Benefit Plans

2025 Benefit Information

Coverage for Dependents

Open Enrollment, Benefit Elections & Changes

Once they are made, benefit elections and/or waivers remain in effect throughout the rest of the calendar year unless there is a qualifying mid-year life event. When these “life events” occur, they must be processed in a timely manner, within 30 days of the event. For insurance purposes, the *life events that allow you to enroll or make insurance election changes outside the annual open enrollment period include the following:

Marriage/divorce
Birth/adoption of baby
Dependent loses/gains access to insurance
Death of dependent

* Employees must provide documentation to substantiate qualifying life events. Examples of acceptable documentation include but are not limited to: copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, adoption or other legal records for dependent children, etc. Documentation is also required when a mid-year change involves adding/dropping a dependent on the employee's insurance. If a dependent loses/gains access to benefits and the employee is seeking a mid-year benefit change, documentation of the loss/access to insurance must be submitted with the benefit request. Failure to provide supporting documentation will result in denial of the benefit request. See Dependent Verification Procedures for more information.

Open Enrollment is held in the fall of each year, prior to the upcoming policy renewal that takes effect on January 1. Open enrollment is a time to evaluate your benefit options and make sure your elections are best suited to match your family's medical needs.

Supplemental Benefits

Hocking County provides a variety of supplemental benefits to enhance our traditional employee health plans. Employees have the option to enroll in a variety of voluntary supplemental plans and can pick and choose what bests meets their individual needs. Possible options include, but are not limited to dental, vision, supplemental term life, accident plans and other offerings. Premiums for these voluntary plans are 100% employee paid. Enrollment is time sensitive for new employees with then annual opportunities to enroll each year during our Open Enrollment period.

Wellness

Retirement

All employees are enrolled in the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS), which provides age and service retirement, disability benefit and survivor benefits programs to public employees throughout the state. To help employees prepare and save for retirement, Hocking County provides two 457 deferred compensation plans that employees may participate in - the Ohio County Employees Retirement Plan (OCERP) and the Ohio Deferred Compensation Program. You can enroll anytime by downloading enrollment paperwork online or calling the customer service or plan representative lines for assistance. See below for additional information about these programs.