Insurance

The insurance department coordinates all of our employees’ comprehensive health, vision, dental, and group life insurance needs. The health insurance is offered through the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) and Blue Cross Blue Shield administers most of the health plans offered by the Office of Group Benefits. Vantage administers the Vantage Medical Home HMO plan.

The Office of Group Benefits website is info.groupbenefits.org. This is an invaluable resource with quick links to health plans, health management, OGB newsletters, and reported fraud & abuse. TheOGB telephone number is 1-800-272-8451.

Employees who work a minimum of 20 hours per week are eligible to participate in our core benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision Basic Life, and State of Louisiana Group Life.  The effective date is first of the month following date of hire.

Annually, employees are eligible to participate in our supplemental benefits program, such as short term disability, long term disability, cancer, critical illness/ accident, additional life insurance, and identity protection to name a few. Enrollment must be completed during the annual open enrollment window, which usually begins each October.

Eligible employees must schedule an appointment with the Insurance Team within 30 calendar days of their date of hire.  To make an appointment, please contact the Insurance Team at 504-349-8564.  Newly eligible employees who do not make a new hire election within this time frame will have to wait until the next annual enrollment period for coverage.

Insurance Coverage Changes and Revocations

For Pre-Tax deductions, once you elect an insurance option, you can only change that option during the Annual Enrollment or Open Enrollment period unless you meet a qualifying event/family status change.  You must contact the JP Schools Insurance Team and complete the benefit change within thirty (30) calendar days of the qualifying event or family status change. Qualifying events/family status changes include:

• Getting married, divorced, or legally separated
• Birth, adoption, or placement of adoption of an eligible child
• Death of your covered spouse or child
• Change in your or your spouse’s work status that affects benefits eligibility (for example: starting a new job or leaving a job)
• A change in your child’s eligibility for benefits
• Becoming eligible for Medicare or Medicaid
• A significant change in your spouse’s health coverage attributable to your spouse’s employment

Adding Newborns and Adopted Children to Insurance Coverage

• To add a newborn as a dependent on your medical insurance coverage, you must provide the JP Schools insurance department with a birth certificate or a copy of the birth letter within 30 days of the child’s birth date. The birth letter will suffice as proof of parentage only if it contains the relationship of the child to the JP Schools employee with the medical insurance. If the birth certificate or birth letter is not received within 30 days, the child cannot be added until the next annual enrollment period. To schedule an appointment with the JP Schools Insurance team, please call 504-349-8564.
• To add an adopted child, you must provide the insurance department with legal adoption papers within 30 days of the child’s adoption date. To add a child placed for adoption with you, you must provide the insurance department with the adoption placement agreement or an act of surrender and Clerk of Court certification in compliance with La.R.S. 22:1004 within 30 days of the child’s placement for adoption with you. If these legal adoption papers are not received within the 30-day timeframe, enrollment cannot take place until the next annual enrollment period, unless you experience another qualified life event that supports the addition of the child to the plan. To schedule an appointment with the JPPSS insurance team, please call 504-349-8564.
• While OGB will need the social security card for every person on the plan, the social security card is not a requirement for initial enrollment for a newborn or adopted/placed child.  Please remember to send the JPPSS insurance department the social security card upon receipt, preferably within 90 days of the birth/adoption.