PPS offers health insurance to Substitute Teachers who meet the following criteria:

1. Must have worked the equivalent of seventy (55) full workdays as a Substitute Teacher in the preceding school year;
2. Must be fully available to work as a Substitute Teacher during the current school year, and must enroll when eligible in the medical plan;
3. If a Substitute Teacher accepts a temporary teaching position during the school year while enrolled in Substitute Teacher insurance, the Substitute Teacher must enroll in the District’s active health insurance plan. The Substitute Teacher is eligible to go back onto the Substitute Teacher health insurance plan after the temporary position ends, provided the active insurance ends before September 30th. It is the Substitute Teacher’s responsibility to contact the Health & Welfare Trust to make arrangements to re-start the Substitute Teacher health insurance: https://sdtrust.com/contacts.php#trust. 
4. Employees who are hired during the second semester of the school year must work a minimum of twenty-six 26 days as a substitute to qualify for insurance effective October 1. This 26-day work requirement must be fulfilled before the end of the previous school year. This is inclusive of protected leave time.

The PPS Benefits Team will determine a full list of Substitute Teachers eligible for Substitute Teacher health insurance in the next school year during the first week of July each year. Those Substitute Teachers who meet items 1 or 4 and 2 above will receive an Open Enrollment packet of Substitute Teacher health insurance materials from the H&W Trust in late August/early September.  The packet will include instructions on how to enroll. The effective date of coverage is October 1^st of each year.

The health insurance package for eligible Substitute Teachers includes:

• Medical & Prescription
  The School District No. 1 Health & Welfare Trust offers one (1) Kaiser Permanente Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plan, one (1) Providence Preferred Provider (PPO) Plan, and one (1) Providence In-Network Plan. These plans have no pre-existing condition waiting periods.  All medical plans include prescription benefits.
  
  
• Dental
  All Substitute Teachers enrolled in a Trust medical plan will have dental coverage. Two dental plan options are offered: Trust Dental Plan (administered by Delta Dental of Oregon) and Kaiser Dental. Both dental plans are traditional fee-for-service plans.

Most District employees share in the cost of health insurance premiums. The payroll deductions for medical insurance are withheld from the employee’s pay on a pre-tax basis. Premiums are deducted the month prior to coverage (i.e., September paycheck pays for October coverage).

For monthly rates/costs, visit the Health & Welfare Trust Website: https://sdtrust.com/mybenefits_health.php.

Eligible Dependents

• Your legal married spouse (including same sex married spouse);
  
  
• Eligible domestic partner, living together for six (6) months or more prior to enrolling in PPS benefits - Affidavit Required
• See Covering a Domestic Partner/Domestic Partner's Child(ren)? section below for more information
  
  
• Your children and your legal spouse’s or domestic partner’s children, up to age 26:
• This includes natural children, stepchildren, legally adopted children, children for whom you are the legal guardian, foster children, and children for whom you are legally responsible to provide health coverage under a Qualified Medical Child Support Order (QMCSO).
  
  
• Disabled children over age 26 if unmarried, incapable of self-support, dependent on you for primary support, and the disability occurred before the age of 26.
• For more information on covering disabled adult children, contact the Health & Welfare Trust (plan administrator) at 503-486-2107.
  
  

Eligible dependents do NOT include:

• A spouse from whom you are legally separated or divorced
• Anyone on active military duty
• Children over the age of 26 who are not disabled
• Your grandchildren, nieces/nephews or other relatives who live with you (unless you have court-appointed custody)
  
  

IMPORTANT:  You must notify the Health & Welfare Trust Administrative Office when a dependent is no longer eligible. You may be required to repay the Trust for any benefits paid after the dependent’s eligibility ends.

You will be required to submit the required documentation for all your dependents enrolled in your PPS health insurance plan

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires the District to collect social security numbers for all dependents enrolled in the employee’s medical plan. The social security numbers are used as identifiers in reporting health insurance coverage to the IRS. Dependents for which social security numbers are not provided may not be enrolled.

Secova Dependent Eligibility Verification

To ensure that all enrolled dependents meet the Health & Welfare Trust’s eligibility requirements, the H&W Trust works with Secova, an independent firm, to conduct confidential dependent eligibility verification.

 If you are covering dependents, you must fully complete the mandatory dependent eligibility verification through Secova

• Within 45 days AFTER enrolling in benefits, you will receive your verification packet from Secova to the mailing address on file for you.
• You MUST submit directly to Secova all required documents for the dependents you are covering on your PPS health insurance by the deadline provided in your verification packet.
• IMPORTANT: If you do NOT fully complete the mandatory dependent verification audit through Secova, your dependents will be dropped from your PPS health insurance on the first of the month following receipt of a final termination letter from Secova.

More information on the Secova dependent eligibility verification can be found on the H&W Trust website at https://sdtrust.com/enroll_dependent_verification.php. 

For employees covering a Domestic Partner*/Domestic Partner’s Child(ren), the IRS requires the District to withhold federal and Social Security taxes on the fair market value of the domestic partner and their dependents’ coverage.  This is in addition to the base premium that all employees pay based on the plan they choose.   State taxes may also be withheld depending on the employee’s situation.  The Imputed Income is also subject to the 6% PERS contribution for OPSRP Pension Members only (hired on or after August 29, 2003). Please contact the PPS Benefits Department for more details.

