't lose them.)  

3. Enter information about your dependents.

4. Add/Elect the benefits you want.  

5. Print the confirmation form and double check to make sure the benefits listed are the benefits you want.

6. Email all pages in one .PDF from your fname.lname@nkyhealth.org email to hr@nkyhealth.org. 

Open Enrollment (OE) usually occurs in the fall of the year with changes effective January 1 of the following year. Except for a Qualifying Event (QE) this is the only time employees can make changes to their Group Health, Dental and/or Vision Insurance.

Unless otherwise instructed by the Department of Employee Insurance (via Member Services or mail received at home) or Human Resources, follow these steps to change elect your benefits during Open Enrollment:

1. Log into the Kentucky Human Resources Information System (KHRIS) portal.

2. Update any information about you or your dependents that has changed.

3. Add/Elect the benefits you want.  

4. Print the confirmation form and double check to make sure the benefits listed are the benefits you want.

5. Email all pages in one .PDF from your fname.lname@nkyhealth.org email to hr@nkyhealth.org. 

Outside open enrollment, employees may make changes for either of the following reasons:

• Employees must update personal information any time it changes or needs to be corrected. (For example, a change of address, a social security number for a new baby, etc.)

• Employees can change their coverage due to certain Qualifying Events (QEs) which are stipulated by the law for plan design.  These include:

  • Birth or adoption of a child.

  • Change in marital status.

  • Loss of coverage.  (If Medicaid, please initiate the Medicaid Eligibility Termination (MET) form also.)

  • Gaining of other coverage.

  • Dependents become ineligible.

  • Court orders.

  • Death.

If you want to make changes to your coverage due to a Qualifying Event (QE), follow these steps:

1. Download the appropriate form from the "Benefits Enrollment/Change Forms" section below:

   • If you want to change Group Health coverage, use the Benefits Enrollment Change form. 

   • If you want to change Group Dental and/or Group Vision coverage only, use the form specific to that benefit.  

   • (NOTE: You do not need all three forms. Only use the Group Dental and Group Vision forms if you want to make changes to those plans but NOT to Group Health.) 

2. Complete the form(s) electronically, then print and sign in blue or black ink.

3. If you are correcting an error or updating personal information, note this on the form.

4. Check the form to confirm that all the fields are completed and the benefits listed are the benefits you want (if due to a QE).

5. Attach supporting documentation (for legal events such as marriage and divorce, the official certificate or decree or for other events, documentation on letterhead showing your name, SSNO, the type of QE and the effective date of the QE. When adding a dependent, you must also attach marriage certificate for spouse, birth certificate or adoption order for child, etc. ) 

6. Email all pages of the form and any supporting documentation in one .PDF file from your fname.lname@nkyhealth.org to hr@nkyhealth.org. 

In most cases, you have 30 days from the date of the event to make these changes but it's best not to wait until the last minute.

Employees who make a mistake during Open Enrollment (OE) may request an exception from the Department of Employee Insurance (DEI). DEI usually accepts exception requests through December 31 of the year of OE.

Employees whose enrollments are incorrect due to an administrative error in processing may also request an exception from DEI.

To request an exception, follow these steps:

1. Read DEI's guidelines regarding the exception request process.

2. Download and complete the "Benefits Enrollment Change" form below.

3. Download and complete the "Exception" form from DEI's website. Use "1/1/yyyy" as the effective date for OE requests or the date of the initial coverage for error requests, "NKY Health" as the agency name, "Karen Domaschko" as the IC Name, and "90310" as the agency number.

4. Email all pages of the form, the application, and any supporting documentation in one .PDF file from your fname.lname@nkyhealth.org to hr@nkyhealth.org. 

The Benefits Selection Guide, usually updated during Open Enrollment, contains a Benefits Grid that you can refer to anytime for general information about what your plan covers. 

Please contact the insurance carrier for with specific questions about what is and is not covered.

If you are registered on the insurance carrier's website, you can print a new card.

if you are not registered on the insurance carrier's website, please contact the insurance carrier to request a new or replacement card.  

If you were covered on January 1 of a plan year, then in order to receive a discounted premium rate on your Group Health insurance, you must to complete the LivingWell Promise between January 1 and July 1 each year for the following year.

To complete the Livingwell promise, you must establish a Castlight account at mycastlight.com/mybenefits and complete the health assessment.

The health assessment only takes about 10 minutes to complete and asks various health and lifestyle questions.

When cross-referencing, both spouses must complete the Livingwell Promise.

Note that you will not get credit for completing the Promise if you do it during Open Enrollment. KEHP requires that the Livingwell Promise be completed between January 1 and July 1.

The Department of Employee Insurance (DEI) is responsible for maintaining annual (2024) forms, documents, and legal notices pertaining to Group Health, Group Dental and Group Vision Insurance including but not limited to Summaries of Benefits and Coverages (SBCs) and Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs). 

6/8/2023

• Added Revision Log.

• Deleted information about requesting reimbursement for at-home COVID tests through KEHP.

3/6/2024

• Updated information about benefits offered by KEHP.

• Simplified language.