NHTC has an extensive insurance benefit package including health, dental, vision, and life insurance available for all full time employees. The information below is intended to provide general information about each insurance plan available. If you have questions that the information does not fully answer please contact NHTC's insurance agent (Life Security Agency) at   1-800-366-5803 or the specific insurance provider customer support lines and websites listed below.

HEALTH INSURANCE

NHTC's health insurance provider is AVERA Health Plans. Over the last few years NHTC has elected to have higher deductible costs in order to lower the monthly premiums. Understating that this has both positive and negative effects, NHTC established an MRA (Medical Reimbursement Account) that is designed to reduce the cost of deductibles. What this means is that the actual insurance plan will list a higher deductible cost than what our employees will actually pay. To be reimbursed for deductible costs through the MRA account please follow these steps:

1. EOB (Explanation of Benefits) statements regarding services you received that apply toward your deductible must be turned in to Linda Williams, COO. (Please be sure that these EOB statements are for services that apply to the deductible)

2. Linda will then inform our insurance agent (Life Security Agency) and a reimbursement check will be sent you. 

DEDUCTIBLES

Please note: Your medical provider will use the Avera Plan deductibles when determining your bill. Please submit copies of your EOB (Explanation of Benefits) statements to Linda Williams, COO for services that qualify toward your deductible.

COINSURANCE

Coinsurance is the split of medical costs between the insurance provider and the insured after the deductible has been met. NHTC's plan has an 80/20 split which means employees pay 20% of medical costs up until the out of pocket maximum has been met.  

Once the out of pocket maximum has been met the insurance provider covers 100% of medical costs.

Health insurance is offered to all full-time employees. Please click on the links below to learn more about plan benefits, how to sign up for health insurance, premiums, and effective dates. For more information about your AVERA health plan please go to www.AveraHealthPlans.com . In the top left hand corner of the homepage click on Member and use your group number (SD582A this is also located on your insurance card) to log in. You can also call Avera's customer service line at 1-888-322-2115. For pre-certifications please call 1-888-605-1331.

By signing up for health insurance benefits you are also enrolling in NHTC's life insurance plan. For more information see Life Insurance below.

AVERA HEALTH PLAN BENEFITS

AVERA BENEFIT SUMMARY

HOW TO ENROLL IN HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS

Open enrollment for group health insurance benefits is May 1st through May 31st for all full-time employees. You can only sign up for health benefits during this time.

Newly hired full-time employees can enroll for health insurance benefits within 30 days of their hire date. In this case the start date will occur after 30 days and then the 1st of the following month.

If a newly hired employee does not sign up for health insurance within the first 30 days of employment they will have to wait until open enrollment.

PREMIUMS

All monthly insurance premiums are split into the two monthly pay periods. There are two times out of the year when there are three pay periods during the month. In this case one of those pay periods will not have any premiums taken out of your paycheck.

NHTC Health Insurance Premiums

HEALTH INSURANCE EFFECTIVE DATE INFORMATION

• New Hires: 1st of the month following 30 days.
• Part-time to full-time status change: 1st of the month following 30 days.
• Child Birth: effective immediately, but the employee must add the baby to their insurance plan within 30 days following the birth of the child. If the employee does not register the baby they will be considered a late enrollee and subject to pre-existing conditions.
• Marriage: effective date is immediate, but must provide proof of change.
• Resignation or termination from employement: the end date for insurance benefits under these circumstances is at the end of the month in which the termination or resignation took place.

If an employee has a child, gets married, or is adding or removing dependents from the insurance plan they must complete an AVERA Change Form and return it to Dan Cross, SDC or Linda Williams, COO.

Please note: if you desire to add dependents other than birth or marriage to the plan, they must have a qualifying event to do so. This means that the dependent must have lost their coverage due to loss of job, exhaustion of COBRA benefits, or non-eligibility for medicaid or Medicare.

HEALTH INSURANCE APPLICATION MATERIALS

To apply for health insurance benefits you must complete the following paperwork. Please print out these forms, complete, and return to either Dan Cross, SDC or Linda Williams, COO. When you drop these forms off you will be asked to complete the Flexible Benefits Form which needs to be filled out at NHTC. The flexible benefits premium only plan ensures that your premiums are taken out of your paycheck before taxes are taken out, saving you money in the long run.

AVERA Health Insurance Application

Lincoln Mutual and Casualty Insurance Company (Life Insurance)

NHTC Consent Form (Consent forms must be completed with the application. These forms allow NHTC to disclose protected health information in order to carry out treatement, payment, or health care operations.)

Life Security Consent Form (Consent forms must be completed with the application. These forms allow NHTC to disclose protected health information in order to carry out treatement, payment, or health care operations.)

