Employee Benefits: Eligibility
Who is eligible for City of Albuquerque employee benefits?
- Permanent employees
- Elected Officials
- Unclassified employees working 20 or more hours a week
- Legal Spouse of employee
- Children under the age of 26 (coverage ends on the last day of the month in which the child turns 26)
- Domestic Partner*
- Children over the age of 26 may continue participating in the group insurance plans if they are unmarried and total and permanently disabled and not eligible for any other plan. Subject to the approval by the insurance carrier.
*A Domestic Partner is defined as a person of the same or opposite sex who lives with the employee in a long-term relationship of indefinite duration and has not been married to anyone during the previous 12 months.
Visit your entity's HR department for specific information or participation.
Documentation
What documentation is needed for Dependent Benefit Enrollment?
- Most Recent Joint Tax Return for spouse; or
- Marriage Certificate and 2 joint financial statements
- Birth Certificate for children
- Social Security numbers for everyone (Required by the ACA)
- Court-endorsed Order of Adoption, Guardianship, etc.
Qualifying Events
The initial enrollment period is the first 31 days after your hire date. You will be locked into the benefits you enrolled in during the initial enrollment period, until Open Enrollment in May each year.
The following are Qualifying Events:
- Marriage
- Domestic Partnership
- Divorce
- Termination of Domestic Partnership
- Birth
- Death
- Change in Employment Status
- Loss of Coverage
- New eligibility period of Spouse/Domestic Partner's employer
If a Qualifying Event occurs, you will have 31 days from the date of the event to make any changes in your benefits. If the Loss of Coverage/gaining eligibility is through Medicaid, a 60 enrollment period is allowed.
Documentation needed for Qualifying Events
- Marriage Certificate for new spouse
- Court-endorsed Divorce Decree
- Death Certificate
- Letter of Credible Coverage
- Loss of Coverage Letter
- Proof of Birth for newborn
Domestic Partnership
Qualifying Criteria
- Both domestic partners must be unmarried;
- Domestic partners must have been in a mutually exclusive relationship for the last twelve (12) months, intending to do so indefinitely, and must share the same primary residence;
- Domestic partners must be jointly responsible for the common welfare of each other and share financial obligations;
- Domestic partners must meet the age requirements for marriage in the State of New Mexico and be mentally competent to consent to contract; and,
- Domestic partners must not be related by blood to the degree prohibited in a legal marriage in the State of New Mexico.
Affidavit of Domestic Partnership
In addition to the notarized affidavit, three of the following documents also are required. One document must be at least 12 months prior to completing the Affidavit of Domestic Partnership:
- Joint lease/mortgage or ownership property
- Jointly owned motor vehicle
- Jointly owned bank account
- Jointly owned credit account
- Domestic Partner named as a beneficiary of the employee's life insurance
- Domestic Partner named as beneficiary of the employee's retirement benefits
- Domestic Partner names as primary beneficiary in the employee's will
- Domestic Partner assigned as power of attorney or legal designee by the employee
- Both names on a utility Bill
- Both names on an investment account