We will keep you informed as further information becomes available. 

As required by law, when an employee or their dependent loses eligibility for coverage, COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) and Wisconsin state continuation is offered to ensure they have the option to continue coverage. Benefits eligible for COBRA include health, pharmacy, dental, vision, wellness, and flexible spending accounts (FSAs).  

Currently, COBRA administration is handled by employers, several different vendors, and ETF. This means a member receives information from several sources and submits documents and payment to multiple places to continue the coverages they choose. 

With the 2026 My Insurance Benefits launch, administration of COBRA will move to a third-party vendor named Voya. Your employees who may be eligible for COBRA after the 2026 My Insurance Benefits launch will receive materials mailed to them from Voya. The basic rules that govern COBRA and continuation coverage will remain the same. 

Overall, the consolidation of COBRA administration will be a win for everyone, as it will remove some administrative work from both employers and ETF and provide more hands-on access to our members.   

This functionality will be available with the 2026 My Insurance Benefits launch. 

Due to the My Insurance Benefits configuration timelines, ETF will begin accepting resolutions on July 1, 2025, for employers to join, withdraw, or make changes to their insurance benefit offerings for October 1, 2025 coverage.  

Going forward, ETF will enforce a firm October 1 deadline for receiving employer resolutions effective January 1 of the following year. Resolutions received after October 1 will not be accepted for January 1 coverage. This means that ETF must receive all resolutions for health, life, and ICI insurance by October 1, 2025, for a January 1, 2026, effective date.  Employers wishing to join, withdraw, or make changes to their supplemental dental, vision, and accident insurance will continue with current processes. 

Retirees will not interact with My Insurance Benefits until the 2026 launch. Once they do, their experience within My Insurance Benefits will be different than actively working employees. While employees and retirees will both be able to view their enrollments in the system; retirees will have greater access to editing their profile information. Though retirees will continue to use a paper application to elect their health and supplemental benefits; they will use My Insurance Benefits to make changes, such as canceling or reducing their life, health, and supplemental benefits.  

Employers will need to process terminations timely in My Insurance Benefits so that ETF can set up the retiree insurance benefits and to prevent the retiree from having to pay retroactive insurance premiums. There will be a short time, between the employer termination and the retiree setup, when new retirees will not see their benefits. One policy change for retirees that will occur with the implementation of My Insurance Benefits is that their supplemental dental and vision benefits will automatically carryover into retirement.

Q. Will employees use My Insurance Benefits for open enrollment? 

A: In 2025, only UWs employees will use My Insurance Benefits to make changes to their insurance benefit elections during open enrollment. A group of ETF staff are analyzing the open enrollment processes to ensure all stakeholders are ready. After the 2026 launch for all other employers, all other members will use My Insurance Benefits for insurance benefit election changes during open enrollment.  

Q: What is the benefit of using My Insurance Benefits when we only offer one insurance benefit? 

A: We acknowledge that for employers that only offer one insurance benefit, such as life insurance or income continuation insurance, moving to My Insurance Benefits may seem like a lot of work. We want to assure you this decision was made with the best interest of our members in mind. Providing members access to view their benefit through My Insurance Benefits will allow them to review their benefit and may, in time, decrease the number of inquiries you receive from your employees. Your employees will be able to log in any time of day, on their own, without employer assistance. Additionally, if you offer additional benefits through ETF in the future, your employees will be set up in My Insurance Benefits and easily adjust to selecting additional benefits. Both you as the employer and the member can benefit from a more secure, easily accessible system 24 hours a day 7 days a week. ETF is excited to partner with you as we navigate this change together. If you have questions, we are here to help. Reach out through the support channels listed at the bottom of this newsletter.