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| 1. | Prior to the start of the fellowship, the Research Administrator (or other designee) must provide documentation of the funding source and the amount of funds that are designated for health insurance purchase to the Office of the Vice President for Research. Grant budget pages are a common example of such documentation. Please be aware that in 2006 the National Institutes of Health increased the allowance for postdoctoral training expenses to $7850 to cover health insurance. Please email documentation to Wendy Perry, Director of Postdoctoral Programs, at wperry@virginia.edu or fax to 434.924.8720. |
| 2. | The Research Administrator (or other departmental designee) must fill out an online form with account and enrollee information for the office management of the Vice President for Research. Charges will be made immediately following the appointment end date, or annually, whichever comes first. |
| 3. | After receiving email confirmation of Step 1 from the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Research Administrator (or other designee) must instruct the Postdoctoral Fellow to complete the necessary insurance enrollment forms available from the Benefits Division of Human Resources (924-4392). Completed forms must be received at the Benefits Division within 31 days of the beginning of the fellowship. Questions concerning how to add dependent and family coverage, cost of additional coverage, deductibles, etc., should be directed to the Benefits Division at benefits@virginia.edu. |
| 4. | The Research Administrator (or other designee) must notify postdoc@virginia.edu of any change in status (e.g. change in grant number, family status, termination, renewal). |
Please Note:
Charges for health insurance will be made immediately following the appointment end date, or annually, whichever comes first.
Patricia Noack is a representative of MAMSI and Optimum Choice, the medical insurance carriers for the Postdoctoral Research Fellow Insurance Program. Postdocs can contact her at 804-267-5206 or 804-306-2557 with questions about coverage issues. She can also be reached by e-mail.Requesting a Subsidy from the Office of the Vice President for Research
In some circumstances, the Office of the Vice President for Research will partially subsidize the cost of health insurance for full-time postdoctoral research fellows.
The Office of the Vice President for Research will determine eligibility for a subsidy. For those fellows whose funding source provides monies for health insurance premiums, the funding source will pay the premium to the extent allowed by the funding source, up to full cost. Principal investigators are expected to request sufficient monies from the funding source in preparing budgets to cover the full cost of health insurance when allowed (see Step 1 above).
For those fellows whose funding source does not provide monies for health insurance premiums, the department contributes $1000 and the Office of the Vice President for Research pays the remaining cost of a single coverage plan. Requests for a subsidy must be made in writing when submitting documentation in Step 1 (email to Wendy Perry, Director of Postdoctoral Programs, at wperry@virginia.edu or fax to 434.924.8720). Please include a justification letter for the request and supporting budget documentation. For questions regarding eligibility for a subsidy, email wperry@virginia.edu.
Frequently Asked Questions
| 1. | The total amount of the grant was cut. Will VPR subsidize postdoc fellow health insurance to compensate for this loss? No. VPR will provide a subsidy only in proportion to the overall percentage cut. |
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| 2. | We did not request enough funds to cover health insurance, even though the full cost was an allowable charge. Will VPR cover the difference? No. VPR expects principal investigators to request sufficient monies from the funding source in preparing budgets to cover the full cost of health insurance when allowed. Please see Step 1 of the “Enrollment Procedure.” |
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| 3. | Our funding source is a private gift, and allowable charges are not specified. Budgeting is entirely at the department’s discretion. Are we responsible for the full cost of postdoc health insurance or just $1000? For all budgets prepared after March 1, 2009, principal investigators are expected to budget for the full cost of postdoc fellow health insurance. If this is impossible, a written explanation and supporting documentation must be provided when requesting a subsidy. |
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| 4. | The postdoc did not submit the necessary forms to the Benefits Division within 31 days of the fellowship start date. Can s/he still enroll in the plan? Yes, but s/he must wait until the Open Enrollment period, which typically occurs in November to go into effect the following January. |
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| 5. | Can others at the University besides postdocs take advantage of this health insurance plan? No. Our contract defines postdocs in the following terms: “Postdoctoral fellows must be affiliated with the University of Virginia but cannot be employees of the University or Medical Center in any capacity, including part-time or full-time wage or salaried employment, during their fellowship and concurrent enrollment in the Postdoctoral Fellows Insurance Program.” |