Changing Your Benefits

What’s a qualifying life event?

Qualifying life events are those situations that cause a change in your life that has an effect on health insurance options or requirements for you or your qualifying dependents. that allow you to make midyear changes:

• Birth

• Adoption

• Marriage

• Divorce or legal separation

• Beginning or ending a domestic partnership

• A dependent child reaches age 26

• An eligible family member gains or loses coverage from another source (such as a spouse’s employer plan)

• A move to a residence where your current plan is not available

• The death of a dependent, spouse, or domestic partner

Please note: The IRS states that a qualifying event must have an impact on insurance needs or change what health insurance plans that you or your dependents qualify for. Experiencing a qualifying life event would allow you to make changes to your benefits within a 30 day window from the event. 

If you do not make the changes within the 30 day window from the event, the next available time to make a change will be Open Enrollment in the fall or if you have a new qualifying life event. The 30 day window is regulated by the IRS and Samsara is not able to make exceptions. 

How to make change happen

You have 30 days from the date of a qualifying life event to request applicable benefit changes.

Watch out: The 30 days start on the effective date of the life event. For example, if you get married on April 10 you have until May 10 to add your spouse to your Samsara medical plan.

To submit changes, please follow these directions in Workday.

Other things to think about

Depending on the life change that kicked things off, you may want to update more than just health care coverage. Consider whether other changes are in order.

Life insurance coverage

• Beneficiaries for your life insurance and 401(k)

• Address in Workday

Tax withholding status (find Form W-4 in ADP)

Samsara does not have a benefits eligibility waiting period. Therefore, new hire benefit and/or life event elections are effective the date of the event, regardless of when the elections are made. Once elections have been approved, you may be subject to retroactive deductions on the next pay check for your benefits back to the effective date. This means you will see a one time deduction to cover the missed pay periods along with your current benefit deductions. As the deductions are by the bi-weekly cycle, we are unable to prorate if your benefits were active at any point during that pay cycle.

Leaving Samsara

If you leave Samsara, your health benefits end on the last day of your last month here, and life and disability benefits end on your last day of employment. But leaving Samara isn’t the end of the world (even though we’ll miss you a lot). And it doesn’t have to be the end of your benefits either. You have options for continuing or converting your coverage.

Continuing health coverage under COBRA

COBRA is a much-cooler-sounding name for a bit of federal legislation called the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. Under COBRA, you and your covered dependents can pay to keep your medical, dental, vision, and Health Care Flexible Spending Account benefits.

Here’s what you need to know about COBRA:

• Optum handles the administration of COBRA for Samsara and eligible participants.

• If you or a family member are eligible for COBRA, you’ll receive an enrollment packet directly from Optum with the necessary forms to make your COBRA elections or changes.

• You have 60 days from your notification date or coverage end date to enroll in COBRA. You’ll be able to continue the same coverage you had as an active employee.

• If you decide to enroll in COBRA coverage, you’ll pay monthly payments for the full premium, plus a 2% administration fee.

• COBRA coverage is generally available for up to 18 months, with additional extensions available under certain circumstances.

If you have questions about COBRA coverage, reach out to Optum at (855) 687-2021 or at ofcobraprocessing@optum.com

Continuing other coverage

If you leave Samsara, you can continue other benefits coverage:

• You can convert your life insurance coverage to an individual policy or port (take with you) your current term coverage. You must apply for the coverage within 30 days of your termination date. You’ll receive information about how to convert or port your life insurance from Guardian after your employment with Samsara ends.

• You may keep you Samsara 401(k) accounts active with Fidelity and your HSA account with Forma. Additional fees may apply.

Need Help?

We’ve partnered with Alliant Employee Benefits to make sure you have personalized support when you need it. You have access to Benefits Advocates who you can contact directly via phone or email for benefits help.

• Email: samsara@alliant.com

• Or call: (925) 378-6828

  • 8 am – 5:00 pm (M-Th) Pacific Time

  • 8 am – 4:30 pm (Fri) Pacific Time