ENROLLMENT & ELIGIBILITY
WHEN CAN WE ENROLL?
You have 30 days to enroll in your New Hire benefits.
WAYS TO ENROLL
You can enroll 3 different ways:
FROM YOUR COMPUTER - If you have not registered previously, register using the company key “abilene.”
FROM YOUR MOBILE DEVICE - Download the MyChoice® benefits app from your device's app store. You must register and start an account at benefitsolver.com first.
FROM YOUR PHONE - If you would like to talk to a live person, call the Service Center at 833-989-1964. Member advocates are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central Time.
- Click Start Here at the top of the home page of benefitsolver.com.
- Select the plan(s) you would like to choose. Track your choices along the top right side of the page, which updates your total cost as you elect benefits.
- Click Approve at the bottom right corner of the page.
- Review your elections and costs.
- Print your election information and confirmation number for your records by clicking Benefit Summary PDF. You can access this summary anytime by clicking on your name in the upper right corner of the home page, then click Profile.
Please Note: You must click Approve after reviewing your enrollment selections each time you make a change in Benefitsolver. If you do not Approve your enrollment, your selections will not be saved, and your enrollment will not be complete.
ENROLLMENT TOOLS
MyChoice® Benefits App
The MyChoice benefits app gives you access to all of your benefits from the palm of your hand! The benefits app gives you all the details of your plan choices and lets you enroll on-the-go. You can also view Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) balances, verify your dependents, and store digital versions of your ID cards, so you never leave home without them!
Sofia℠
We all have benefits questions from time to time. Does my plan cover this? Is my dependent verified? You can get answers to these questions and many more when you chat with Sofia! Sofia is your personal benefits assistant and she is available to chat 24 hours a day. She uses artificial intelligence to answer many questions about your benefits. You can chat with Sofia on the Mobile App or on benefitsolver.com.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I DONT ENROLL?
As a new hire, you have 30 days from your start date to choose your benefits. If you do not enroll in your benefits, you will have no coverage. Your next opportunity to enroll in benefits will be during Open Enrollment, which typically takes place in August or September of each year. You may also change your benefits if you have a qualifying life event, such as a marriage or the birth of a child. To see how many days you have left to enroll, look for the calendar at the top of benefitsolver.com. If you want to waive your 2025 benefits coverage, you must actively waive each benefit in your Benefitsolver account to decline the benefit.
MAKING MID YEAR CHANGES
Sometimes, life likes to throw us curveballs, and your current selection of benefits might not work for your family anymore. That’s why we allow you to make changes outside of Open Enrollment for certain qualifying life events (QLEs)." to read "That’s why we allow you to make changes outside of New Hire Enrollment for certain qualifying life events (QLEs).
Other QLEs include a loss of other coverage, such as if your spouse loses their job or benefits. Please note that you have 30 days from the date of your QLE to make changes to your coverage. If you fail to meet this deadline, you will have to wait until the next Open Enrollment or QLE to make changes.
WHO CAN WE COVER?
Any full-time, City of Abilene employee is eligible for benefits. You may also cover your spouse and your dependent children up to the age of 26. If your child became disabled before the age of 26, you may continue to cover them beyond age 26 with proper documentation.
WHO COUNTS AS A DEPENDENT CHILD?
- Natural
- Adopted
- Step
- Foster
- Court-appointed guardianships
If you are raising your grandchild, you may cover them on your City of Abilene benefits if you meet certain criteria.
BENEFICIARY VS. DEPENDENT
- A “dependent” is a family member such as a spouse or a child that you add to your City of Abilene benefits package.
- A “beneficiary” is the person you designate to collect the proceeds from certain benefits if you pass away.
These benefits include life insurance, accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) coverage, or the proceeds from your 457(b) account. You may designate whomever you wish as a beneficiary and, unless state mandate or plan design has spousal consent regulations, you do not have to provide any documentation of their relationship to you.
VERIFYING DEPENDENTS
Any full-time, City of Abilene employee is eligible for benefits.You may also cover your spouse and your dependent children up to the age of 26. If your child became disabled before the age of 26, you may continue to cover them beyond age 26 with proper documentation.
If you do not provide acceptable documentation for each dependent that you enroll in benefits for the first time, the dependent will not be covered under your 2025 benefits.
If you will be adding new dependents or covering dependents for the first time in the Benefitsolver system, you must verify your dependent's relationship with you by uploading official documentation such as a marriage license or a birth certificate. Once you are finished enrolling in your 2025 benefits, you will see a notification pop up next to your “To Do” list on the home page of benefitsolver.com.
Click on the notification to be taken to the dependent verification page. Follow the directions on the page, including uploading the appropriate documentation.
To upload documents from the MyChoice benefits app, tap the Important Reminders icon (the little bell in the upper right corner).
Click Continue under the notification and follow the prompts.
