GIC IS RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 EVENT

• Extending the Annual Enrollment deadline from Friday, May 1 to Monday, June 1, 2020 to provide more time for members to review options and get questions answered by GIC Coordinators

• Promoting member use of the GIC Online Contact Form at www.mass. gov/gic in lieu of telephone calls to help us manage priorities and volume

• Canceling walk-in customer service at 19 Staniford Street, Boston, until further notice.

• Canceling the Annual Benefit Fairs in accordance with limits on large public gatherings

• Distributing all Benefit Decision Guides online at www.mass.gov/gic with print distribution for Retired Municipal Teachers, Municipal Employees and Retirees, and Elderly Government Retirees only as local capacity allows

• Instituting a triage system for processing subscriber and new employee requests to prioritize critical requests in the event our staffing and processing capabilities are reduced

If you do submit a change to your coverage election by Monday, June 1, 2020, GIC staff will process it based on the triage guidelines below to ensure that we support our members who are trying to:

1. Retain access to existing benefits:
   like enrolling in COBRA coverage upon leaving state employment or in Medicare upon retirement, or processing premium payments for members without payroll deduction

2. Gain access to your available benefits:
   like enrolling new employees who are electing coverage for the first time, or enrolling existing employees who lost coverage previously provided by a spouse or parent

3. Limit the financial burden of optional benefits:
   like reducing or eliminating additional life insurance coverage or long-term disability insurance

This means that changes you elect may not go into effect on July 1, 2020. If that is the case, you are still covered by your current health plan.

Once we process your coverage change, you will see the new plan deduction in the month prior to coverage going into effect.