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  3. Life Insurance

Life Insurance

Vanderbilt University partners with MetLife to offer life insurance to fully benefits-eligible employees, as well as their spouses and children.

Basic Life

Vanderbilt provides a Basic Life insurance policy to fully benefits-eligible employees. Basic Life insurance is an amount equal to your annual base benefits rate (ABBR), up to a maximum of $500,000. Your ABBR is typically your annual salary. You can find your ABBR by logging in to Oracle and selecting Pay.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF COVERAGE AND TAXES

If you do not want to incur a life insurance tax on your paycheck, you may wish to select $50,000 in Basic Life coverage rather than the amount equal to your ABBR one times salary. IRC Section 79 provides an exclusion of the first $50,000 of group-term life insurance coverage under a policy carried directly or indirectly by an employer. There are no tax consequences if the total amount of such policies does not exceed $50,000. The imputed cost of coverage in excess of $50,000 must be included in income, using the IRS Premium Table, and are subject to social security and Medicare taxes. 

Employee Supplemental Life

You may choose Supplemental Life coverage up to 8 times your annual base benefits rate up to an overall maximum of $1,000,000. If you elect Supplemental Life coverage as a new Vanderbilt University employee within your new hire enrollment period, there is no medical review required for coverage that does not exceed $500,000. If you are past your new employee enrollment period or coverage will exceed $500,000, you must complete the MetLife Statement of Health form (located in My VU Benefits) to add Supplemental Life coverage (see examples below).

Note: if you are enrolled in Supplement Life, you have access to a free will preparation service offered by MetLife. For more information, please refer to this flyer and FAQ.

Spouse and Child Supplemental Life

Vanderbilt University also offers supplemental life insurance coverage for your spouse and child(ren). You may enroll in spouse life insurance from $10,000 up to $250,000 in increments of $10,000, up to a maximum of 50% of your elected coverage. You may also elect coverage for your dependent child(ren) at $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000.

Supplemental life insurance is paid for by the employee. Premiums are based on age and annual base benefits rate. The rates for your coverage will  be displayed for you as you complete your enrollment in My VU Benefits.

Example 1:

Employee Joe’s Annual Base Benefits Rate (ABBR) = $75,000

  • As a new hire, Joe can elect to have up to 3x ABBR in Supplemental Life insurance (without an approved Statement of Health application) in addition to the Basic Life Vanderbilt provides.

Joe would have:
$75,000 (Basic) + $225,000 (Supplemental) = $300,000 (total)

  • If Joe did not elect 3x Supplemental Life coverage within his new employee enrollment period and wanted to add it later, he would need to complete the MetLife Statement of Health (SOH). The SOH would be submitted to MetLife for approval. The new coverage is effective only if approved by MetLife and is not retroactive.

Example 2:

Employee Mary’s ABBR = $175,000

  • As a new hire, Mary wants to enroll in 3 times her ABBR for supplemental life insurance for a total of $700,000 in life insurance. Since her Supplemental Life insurance is more than $500,000, she needs to complete the MetLife Statement of Health (SOH). The SOH would be submitted to MetLife for approval. The coverage is effective only if approved by MetLife and is not retroactive.

Mary would have:
$175,000 (Basic) + $525,000 (Supplemental) = $700,000 (total)

How to Enroll and Make Changes

To enroll as a newly hired or newly benefits-eligible employee, visit My VU Benefits within 30 days:

Go to My VU Benefits and log in with your VUnetID and password, then click on the Enroll button to begin. Once you have made your elections, be sure to keep your confirmation of benefits statement for your records.

You may make changes to your supplemental life insurance at any time during the year, without a qualifying life event.

To make changes, go to My VU Benefits and log in with your VUnetID and password. Then under Change Your Current Benefits, select Voluntary Benefits Change. Enter today’s date and click Save. Please note, coverage is not guaranteed. Your current election for Supplemental Life insurance will remain in effect until MetLife approves your statement of health. Once you have completed enrollment, you will be prompted to complete MetLife’s statement of health form. If you do not complete the form online, one will be mailed to your address on file.

Designating and Changing Beneficiaries

Overview

A beneficiary receives financial benefits in the event of the insured's death. Beneficiaries can be primary or contingent (also called secondary).

  • A primary beneficiary is the first person you name to receive the proceeds from your insurance policy upon your death. You can designate 100% of the proceeds to one primary beneficiary or you can divide the proceeds among multiple primary beneficiaries.
  • A contingent (or secondary) beneficiary receives the proceeds from your insurance policy only if the primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) are deceased or do not meet the criteria for the policy.

How to Designate or Update Your Beneficiaries

It’s important to list beneficiaries for your benefits and you can designate and/or update your beneficiaries at any time during the year. Any changes you make are effective immediately.

  1. Go to My VU Benefits.
  2. Log in with your VUnetID and password.
  3. Go to the Menuand the select Your Profile, then click on Your Beneficiaries.
  4. You will see your current beneficiaries. You may add a new beneficiary at any time. You may also allocate amounts for each beneficiary, for both primary and secondary (also called contingent) at any time.
    • To remove a beneficiary, change the percentage for that beneficiary to "0." Then allocate the percentage for the new beneficiary(ies) to equal 100% and click Save Changes.
    • To edit a beneficiary's name, click on that name and the "Edit Beneficiary" dialog box will open. Make your changes and click Save Changes. To make changes to a beneficiary's birth date or Social Security number, contact People Experience.

 

How to File a Life Insurance Claim

For information or help on filing a life insurance claim, please email benefits@vanderbilt.edu.

Resources

 

* Find your annual base benefits rate by logging in to Oracle and selecting Pay.