Case Western Reserve University provides benefits-eligible faculty and staff with $20,000 term life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance at no cost to you. The AD&D benefit is payable to you in certain types of accidents or to your beneficiary if you die as a result of an accident.
- View the Life Insurance Certificate of Coverage for Faculty, Key Administration and Senior Staff
- View the Life Insurance Certificate of Coverage for Exempt and Non-exempt Staff
Supplemental Life Insurance
You can add to the basic $20,000 coverage provided by the university, based on multiples of your salary (1x, 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x or 3x) or you can add $30,000 of supplemental insurance so your total insurance amount equals $50,000.
You may want to consider the total amount of life insurance you need and then add coverage to get to that total. You pay only for coverage over $20,000. Example: If you choose to have a total of $50,000 of life insurance, you pay for only the $30,000 of additional coverage. The cost of the additional coverage is based on your age as of Oct. 31 of the current year.
The maximum amount of life insurance coverage available under Benelect is $500,000. The life insurance benefit is reduced by 35 percent at age 65 and further reduced to 50 percent of the original amount at age 70. Premiums reflect the reduced benefit amounts.
Evidence of Insurability
If you want to increase your life insurance coverage by any amount, you must provide evidence of insurability. Changes in the amounts of insurance will take effect on the first day of the policy month coinciding with or the month following the date stated in the approval notice from the provider. For new hires, policies are guarantee issued up to three times your salary.
Naming a Beneficiary
You should have a beneficiary designation on file with Benefits Administration. If you die while covered under Benelect and have not named a beneficiary (or if the named beneficiary dies before you), your benefit will be paid in order of survivorship shown in the group insurance plan description. Please note, life insurance beneficiaries are based on the most recent paper beneficiary form on file with the Benefits office. There is a place on HCM to view beneficiaries; however, the field is not managed and is therefore not updated.
Accelerated Benefit
Personal life insurance includes a provision allowing for an accelerated insurance benefit to be paid if you become terminally ill. This benefit is payable if you are suffering from an incurable, progressive and medically recognized disease and are not expected to survive more than six months beyond the date of the request for this benefit. Consult your group insurance plan description for details.
Imputed Income
Life insurance is a tax-free benefit in amounts up to $50,000. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires you to pay income tax on the value of any amount exceeding $50,000. The IRS-determined value is called “imputed income” and is calculated from the government’s “Uniform Premium Table I.” A copy of this table is available from the HR Service Center - Crawford Hall, Room 320, AskHR@case.edu, or 216.368-6964.