Open Enrollment

Open Enrollment takes place every year during the month of October (October 1 - 31). Elections during Open Enrollment stay in effect from January 1 through December 31 of the following year.

Qualifying Life Event

A qualifying life event under the LAwell program is an event change or a family status change, as defined by the LAwell program, that allows employees to make benefit changes during the year.

See more about qualifying life events below.

New Employee Enrollment

When you enroll as a new employee, your benefit choices stay in effect through December 31st of that year.

If you happen to enroll as a new employee during the months of October through December, you will need to make one set of elections for that year, and another set of elections for the following year.

If you are a New Employee, visit the New Employee page for more details.

Qualifying Life Event Rules

Life event changes will go into effect the day you report the change IF your event meets all requirements AND you complete all the requirements detailed below. In compliance with federal rules and LAwell program requirements, the LAwell program will determine if your change request is permitted.

1. All changes must be reported within 30 days of the life event date in order to be considered for eligibility. Failure to give LAwell timely notice may cause coverage of a dependent to not start or to end, and may result in your liability to repay the Plan if any benefits are paid to an ineligible person.

2. In most cases, supporting documentation will be required within 60 days of the date on your confirmation statement. If you do not submit required documents by the deadline, any change you made online or by calling the Benefits Service Center will not take effect. See below for more information on how to submit required documentation.

In general, changes you can make during a qualifying life event must be consistent with that type of life event change. For example, if you are reporting a divorce life event, you are typically able to only remove your ineligible spouse from the LAwell benefits for which he/she is currently covered. Making changes to your own LAwell benefits coverage, or the coverage of another dependent, may not be allowed.

Not all events are qualifying life events. The following are examples of situations that are not considered qualifying life events and do not permit you to make midyear changes: promoting or changing jobs/departments; changes to network physicians or facilities; a diagnosis or changes to your or your dependent’s health; or your dependent child attending an out-of-state school.

Reporting a Qualifying Life Event

Online: Log into your Benefits Central Portal account.

Phone: Call the Benefits Service Center at (833) 4LA-WELL (833-452-9355).

Submitting Supporting Documentation for a Qualifying Life Event

Once you have reported your life event, you will receive a confirmation statement. In most cases, supporting documentation will be required within 60 days of the date on your confirmation statement. If you do not submit required documents by the deadline, any change you made online or by calling the Benefits Service Center will not take effect.

For example, if you add a dependent to your health coverage and fail to provide the required documentation within 60 days of the date on your confirmation statement, that dependent’s coverage will not take effect. Any medical, vision, or dental expenses your dependent incurred before the dependent became properly enrolled will be your financial responsibility.

There are several ways to submit required documents: Online, Email, Fax, or In-person.

• Online: Log in to the Benefits Central Portal and upload your documents.

  Upload your supporting documents directly to your account via the following ways:

  1. The “To do” section of your Enrollment Confirmation screen.
  2. The “Upload my documents” tile.
  3. The “Enrollment Forms Requirements” call to Action that should appear after you successfully complete an applicable enrollment event.

  You can also monitor the status of your uploaded documents.
  
  

• Email or Fax: Write your name and employee ID number on each document and send via:

  Email: per.empbenefits@lacity.org

  Fax: 213-978-1623

• Mail: Write your name and employee ID number on each document and mail to:

• In-person: Write your name and employee ID number on each document and place in the dropbox outside the Employee Benefits Division at:

Examples of Qualifying Life Events

Some common Life Events and their reporting requirements are shown in the table below. This is not an exhaustive list and is subject to change. Documents listed serve as examples. Other documents may apply to your specific life event. Contact the LAwell Benefits Program to ask what documents apply to your specific life event.

**See Direct Bill.