FAQ & Help

The legal service plan and supplemental life insurance are available to you upon hire. You have 90 days from your date of hire to purchase supplemental life insurance and/or the legal service plan, and you will have the opportunity to enroll in or change coverage at each Trust-sponsored open enrollment. For dental, vision and basic life insurance coverage, you must have one year of continuous State service; and once elected, your coverage will be effective the first of the month following your enrollment. The Trust will notify you before your upcoming anniversary by sending you an anniversary booklet containing enrollment information, including dependent eligibility requirements. You may enroll by logging into your OAKS account or you may download a paper Enrollment and Change form from UBT’s website under the Forms and Info Tab.

Your agency HR officer is the best resource for questions about deductions from your pay. Reminder: a code appears on members’ paychecks under UBT, for $83. This reflects the funding that UBT receives per the Collective Bargaining Agreements, and is NOT a deduction from your pay.

Your coverage with the Trust ends when you are no longer covered by a bargaining unit the Trust serves and actively employed by the State.

If your and/or your dependents’ dental or vision coverage ends, you may extend it temporarily under COBRA. COBRA, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, is a federal law requiring employers to extend group rates to employees and/or their dependents who would otherwise lose their coverage. COBRA is available for the Trust’s dental and vision plans. You are responsible for the full cost of coverage and an administrative fee (up to 2% of the coverage’s cost). If you fail to make a COBRA premium payment, you will lose coverage under this plan permanently. Contact UBT for Cobra information when you or any covered dependent loses coverage.

Your basic life insurance policy and supplemental life policy (if you have enrolled) terminate when you leave State service. Basic life insurance terminates on the end of the month in which you leave State service. Supplemental life insurance ends the last day of the month following your last deduction because it is a prepaid benefit; for example, if the deduction was taken in March, insurance will end April 30. In some circumstances, it may be up to three months before your policy is cancelled, and you are responsible for premiums during that time frame.

If you wish to carry insurance after leaving State service, you may request information on portability or conversion. Portability means that if you and your family are covered under the term life insurance programs when you leave state employment, you may keep your insurance, your spouse’s insurance and dependent children’s life insurance. However, these rates will be higher than our group rates, but in most cases they will be much less than the conversion rates. The amount that may be ported is the amount of coverage you, your spouse and dependent children carry at the time you leave state employment. For additional information refer to your plan booklets available at www.benefitstrust.org or contact Prudential at 844- 533-4UBT (4828).

Coverage under the legal plan will end the last day of the month after your last payroll deduction. For instance, if you had an October deduction taken under the BTL code, then your coverage would end November 30th.

UBT does not provide these services: for information, contact the Office of Benefits Administration at 614-466-8857 or 800-409-1205, or e-mail the State at benefits@das.state.oh.us.

For the dental and vision benefits, please refer to the last paystub of the month or contact your Agency HR officer. In general, basic life insurance coverage begins the first of the month following your one-year anniversary of State service, provided that you are actively at work. For legal plan or supplemental life benefits, your coverage begins the first of the month following your first deduction for that coverage. Check your pay information for the SUPLGL code (legal) or SUPLT1 code (supplemental life).

Change your address with your Agency HR officer, and UBT will receive the updated address electronically, usually within one month.

The State has enacted legislation that provides for the continuation of dental, vision and basic life benefits when public employees are called to active duty. Supplemental life and the Metlife Legal Plan will continue as long as you continue paying the premiums.

Depending on the benefit, you may be able to continue coverage for yourself and all enrolled dependents through COBRA.

Try these suggestions

Enter Email address, Password, First and Last Name (as they appear on PayStub) and either State of Ohio User ID or last four of SSN and click the Register button.

When pop-up box asks if Display mixed content? you must say YES to continue.

If you get unsuccessful registration message, try “forgot password” as you may have already registered.

If you have recently married and your married name doesn’t work, try registering using your maiden name.

