Making Changes During the Year

You have 60 days from the date of a Qualifying Life Event to submit documentation and make changes to your benefit elections.

Effective Dates

• Birth Events – New elections due to the birth of a child will be effective the 1^st of the month following the date of birth.
• All Other Qualifying Life Events – New elections for all other Qualifying Life Events will be effective the 1^st of the month after documentation of the event is provided. 

Any change you make must be consistent with the qualifying life event change.

If you miss your window to submit documentation, your next opportunity to make changes will be during Open Enrollment.

Qualifying Life Events May Include the Following

• Birth of a Child
• Adoption, Placement for Adoption, or Guardianship
• Marriage
• Divorce, Annulment or Legal Separation
• Adding or Removing a Domestic Partner
• Gain or Loss of Coverage
• Dependent Moving Into or Out of the Area
• Loss of a Dependent
• Changes to Spending Accounts

If you feel you have experienced a Qualifying Life Event that is not listed,

please call Employee Benefits at (888) 550-2203 to discuss.

Supporting Documentation

If you add a dependent for the first time to any health plans (medical, dental, vision or critical illness), the County requires that you provide supporting documentation to show proof of relationship- such as a marriage certificate for a spouse and a birth certificate for a child. Supporting Documentation is required even if the dependent is already listed as a life insurance beneficiary.

Reimbursement Accounts

It is important to note that Qualifying Life Events can often result in changes to County funded reimbursement accounts. Any applicable excess Flex Credits will be automatically distributed to the respective reimbursement account based on your medical coverage election. After receiving your final confirmation from the Benefits Division, it is important to review your Benefit Summary to note if a reimbursement account has changed, been established or terminated, due to your new elections. Reimbursements can only be submitted for expenses incurred while an account is open.

Life Insurance Beneficiaries

Beneficiary changes can be made at any time via MetLife’s Beneficiary Management system.

The following programs may have beneficiary designations that you may need to update. Click here to learn more about updating your beneficiaries.

• Deferred Compensation (Nationwide)
• Health Savings Account (Optum Bank)
• Pension Benefits (SDCERA)

Job Changes

If you recently changed jobs within the County of San Diego, and moved into a new job classification, your Short and Long-Term Disability plan options may have changed. Please speak with your DHRO to determine any changes that occurred due to your new job classification.  Click here to review all Benefit Plan Summaries.

If you would like to request a change to your disability benefit plans based on a new classification, email DHRBenefits.FGG@sdcounty.ca.gov. You have 60 days from the date of your job change to request a new election.