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Life Events Benefit Highlights
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    Life Events
        Career Events
        Family Events
        Health Events
         You or a Family Member Is Ill or Injured
         You or a Family Member Needs Mental Health or Chemical Dependency Care
        
You Become Disabled
         A Family Member Dies
         You Die
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You Become Disabled
Liberty Mutual Disability Insurance Materials
The Corporation has two disability plans, designed to provide you with income if you qualify for disability benefits:
  • The Short-Term Disability Plan provides benefits that can continue some or all of your income for up to 26 weeks, if you are disabled. At the beginning of your disability absence, you can receive Salary Continuation benefits that pay 100% of your weekly compensation based on the length of your continuous service with the Corporation. If you continue to be disabled when your Salary Continuation benefits end, you will begin receiving Accident and Sickness Plan benefits of two-thirds of your weekly compensation.
  • If you are still disabled at the end of 180 days of Short-Term Disability Plan benefits, and you meet the definition of total disability in Long-Term Disability Coverage, your employment with the Corporation may be terminated and you will begin receiving Long-Term Disability (LTD) and Supplemental LTD benefits, if you had previously enrolled for Supplemental coverage.
While you are receiving Short-Term Disability Plan benefits, your Corporation benefits generally continue as they do when you are at work, with your contributions for coverage deducted from the STD benefits you receive. If you begin receiving LTD benefits, you have the option to continue some of your Corporation coverages, by paying required contributions on an after-tax basis.
Your family members' coverage continues for one year from the date of your disability. Then, their coverage ends. They may be able to continue some healthcare coverage through COBRA or they may be eligible for retiree coverage (if you are eligible for retiree benefits).
Things to Do
  • Notify your supervisor and/or Human Resources representative immediately if a work-related illness or injury occurs. You may be eligible for Workers' Compensation benefits.
  • If you are injured while traveling for business, call the Human Resources Service Center at 1-888-THE-HRSC to file a Travel Accident Insurance claim.
  • Notify your supervisor immediately if you will be absent due to an illness lasting six or more consecutive working days or due to an accident or hospitalization lasting a day or more. You may be eligible for short-term disability benefits. Contact Liberty Mutual at 1-800-853-7109 to apply for disability benefits.
  • Remember that disability benefits are not automatic. You must apply to receive disability benefits, and must cooperate with the claims administrator in verifying your continuing disability. You will need to remain under the continuous care of a doctor who is familiar with your condition, so that doctor can verify your continuing disability to the claims administrator.
  • Complete an application for long-term disability benefits before any benefits under the Short-Term Disability Plan end. If, based on your condition when you are receiving short-term disability benefits, it is expected that you will still be unable to work after six months, Liberty Mutual will send you an application for long-term disability benefits approximately four months after your disability begins.
  • If you do not expect to return to work when your Short-Term Disability benefits end, and will be terminated and begin receiving LTD benefits, determine whether you should continue healthcare coverage under the Corporation's plans.
    • Ask Yourself: Do I and my family member have access to other coverage, such as from my spouse's employer? Which coverage should I choose?
  • Consider speaking confidentially with a professional counselor from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) about your situation confidentially. Call the EAP at 1-800-544-8320.
How This Event Affects…
Medical Coverage
During the first 30 months of your disability (counted from the day you become disabled):
  • If you participate in a medical option, coverage continues for you for up to 30 months, provided you continue to make the required contributions. While you are receiving Corporation disability benefits, contributions will be deducted from those benefits.
After 30 months of your disability:
    • If you qualify for Medicare, your employee medical coverage stops. You can enroll in Medicare, The McGraw-Hill Companies Drug Supplement program, or COBRA.
  • If you do not qualify for Medicare, you can continue your employee medical coverage as long as you remain disabled, until you become eligible for Medicare. If you continue your coverage this way, you will pay the Medicare Rate for your Corporation coverage.
  • Coverage for your eligible family members can continue for up to one year, provided you pay the required contributions. If your employee coverage ends before then and you are not eligible to retire, any family members you have enrolled for coverage will have the opportunity to continue their coverage through COBRA
Dental Coverage
  • If you participate in a dental option, coverage continues for you up to age 65, provided you continue to make the required contributions. While you are receiving STD or LTD benefits, contributions will be deducted from those benefits, as they are from your regular paychecks.
  • Coverage for your covered family members continues for one year from your date of disability, provided you continue to make the required contributions.
  • After coverage through the Corporation's plan ends, any family members you have enrolled for coverage will have the opportunity to continue their coverage through COBRA or through the Retiree Plan, if you are eligible.