If you have already registered, a temporary password will be emailed to the email address you used to register with.

If you get a message that says “page not found” or “not allowed”, check with IT Department about firewall settings.

If you still have questions, contact WebMaster@benefitstrust.org for further assistance or call Lisa at 614-508-2243.

You may change your coverage level (single or family) during the year if you have a family status or employment-related coverage change. You must complete and return an Enrollment and Change form and, if necessary, an Affidavit of Dependent Status, within 31 days of the change or you will have to wait until the next open enrollment to adjust your coverage level.Depending on your situation, you may also be able to enroll in coverage throughout the year following a family status/employment related coverage change. See Eligibility for more information.You may not switch plans throughout the year if your provider of choice leaves the dental or vision network. Also, you may not change to another plan, even if you move within Ohio, until the next Trust-sponsored open enrollment.

Please check with your Payroll/Personnel officer.

The Union Education Trust, which is not part of the Union Benefits Trust, covers education benefits for OCSEA and CWA members. Members of SEIU/1199, OSTA, FOP/OLC and SCOPE/OEA receive any education benefits from their employer, the State. Neither the Benefits Trust or Education Trust provide computer loans.

Review your Explanation of Benefit (EOB) with Delta Dental at 1-877-334-5008. If you need additional assistance, please contact Benefits Trust customer service.

Visit Delta Dental’s website or call 877-334-5008.  When searching Delta online for providers, remember there are two networks to choose from: the PPO Network (the highest level of claim payment) and the Premier Network.  You will have to search the networks individually. When a provider is listed in both networks, claims will be paid at the PPO level of benefit.

Members have several options for obtaining forms. You may get a form by: downloading the form here; contacting UBT; or contacting Delta Dental.

All Union-Represented State employees have the UBT Dental Plan which is administered through Delta Dental of Ohio.

A discount on corrective laser vision surgery is available through EyeMed or VSP; both plans have partnered to offer discount programs to the members enrolled in their vision plan. Contact your vision plan for additional information.

Please call the numbers below or you may refer to the web site where appropriate:

• VSP: 800-877-7195 – Choice Network
• EyeMed: 866-723-0514 – Select Network

Members and dependents enrolled in either the VSP or EyeMed vision plans can obtain:

• an eye exam every 12 months, and

• contacts every 12 months or

• lenses and frames every 12 months.

No form is needed for service from a network provider in either EyeMed or VSP. When you make the appointment with the eye doctor, mention the name of the vision insurance you chose, and let them know you are a State of Ohio employee covered by the Benefits Trust.

You may enroll during any Trust-sponsored open enrollment each Spring.  New members (within 90 days of hire) may enroll between hire date and 90 days of service. This plan is voluntary, meaning members need to enroll to obtain coverage, and can only enroll at hire or during special enrollment periods. The payroll deductions will occur once a month, and will be $15.90 a month for single coverage, or $18.95 a month for family coverage.

Once your coverage is effective, you must remain in the plan until the following June 30. You will be able to change or drop coverage during any Trust open enrollment. You do not need to re-enroll to maintain coverage (similar to how supplemental life insurance operates).

This is a comprehensive plan. The Metlife legal plan will offer full coverage in network on many covered topics, such as identity theft, personal bankruptcy plans, will preparation or sale/purchase of a home. In addition, the Metlife plan offers phone consultations for most legal matters. Of course, there are some exclusions, and coverage for service from attorneys who do not participate in plan will be limited.

This question we had Metlife answer, because it really falls in a gray area: the plan doesn’t cover work-related matters, but is designed to protect you personally. Metlife told us that they would cover personal suits under the Civil Litigation Defense coverage when a prisoner sues a Corrections Officer as long as the issue is outside the scope of employment and there is no conflict with the State of Ohio.

The Civil Litigation Defense coverage would also apply when any Trust member is sued personally by a member of the public or institutional resident, as long as the matter is outside the scope of employment and there is no conflict with the State.