LIFE INSURANCE

The life insurance offered by NHTC is part of the health insurance package of benefits. You cannot only have life insurance and if you enroll in health insurance you will also need to enroll in the life insurance plan. The policy is a $15,000 double indemnity policy. To access the application click on the Lincoln Mutual and Casualty Insurance Company above.

DENTAL AND VISION INSURANCE  

NHTC offers a dental and vision insurance package at a group rate and is completely voluntary. This means there is no assistance from NHTC in covering the premium costs of this insurance package. Click on the links below to learn more about the plan benefits, premiums, and how to enroll in the dental and vision insurance benefits.

DENTAL AND VISION APPLICATION MATERIALS

To apply for dental and vision insurance benefits you must complete the following paperwork. Please print out these forms, complete, and return to either Dan Cross, SDC or Linda Williams, COO. When you drop these forms off you will be asked to complete the Flexible Benefits Form which needs to be filled out at NHTC. Visit www.bestlife.com for more information regarding the dental and vision insurance package.

Best Dental and Vision Application

Best Dental & Vision Benefit Summary and Premiums (Deductible is included in the benefit summary)

NHTC Consent Form (Consent forms must be completed with the application. These forms allow NHTC to disclose protected health information in order to carry out treatement, payment, or health care operations.)

Life Security Consent Form (Consent forms must be completed with the application. These forms allow NHTC to disclose protected health information in order to carry out treatement, payment, or health care operations.)

 COBRA BENEFITS

COBRA is the acronym for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconcilation Act passed in 1986. The law ammends several other laws and allows for continuation of group health benefit benefit coverage for employees that might otherwise be terminated from coverage. All NHTC employees who resign or have been terminated will receive a COBRA letter explaining what they need to do in order to apply for COBRA benefits. COBRA benefits are temporary. For more information regarding COBRA benefits plese visit the following link.

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_cobra.HTML

NHTC Offers a generous 401k retirement plan to all eligible employees. The plan is administered by American United Life Insurance Company (AUL.) Eligibility requirements are below:

To be eligible to participate in the 401k plan employees must:

• Work for one year in which the employee has worked 1,000 hours.
• Full-time and part-time employees are eligible following the above bullet.

The 401k plan offers an employer contribution match of up to 12%.

Employees desirous of participating in the 401k retirement benefit can enroll in the plan during the months of January or July. Enrollment forms, beneficiary designation forms, and the entire 401k benefit summary are below. If you wish to participate you will need to print out and complete the 401k Enrollment Form and the 401k Beneficiary Designation Form below and return them to Sandy Nelson, CFO. 

401k Benefit Summary

401k Enrollment Form

401k Beneficiary Designation Form

For more information about the 401k retirement plan please contact Sandy Nelson, CFO

NHTC offers Paid Personal Leave and Extended Leave to all eligible employees. Requirements and details are listed below.

PAID PERSONAL LEAVE (PPL)

PPL is offered to all full-time employees and part-time employees after 4 years of employment. Accrual of PPL hours occurs in the following ways:

• Newly hired full-time employees can accrue up to 152 hours of PPL during the first year of employment or approximately 4.85 hours of PPL every two weeks depending on how many hours are worked. Newly hired full-time employees cannot take PPL days during the first 30 days of employment.
• Full-time employees that have been employed for over 1 year can accrue up to 208 hours of PPL during the year or 8 hours of PPL every two weeks depending on how many hours have been worked.
• Accumulated PPL hours is capped at 360 hours. If this amount is reached the employee will stop accruing PPL hours until the amount has been reduced.
• Part-time employees who have worked continuously for 4 years will accrue PPL hours based on how many hours are worked.
• Requests to take PPL days must be submitted via TimeForce two weeks in advance. Employees should not make personal plans until leave has been granted by the immediate supervisor. failure to follow this procedure may result in leave not being approved.

EXTENDED LEAVE (EXL)

Extended Leave is only offered to full-time employees. Extended leave can be used for the following purposes:

• All full-time employees can earn up to 24 hours of EXL per year. Newly hired full-time employees may not use EXL during the first 30 days of employment.
• Accumulated EXL hours are capped at 480 hours. Employees will be paid the full renumeration of hours accumulated above 480 hours on a semi-annual basis.
• EXL can be used for employee illness or illness of family members. Employees must utilize PPL for the first two days. Following this EXL can be used.
• EXL can be used immediately for situations that are medical in nature or require surgery.

FMLA (FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT)

The FMLA act allows employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. It also ensures that group health benefits are maintained during that time as well. In order for an employee to utilize FMLA benefits they must experience a qualifying event. This information can be found in the link below.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/benefits-leave/fmla.htm

This information can also be found in the NHTC Employee Handbook. See the Employee Handbook in the staff section of the NHTC website. If you have questions regarding paid leave please contact Dan Cross, SDC or Linda Williams, COO.