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 March 25, 2025
In This Issue
All Employers | All Insurance Benefits
Welcome to My Benefits Employer News, a monthly newsletter to keep you informed about ETF’s new insurance administration system. Save time by only reading the articles relevant to you—the first line of each article identifies which employers and benefits the article applies to. View previous issues.
What You Need to Know About System Cutover Planning - Urgent Needs Procedure
All Employers | Health Insurance
In the January My Benefits Employer News, we mentioned that during the electronic enrollment freeze on insurance changes, ETF will have a plan in place to ensure new members or those with coverage changes can get urgently needed services.
The plan, which you may hear ETF staff refer to as an “emergency procedure,” consists of these straight-forward steps:
- If the employee hasn’t already completed an application, they fill out a paper application and submit it to their employer.
- Employers will send the application to ETF via Box. The Department of Administration, UW, and UWHC will create an Ivanti ticket to alert ETF the application is in BOX. All other employers will send an email to alert ETF that the application is in BOX.
- ETF will then notify the health plan or third-party administrator of the enrollment or change, and notify the employer once this is done.
- The employer should then notify the employee that their enrollment or change request has been provided to the vendor.
- ETF retains the application and keys it into My Insurance Benefits prior to go-live.
As a reminder, current member coverage will not be impacted and will stay active during the freeze. For new enrollees and those with coverage changes that do not have urgent needs, the employer will retain the application for entry into My Insurance Benefits.
What You Need to Know About System Cutover Planning - Pre-Tax Benefit Programs
State Employers | Pre-Tax Benefit Programs
Enrollments for pre-tax benefit programs (Health Savings Accounts, Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Limited Purpose FSAs, Dependent Day Care Accounts, Parking Accounts, and Transit Accounts) will continue to be sent through files from the employers to Optum during the electronic enrollment freeze period.
- Stop using the current Optum enrollment forms for pre-tax benefit program processes as of May 22 at 5:00 p.m.
- Send their last census file, before My Insurance Benefits goes live to Optum the week of June 23.
- Manually update My Insurance Benefits with the enrollments, changes, and terminations received after the last census file was sent to Optum when employer HR administrator access is available.
ETF will provide employers with a new enrollment form for the pre-tax programs before it will be available to employees on May 23. Once My Insurance Benefits goes live, this enrollment form will be used in those rare instances when employees cannot use the system.
Spotlight on Training
All Employers | All Insurance Benefits
Training for My Insurance Benefits officially kicks off this month with sessions to prepare ETF’s most impacted teams. ETF staff will be trained earlier than employers so that they can help support members and employers throughout the transition.
State employers should have received invitations for training already. Local employers will be invited to sign up for training courses in May and June, with detailed registration emails distributed the week of March 31.
Employers should expect to allocate 6 to10 hours to live, virtual training sessions. Most courses will include hands-on, scenario-based exercises to practice in the system. Training for employers will start with the Department of Administration state agencies, University of Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics the week of April 14.
My Insurance Benefits Offers To-Do List & Task Management
All Employers | All Insurance Benefits
My Insurance Benefits will offer employers a To-do list to assist HR administrators in tracking their tasks. It will display tasks when a member is missing information, submits documentation, or makes a change requiring approval. HR administrators will review and approve changes their employees make before the data is sent to the health carrier/vendor. It is important that employers act on approvals timely, and the To-do list will help you track those tasks. Here is a sample To-do list:
Employers will learn more about the To-do list in training.
Drive Employee Adoption with the My Benefits Toolkit
All Employers | All Insurance Benefits
The first step in a change management process is building awareness. In addition to sharing the May WRS News Online with employees (preview below), you can help drive adoption of My Benefits by promoting the system with resources from our marketing toolkit.
The My Benefits Marketing Toolkit offers a variety of ready-to-use materials such as handouts, posters, PowerPoint slides, and web banners for intranet sites and social media platforms.
As we approach the launch of the new system, the toolkit will expand to include additional materials tailored to different scenarios, such as new hires and life events.
Frequent Questions
All Employers | All Insurance Benefits
Q: Will there be an application for WRS benefits in the future?
A: A new pension administration system is on our modernization roadmap following the implementation of My Insurance Benefits. We are in the planning stages for that project and, as a precursor to a full modern system, ETF has implemented online access for members to their Annual Wisconsin Retirement System Statement of Benefits.
Q: Will employers need to follow up with employees if they don't enroll timely?
A: As done today, employers should follow up with those employees who are nearing enrollment deadlines. My Insurance Benefits will display enrollment deadlines to employees and help employers track enrollments for new hires and qualified life events through the To-do list functionality mentioned above. Employers will learn more about the To-do list and other My Insurance Benefits features during training.
Upcoming Communication to Active Employees
All Employers | All Insurance Benefits
The following article will be featured in the May edition of WRS News Online for employees. Please share the WRS News with your staff once ETF sends it to you.
My Insurance Benefits Available in July
In July 2025, ETF will launch My Insurance Benefits, an online application for employees to manage their ETF-administered insurance benefits easily and securely 24/7.
With My Insurance Benefits, employees can enroll in, change, or review their current insurance information, including health, dental, vision, accident, income continuation, and life insurance. State employees can also manage their pre-tax savings accounts. Note: Long-term care insurance is not included in the application.
In July, all members with ETF-administered insurance benefits may log in to view their insurance information and familiarize themselves with My Insurance Benefits.
Additionally, new hires and employees who wish to change their benefits due to a life event (like having a baby or being newly married or divorced) will complete new enrollments and make those changes online. During the annual open enrollment period, employees may change their health and other eligible insurance benefits.
My Insurance Benefits can be accessed through the My Benefits portal, which is part of ETF’s modernization effort to improve online self-service for members and employers.
Several projects are in the pipeline for ongoing modernization, including a multiyear project to provide online access to retirement benefits.
Watch for future updates on My Insurance Benefits from your employer’s human resources office or benefits specialist.
You may also get the latest news from ETF by subscribing to ETF E-mail Updates. Enter your email address, follow the instructions provided, and be sure to check the box for “Member Updates.”
Talking Points to Share with Your Staff
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At go live, all members with ETF-administered insurance benefits may log in to view their insurance information and familiarize themselves with My Insurance Benefits. New hires and employees who wish to change their benefits due to a life event (like having a baby or being newly married or divorced) will complete new enrollments and make those changes online.
- HR administrators will see and approve employee enrollments and changes in My Insurance Benefits.
ETF will continue to provide more detail on the above, communicate additional changes, and ensure you are prepared for the transition.
Local Employers | All Insurance Benefits
If you need support related to My Insurance Benefits, please contact ETF’s employer liaisons at ETFSMBIASEmployerSetupQuestions@etf.wi.gov.
State Employers | All Insurance Benefits
If you need support related to My Insurance Benefits, please contact the IAS Project Manager with whom you currently work.
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