We followed up with Metlife to ask what would happen if a Corrections Officer were sued by an inmate’s family following failure to perform CPR. Metlife repeated that as long as the Contract does not require performance of CPR as a job duty and there is no conflict with the employer, that a civil lawsuit brought by an inmate’s family under these circumstances would trigger the Civil Litigation Defense. If this is a concern, we strongly encourage you to check with Metlife and if you receive an answer within your comfort level, to consider enrolling in the plan.

Contact Prudential at 844-533-4UBT (4828) or you may send a certified copy of the death certificate directly to:

Prudential Insurance Company of America
Group Life Management
PO Box 13676
Philadelphia, PA 19176-3676

When your employment with the State ends for any reason, you have the option to convert or port your basic and supplemental life insurance–and your dependents’ supplemental life coverage. Prudential will contact you within 31 days of you leaving State employment with information about the conversion and portability options including the cost associated with each option.

These rates will be higher than our group rates.

The amount that may be ported or converted is the amount of coverage you, your spouse and dependent children carry at the time you leave State employment. For additional information, refer to your plan booklets or contact Prudential at 844-533-4UBT.

The Trust and your former Human Resource Officer cannot help you once you port or convert your coverage. The conversion and portability plans are administered though an insurance contact between you (the member) and The Prudential Life Insurance Company of America.

Your coverage amount is equal to one times your base salary rounded to the next higher thousand, up to a maximum of $150,000. The amount adjusts automatically when you receive any pay increase to your base salary. Your base salary if your hourly rate multiplied by 2080 (or 1040 if you are part-time and eligible.)

Prudential maintains that information, and will release it if you request your beneficiary information in writing. You may phone them for assistance at 844-533-4UBT.

If you believe that your beneficiary information is incorrect, you should redesignate your beneficiary information immediately. See “How do I change my beneficiary?” for more details.

You can call Prudential at 844-533-4UBT (4828), Use UBT’s interactive voice response system at 800-228-5088, or you can use myUBT to confirm supplemental life amounts for you and your dependents.

There are two opportunities to enroll in supplemental life insurance; within 90 days of hire or at any open enrollment. You can enroll during the next UBT Open Enrollment in the Spring. During Open Enrollment, you will receive a mailing at your home from Prudential.  You can enroll online though Prudential, download a paper form and mail to the address on the form or over the phone through a Prudential Service Representative at 844-533-4UBT (4248).

Contact Prudential at 844-533-4UBT (4828) or you may send a certified copy of the death certificate directly to:

Prudential Insurance Company of America
Group Life Management
PO Box 13676
Philadelphia, PA 19176-3676

Prudential maintains that information, and will release it if you request your beneficiary information in writing. You may phone them for assistance at 844-533-4UBT.

If you believe that your beneficiary information is incorrect, you should redesignate your beneficiary immediately.  Please see “How do I change my beneficiary?” for more information.

Beneficiary designations can be made or changed online, 24/7/365 for both the basic and supplemental life insurance benefits by linking through benefitstrust.org. Paper designations will still be accepted by completing the form and mailing it to the address on the form. Forms can be downloaded from the UBT website under the Forms and Info Tab. Your change becomes effective when Prudential receives your beneficiary designation.

When your employment with the State ends for any reason, you have the option to convert or port your basic and supplemental life insurance–and your dependents’ supplemental life coverage. Prudential will contact you within 31 days of you leaving State employment with information about the conversion and portability options including the cost associated with each option.

These rates will be higher than our group rates.

The amount that may be ported or converted is the amount of coverage you, your spouse and dependent children carry at the time you leave State employment. For additional information, refer to your plan booklets or contact Prudential at 844-533-4UBT (4828).

The Trust and your former Human Resource Officer cannot help you once you port or convert your coverage. The conversion and portability plans are administered though an insurance contact between you (the member) and The Prudential Life Insurance Company of America.