Reminders about health care stipend eligibility
The following are some helpful reminders concerning OP&F’s retiree health care stipend:
Retirees age 65 or over must be enrolled in Medicare and also must become
enrolled and maintain enrollment through the Alight Retiree Health Exchange
or else risk stipend termination.
To become eligible for the OP&F health care stipend, a Qualifying Life Event,
or QLE, must first occur. A common QLE is the involuntary loss of group health
care coverage, which usually happens when a member or spouse retires or
becomes unemployed and their employer’s plan is no longer available.
There is a 60-day window to apply for the OP&F health care stipend after
a QLE occurs. The first step to applying is to complete OP&F’s Health Care
Stipend Eligibility Form, found on the OP&F website.
If a member dies, the family must contact OP&F, their health care carrier and
Alight to stop any auto premium reimbursements.
Members should be aware that if any stipend money remains in the Health
Reimbursement Arrangement at the end of the year, it will not roll over to the
next year.
Posted 5/9/2024
