Retired Employee Eligibility for UT Insurance
1 . An individual who was employed at a UT System institution in a benefits-eligible position during August 2003 and subsequently retires from the System is eligible for benefits as a retired employee if:
- The individual meets the Rule of 80 (total of age plus years of creditable state service equals or exceeds 80), or the individual is at least age 55 with five (5) years of creditable state service; and
- The individual has at least three (3) years of service with the System for which the individual was eligible to participate in the Program; and
- The individual’s last place of state employment before retirement was with a System institution; and
- The individual retires from System under the jurisdiction of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS); the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS); or the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) established by Chapter 830, Government Code or any other federal or state statutory retirement program to which the System has made employer contributions.
2. An individual who was: 1) not employed in a benefits-eligible position during August 2003, and 2) not yet retired or already eligible to retire under the above rules during August 2003, is eligible for benefits as a retired employee if:
- The individual meets the Rule of 80 (total of age plus years of state service credit equals or exceeds 80) with at least ten (10) years of creditable state service, or is at least age 65 with ten (10) years of total state service credit; and
- The individual has at least ten (10) years of service with the System; and
- The individual’s last state employment before retirement was with an institution of the System; and
- The individual retires under the jurisdiction of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS); the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS); or the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) established by Chapter 830, Government Code or any other federal or state statutory retirement program to which the System has made employer contributions.
Individuals, regardless of age and years of service credit, who worked in a benefits-eligible position with UT and are members of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) and qualify for disability retirement may also qualify to participate in the UT Benefits program. Individuals who are participants in the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) may also qualify for disability retirement.
The criteria above cover most, but not all, of the situations under which someone is eligible for retired employee benefits. For more information about retired employee benefits eligibility, refer to the Office of Employee Benefits Administrative Manual, Policy 220 .
For voluntary UT Benefits plans, your eligible dependents include:
- Your spouse;
- Your child(ren) under age 26, including stepchildren, adopted children, and children for whom you are the legal guardian or who are the subject of a medical support order;
- Your grandchild under age 26, if the child qualifies and is claimed as your dependent for federal tax purposes; and
- Certain children over age 26, who are determined by the UT System Office of Employee Benefits (OEB) to be medically incapacitated and are unable to provide their own support.
Examples of dependents who aren't eligible for coverage:
- Your common-law spouse, unless you have a Declaration of Informal Marriage;
- Your former spouse;
- Your grandchild, if over age 26 or if not claimed as your dependent for federal tax purposes;
- Your child over age 26, if not medically incapacitated and unable to provide their own support;
- Foster children who are covered by another government program, unless required by law or court order;
- Any child for whom you only have power of attorney;
- Any dependent insured in the same plan type by another university employee or retired employee;
- Any dependent insured by another plan that receives State of Texas premium contributions (such as ERS, TRS or Texas A&M plans).
