Continued Plan Membership
A member who retires after attaining age 55 and with at least three consecutive years of membership in WELS VEBA may continue coverage under the active WELS VEBA Plan as a retired member until he or she attains age 65. Dependents covered under WELS VEBA when the member retires may continue their coverage. A member or spouse may not enroll in the Anthem SmartValue Medicare Advantage plan until they reach age 65.
Medicare Benefits through the Anthem SmartValue plan
A member who retires after attaining age 65 and with at least three consecutive years of membership in WELS VEBA may enroll in the Anthem SmartValue Medicare Advantage plan. Spouses who were covered at the time of the member's retirement and are less than age 65 may continue their coverage until they reach age 65. If the spouse remains covered by WELS VEBA at age 65, the spouse may enroll in the Anthem SmartValue plan at that time. Dependent children who were covered at the time of the member's retirement and are not totally disabled may continue their coverage as long as they are an unmarried, full-time student and less than age 26. Dependent children who lose their dependent eligibility status according to the eligibility rules of the Plan may be eligible to continue their coverage through COBRA.
Important! A member must be enrolled in both Medicare Parts A and B in order to be eligible to enroll in the Anthem SmartValue plan.
Enrollment
A member must be enrolled for health benefits under WELS VEBA and also Medicare Parts A and B at the time the member enrolls in the Anthem SmartValue plan. A member enrolls in the Anthem SmartValue plan by notifying the Plan Administrator prior to the month in which the Member retires.
Please note: There is no Annual Open Enrollment period for the Anthem SmartValue plan.
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