Vision Coverage
  • If you participate in the vision plan, coverage continues for you up to age 65, provided you continue to make the required contributions. While you are receiving STD or LTD benefits, contributions will be deducted from those benefits, as they are from your regular paychecks.
  • Coverage for your covered family members continues for one year from your date of disability, provided you continue to make the required contributions.
  • After coverage through the Corporation's plan ends, any family members you have enrolled for coverage will have the opportunity to continue their coverage trough COBRA or through the Retiree Plan, if you are eligible.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
During the first 26 weeks of your disability:
  • Your contributions continue while you are receiving STD benefits, up until the end of the calendar year for which you elected to contribute to an FSA.
After the first 26 weeks of your disability:
  • Your contributions end. You still can receive reimbursements from your account for eligible expenses incurred while you were contributing. Claims for expenses incurred while you were contributing must be submitted by:
    • May 31 for the Healthcare FSA and
    • March 31 for the Dependent Day Care FSA
of the year following the year your contributions end.
Disability Coverage
During the first 26 weeks of your disability:
  • If your application for disability benefits is approved, Salary Continuation and Accident and Sickness benefits replace your income while you are disabled. During this period, if you are not expected to return to work at the end of 26 weeks on disability, you will receive an application for Long-Term Disability (LTD) Plan benefits.
After the first 180 days of your disability:
  • If you application for LTD benefits is approved, your long-term disability coverage will pay a portion of your salary until you recover or reach age 65. Benefits may continue past age 65, if you became disabled at age 60 or older.
Employee Life and Accident Insurance
During the first 26 weeks of your disability:
  • Your basic employee life insurance (provided by the Corporation at no cost to you) continues.
  • Any supplemental employee life insurance for which you were enrolled prior to your disability and your accidental death and dismemberment insurance coverage continues, unless you ask for the coverage to be cancelled. Contributions for these coverages will be deducted from your STD benefits.
  • Your travel accident insurance coverage is suspended, and resumes when you return to work.
After the first 26 weeks of your disability:
  • If your employment with the Corporation is terminated, your AD&D insurance coverage ends. (You may be able to continue coverage through conversion and/or the portability feature.)
  • Your supplemental life insurance continues until the end of your LTD period provided you make the necessary contributions.
  • Your basic employee life insurance coverage continues at no cost to you until age 65, at the coverage level in effect at the time you became disabled.
  • At age 65, if you are eligible to retire, your life insurance coverage is reduced to $4,000. If you are not eligible to retire and you remain eligible to continue LTD, your basic and supplemental (if applicable) life insurance coverage is reduced by 35% but the contribution remains the same and you will have the opportunity to convert the reduced portion to an individual life policy.
Dependent Life and Accident Insurance
  • Coverage under the life insurance and the AD&D insurance plans continues as long as you are receiving STD Plan benefits, with contributions for coverage deducted from those benefits.
  • When STD benefits end, if you are still disabled and begin receiving LTD benefits, your dependents' coverage ends, but they may convert their coverage to individual policies.
Property/Casualty Insurance
  • If you are enrolled for auto, homeowner's, renter's, or other property/casualty insurance, coverage continues as long as you are receiving STD benefits, with contributions for coverage deducted from the STD benefits as they are from your regular paychecks.
  • METPAY coverage can continue after your STD benefits end, as long as you make the necessary contributions. You will have to make arrangements with METPAY, at 1-800-438-6381.
Retirement Program
  • Pension Plan
  • 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan
  • Any STD Plan benefits you receive are counted as eligible compensation under the Retirement Program plans.
  • The Corporation continues to contribute to the profit sharing plan on your behalf while you are receiving STD benefits. The Corporation's contributions are based on your eligible compensation as of the day you became disabled.
  • Your and the Corporation's contributions to the 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan continue while you are receiving STD Plan benefits. Contributions end when STD benefits end.
  • The time during which you are disabled is counted in calculating your continuous service for vesting under the Retirement Program plans.
  • You continue to receive pension benefit accruals while you are disabled. Your accruals are based on your eligible compensation as of the day you became disabled.
  • If you become totally disabled and are eligible to receive LTD benefits, you may withdraw all or any portion of your vested 401(k) Savings and Profit Sharing Plan account balance. Even if you withdraw your full profit sharing balance, you continue to be eligible for the Corporation's profit sharing contributions.
 
 
Benefits Effective January 1, 2008. © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved
These benefits are available for eligible employees and their eligible dependents only. 		 
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