EUTF Active – Enrollment Overview

To enroll in EUTF health plans, you must complete an EUTF Enrollment Form for Active Employees (EC-1). If you do not enroll eligible members of your family within 45 days (180 days for newborns) from the time you or they first become eligible, you must wait until you experience a qualifying event or wait until the next open enrollment period. The plan year for active employees begins July 1 and ends June 30 of the following year.

Confirmation Notice and ID Cards

Once your enrollment is processed by the EUTF, you will be mailed a Confirmation Notice indicating your enrollment and dependents covered (if any). You will have 15 calendar days from the date indicated on the Confirmation Notice to notify EUTF in writing if you need to correct EUTF data entry errors. More information can be found on the Confirmation Notice.

The EUTF will notify the health insurance carriers of your new enrollment and you should receive identification cards from the insurance carriers shortly after. ID cards are not issued for HMA, American Specialty Health Group, Inc., Securian Financial, and VSP, as ID cards are not required to receive services.

Dual Enrollment Between Two EUTF Plans Is Not Allowed

No person may be enrolled in any EUTF benefit plan as both an employee-beneficiary and dependent-beneficiary, nor may children be enrolled by more than one employee-beneficiary (dual enrollment).

Employee and Spouse Both State and/or County Employees

In addition, if you and your spouse/domestic partner/civil union partner are both employee-beneficiaries, the employer contribution cannot exceed a family plan contribution in accordance with Chapter 87A-32(3), Hawaii Revised Statutes.

When Can You Enroll?

Eligible employees may enroll in EUTF plans by filing an EC-1 form during regular or limited enrollment periods described in EUTF Administrative Rules. These enrollment periods include the following:

IMPORTANT: After the open enrollment period is completed (or if you are a new hire, after your initial enrollment election period is over), generally you will not be allowed to change your benefit elections or add/delete dependents until next year’s open enrollment, unless you have a special enrollment event or a qualifying event.

End of Coverage

Common situations resulting in loss of coverage for you and your dependents include:

  • Required premium payments are not made
  • Death, subject to exceptions
  • Noncompliance with the EUTF Administrative Rules
  • Filing of fraudulent claims
  • Dependent reaches the limiting age, or divorce
  • Surviving spouse, domestic or civil union partner remarries or enters into another partnership

IMPORTANT: If any of your dependents are no longer eligible due to a divorce, legal separation, reaching the limiting age, or losing full-time student status (for dental and vision), they cannot continue coverage under EUTF plans (except under available COBRA continuation coverage). You are required to notify the EUTF and make these terminations when these events occur. Do not wait for open enrollment to submit terminations.

Effective Dates of Coverage for New Hires and Newly Eligible Employees

You have three choices of when you would like your coverage to begin:

  1. Your date of hire or date you become newly eligible for EUTF benefits
  2. First day of the first pay period from your date of hire or date you become newly eligible for EUTF benefits (the 1st or the 16th of the month)
  3. First day of the second pay period from your date of hire or date you become newly eligible for EUTF benefits (the 1st or the 16th of the month)

For example, if the date of hire or date you become newly eligible is January 3, 2021:

  • Option 1, effective date of coverage: January 3, 2021
  • Option 2, effective date of coverage: January 16, 2021
  • Option 3, effective date of coverage: February 1, 2021

Although your coverage begins on the date you select, your enrollment may not be processed right away. Therefore, if you need to fill a prescription or go to the doctor prior to receiving your ID cards you should email EUTF at [email protected]. In the email subject line type “URGENT – Confirmation of coverage needed”. EUTF checks this email daily and will contact the carrier to rush your enrollment after it receives the EC-1 from your employer.

If you are a newly hired employee or enrolling in benefits for the first time, your pay period deduction amounts may be doubled for at least one (1) to two (2) pay periods to accommodate for processing time and the payroll lag. If applicable, you will receive a separate notice, EUTF Health Insurance Premium Deduction Notice, to inform you of the additional premiums to be collected and the pay periods that will be adjusted.

Transfer of Employment

If you terminate employment and are rehired by the same public employer within the same pay period or the next consecutive pay period, you are considered as having transferred employment and you shall be treated as if continuously enrolled in the EUTF benefit plans. If you terminate employment and are rehired by a different public employer (e.g., State to County) within the same pay period or the next consecutive pay period, you are allowed to change between plans, including adding or deleting dependents and changing coverage tiers.

For purposes of this section only, the different public employers are: 1) State, including executive, legislative and judicial branches, Department of Education, University of Hawaii, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and all Charter Schools; 2) City and County of Honolulu; 3) County of Hawaii; 4) County of Kauai, and 5) County of Maui.

Effective Date of Termination

In general, when an event causes you or your dependent’s coverage to terminate, such termination will be effective on the first day of the first pay period following the occurrence of the event, e.g., divorce, end of domestic or civil union partnership, death, surviving spouse/partner remarries, or child ceases to be eligible for coverage. There may be certain instances in which the effective date of termination is different, e.g. on the last day of the month in which a dependent reaches the limiting age. You may obtain additional information by referring to the EUTF Administrative Rules & Statutes.

Rejection of Enrollment

Enrollment in EUTF benefit plans is contingent on meeting all eligibility criteria detailed in the EUTF Administrative Rules. Enrollment applications may be rejected if incomplete. An enrollment application shall be rejected if:

  • The application seeks to enroll a person who is not eligible to enroll in the benefit plan for which enrollment is requested;
  • The application is not filed within the time limitations prescribed by the EUTF Administrative Rules;
  • The application contains an intentional misstatement or misrepresentation of a material fact or contains other information of a fraudulent nature;
  • The employee-beneficiary owes past due contributions or other amounts to the EUTF; or
  • Acceptance of the application would violate applicable federal or state law or any other provision of the rules.

Employee-beneficiaries will be notified by mail of the rejection of any enrollment application.