For more information on imputed income, please visit the Health & Welfare Trust website at https://sdtrust.com/. 

IMPORTANT: The value of your domestic partner health insurance coverage is considered a taxable benefit under federal IRS regulations. If you have domestic partner health insurance coverage, an additional taxable income, also known as imputed income, is added to your pay each month and then the appropriate taxes are withheld. The impact on your tax withholding will depend on your gross pay and your W-4 filing status.  PPS cannot provide tax advice.  We strongly encourage you to seek out a certified tax professional for assistance.

If enrolling a Domestic Partner/Domestic Partner’s Child(ren), the domestic partnership must have been established for at least six (6) months preceding the effective date of coverage. A Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership OR a notarized Affidavit of Domestic Partnership must be received by the Benefits Department within three (3) days of your enrollment.  The affidavit can also be found on our Benefit Forms webpage at: https://www.pps.net/Page/18910. 

• Most banks offer free notary services and only one of the two partners needs to be present.
• PPS does have free notaries available in Human Resources at the Dr. Matthew Prophet Education Center (formerly BESC) by appointment only.  Email benefits@pps.net to schedule an appointment.

* A Domestic Partner is an unmarried individual of the same or opposite sex whom you have been living with for six months or more prior to enrolling in PPS benefits.  NOTE: A legally married spouse is not a Domestic Partner.

The PPS Benefits Team will determine a full list of Substitute Teachers eligible for the Substitute Teacher health insurance in the next school year during the first week of July each year. Those Substitute Teachers who meet the eligibility criteria will receive an Open Enrollment packet of Substitute Teacher health insurance materials from the H&W Trust Administrative Office in late August/early September.  The packet will include instructions on how to enroll.

In preparation, we encourage you to do the following before enrolling in benefits:

• View all the benefit information on the H&W Trust website

1. 1. Select your Bargaining Unit (i.e., your Employee Group);
   2. Select your Status; then
   3. Click the GO! Button
      
      

• If you will be covering dependents (spouse/domestic partner/children), gather their dates of birth and social security numbers.
• For your beneficiaries, gather their dates of birth and social security numbers.

IRS rules state that benefit selections may only be changed when an employee experiences a qualifying event or during the Annual Open Enrollment period. The employee must complete an online enrollment via PeopleSoft Employee Self-Service (ESS) and upload the appropriate required documentation. The change must be consistent with the event.

Qualifying Events

Employees who experience a qualifying event must submit the required supporting documentation to the PPS Benefits Team and complete their benefits elections within 31-calendar days* from the date of the qualifying event.

* Unless otherwise indicated

For more information and instructions on making changes to your benefits due to a qualifying event visit:

• Benefits Enrollment & Changes webpage: https://www.pps.net/Page/7324
• Examples of Qualifying Events & Required Documentation: https://www.pps.net/Page/18906
  
  

Annual Open Enrollment Period

The Annual Open Enrollment Period takes place in late August/early September each year for eligible Substitute Teachers, and all changes take effect October 1st.  This is the time to add or remove dependents or change medical plans. This is a good time to update beneficiary information, as well.

Insurance identification (ID) cards are issued directly from the insurance carriers. Processing time usually takes 3-5 weeks after submitting your benefits enrollment.

If you or a covered dependent need medical attention prior to receipt of your insurance ID cards, please call your medical insurance carrier directly (contact information can be found at the bottom of this webpage). If the carrier is not showing coverage, contact the Health & Welfare Trust (plan administrator) for assistance at 503-486-2107.

• Eligible Substitute Teachers enrolled in health insurance will have coverage beginning October 1st of each year.

Coverage will terminate at the end of the month the employee resigns or ceases to be paid.

PPS employees and their immediate family members are eligible to join the following credit unions for banking services such as savings, checking, IRAs, Certificates of Deposit, loans, and a variety of other services. 

• OnPoint Community Credit Union
  Customer Service:  1-800-527-3932
  
  
• Consolidated Community Credit Union
  Member Services:  503-232-8070.

The 403(b) Plan is a voluntary (optional) supplemental retirement savings program offered under section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code and is called the Tax-Sheltered Annuity Plan ("TSA Plan").  

The PPS 403(b) Plan is administered by Carruth Compliance Consulting (CCC).  PPS offers the following types of 403(b) Plans for eligible employees to contribute to:

• Traditional (pre-tax) 403(b) Plan; and
  
• Roth (after-tax) 403(b) Plan, subject to vendor acceptance of such contributions.

All contributions to the PPS 403(b) Plan are made by the employee.  The District does not contribute toward the 403(b) Plan and there is no Employer Match.

For more information, including how to enroll, visit our 403(b) Plan Tax Deferred Annuity webpage: https://www.pps.net/Page/18904.

For more information, visit our Employee Assistance Program webpage: https://www.pps.net/Page/1730.

Temporary full-time and variable-hour employees accrue at one (1) hour of sick leave per 30 hours worked. This information appears on your paystub. Please refer to page 10 of your Substitute Handbook for specific requirements to use sick leave.