Get Ready to Enroll in Your 2021 Santander Benefits
2021 Annual Enrollment: Tuesday, October 27 – Thursday, November 12
Below you’ll find a summary of the changes you’ll see to 2021 Santander benefits, and the tools and resources available in SanBenefits to help you make the most of your benefits.
What’s Changing for 2021
Employee Contributions and Updated Salary Bands for Medical/Rx Contributions
For 2021, employee contributions for dental will increase slightly and employee contributions for vision will decrease. You’ll also see reductions to critical illness insurance premiums, which will be based on your current age instead of the age at which you purchased the insurance.
For medical, Santander will absorb more of the cost increase for next year to limit your increase to 4%, which is less than the national average in medical cost increases (projected to be 7% for 2021). Santander Consumer continues to pay approximately 77% of the total medical and prescription drug claims under the Choice Plus PPO and HSA Choice Plus plans. We also are adding a new salary band for employee contributions for medical and prescription drug coverage for a total of four bands.
Changes to the Choice Plus PPO
For 2021, the Choice Plus PPO’s annual in-network deductible will increase by $250 for employee-only coverage and $500 for family coverage. The copay for primary care visits will increase to $30 per visit, although all in-network preventive care will continue to be covered at no cost to you. There are no changes to the HSA Choice Plus plan for 2021.
Supplemental Life Insurance Enhancements
- Santander Consumer will partner with a new life insurance company for 2021 – Securian. To provide you with additional financial security, we’re increasing the amount of supplemental life insurance you can elect for yourself to the lesser of 9 times your salary or $3,000,000. If you currently have supplemental life insurance coverage with The Hartford, that coverage will automatically transfer to Securian – you will not need to complete Evidence of Insurability (EOI) again unless you increase your coverage amount.
- If your current supplemental life insurance coverage is under the guaranteed issue amount during 2021 Annual Enrollment, you can increase your supplemental life insurance by up to $50,000 without having to complete EOI (subject to the guaranteed issue amount). Whether or not you currently have supplemental life insurance, you can take advantage of this one-time special enrollment opportunity to increase your coverage.
- Spouse life insurance will now be based on one of five coverage tiers, instead of by $10,000 increments. Your current spouse life insurance election will be automatically increased to the next highest tier - $15,000, $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 or $150,000 - on a guaranteed issue basis. If you increase your coverage beyond the next highest tier, EOI will be required.
- For supplemental coverage for your child or child of a domestic partner, we’re introducing child life insurance of $25,000. If you currently have child life insurance, your election will be increased to the $25,000 level; no action is required by you to do this.
- New for 2021, you’ll have the option to elect supplemental Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance. There are two coverage tiers – one for yourself only, and one that includes any eligible dependents. No EOI is required.
- Your individual election can be up to 9 times your salary, in $10,000 increments, to a maximum of $3,000,000.
- If your spouse or domestic partner is covered on your supplemental AD&D, their coverage amount is equal to 60% of your supplemental AD&D coverage, not to exceed $600,000.
- For children, the coverage amount is equal to 20% of your supplemental AD&D coverage, not to exceed $50,000.
Enhanced Leave of Absence Benefits
To provide you with additional financial protection when you’re unable to work as a result of illness, injury or pregnancy, Santander Consumer is adopting a new core Short-Term Disability Program. Beginning as of January 1, 2021, associates will have access upon hire to short-term disability benefits for up to 26 weeks of coverage at 100% or 66 2/3% of base salary, depending on years of service and with no weekly maximum. Short-term disability benefits will be paid directly from Santander Consumer, not an insurance company. You will receive more information about this new Short-Term Disability Program and a new leave and disability administrator closer to the beginning of 2021.
For 2021, Santander Consumer is moving the Long-Term Disability Program from The Hartford to MetLife. With this change, you can increase your core Long-Term Disability Program benefit by purchasing (on an after-tax basis) an additional 6 2/3% of coverage for a total of 66 2/3% of base salary.
For the SanUS Parental Leave Program, we are removing the one-year waiting period for new hires so that all new parents have the time they need to bond with their new child and balance the demands of work and home.
New Digital Estate Planning Option through MetLife Legal Plans
It’s not always easy finding the time to complete important estate planning so that your family and your assets are protected. To make it easier, especially during a time when a lot of us are spending more time at home, the MetLife Legal Program now offers a digital estate planning solution that lets you complete your estate planning digitally, through a secure online process. It’s a new feature added for 2021 when you enroll in legal services.
New Employee Assistance Program Provider
Starting in 2021, Carebridge will be your new Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider. Through Carebridge’s services, you will continue to have resources available to assist you with a variety of personal and professional challenges, including achieving a healthy work-life balance, grieving the loss of a loved one, finding child care, managing your finances, and planning for college. The number of free confidential counseling sessions per issue will double to six from the current EAP.
Additional Coverage Tier for MetLife Legal Program
For 2021, you will have the option to select employee only coverage through the MetLife Legal Program at a lower premium than the current family coverage. The premium for family coverage is increasing slightly, but both plans include enhanced benefits such as identity theft coverage and more divorce services.
Expanded Auto and Home Insurance Discounts
Beginning as of January 1, Santander Consumer associates will have access to auto and home insurance discounts from top-rated national insurance companies through our new Auto and Home Insurance Discount Program. Simply provide your insurance coverage needs and receive quotes from several companies at once for a premium discount of up to 15%. Quotes will be available any time, starting in January.
New Pet Insurance Benefits
Don’t forget about your furry friend! We’re excited to introduce MetLife pet insurance as a new benefit option for 2021.
You can enroll at any time directly with MetLife starting in January.
Benefits Tools and Resources
Choosing the best benefits for you and your family can be difficult. The following tools are available in SanBenefits to help you with this process.
- The MyChoice decision support tool to help take the guesswork out of understanding which Santander benefits may best match your needs.
- Sofia, the SanBenefits virtual assistant, who is available 24/7 to answer your general questions about Santander’s benefits.
- Information to set up the MyChoice Mobile App on your mobile device for easy access to SanBenefits for enrollment, reviewing benefits coverage and much more.
- Visit Benefit Scout from Securian, Santander’s life insurance carrier, to use a simple calculator tool that can help you decide how much life insurance you may need.
This site describes certain Santander benefit plans and policies. Your eligibility for and entitlement to a benefit mentioned herein are governed by the terms of the official plan document or policy. Santander reserves the right to amend or terminate its plans and policies in full or in part at any time for any reason. In the event of a conflict between this site and the official plan document or policy, the official plan document or policy will control. Your employment is at will.