What’s the BIG news?
VERIP (early retirement) applications are due December 1st! If you are considering retirement during the next fiscal year (FY2015-2016; July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016) and you will be under age 65, you may be eligible for an additional benefit under the County’s Voluntary Early Retirement Incentive Program (VERIP).
To be eligible you must:
- Meet the age and service criteria for VRS retirement;
- Be a current benefits-eligible employee;
- Be at least 50 years of age; and
- Have been employed by the County in a benefits-eligible position for 10 of the last 13 years prior to retirement.
What does VERIP do for me?
- Retirement income: VERIP benefits are paid monthly for a period of five years or until age 65, whichever comes first.
- Health Insurance: In addition to the monthly benefit, the County will pay an amount equivalent to the Board’s annual contribution toward medical insurance. You may accept it as a cash payment or apply it toward the cost of your County medical/dental benefits.
Who should submit a VERIP application?
Anyone eligible for VERIP who is interested in learning more about early retirement for FY2015-2016. If you would like to apply for VERIP, click here to download the application.
Please complete the application and return it to Human Resources no later than Monday, December 1st, 2014. Employees who are still considering the possibility of retiring during FY2015-2016 are also encouraged to submit a VERIP application.
The fine print (but in BOLD font): Submission of a VERIP application does not obligate you to retire. You may withdraw this application at any time and no staffing actions will result from the submission of the application unless/until you submit a resignation.
- View the Retirement policy (GCPC) for School Division employees »
- View the Retirement policy (P-63) for Local Government employees »
If you are not considering retirement just yet, but would like to learn more about Albemarle County’s retirement benefits, please visit our Retirement site.
If you have questions about applying for VERIP, or need assistance with the form, please feel free to contact our Benefits Administrator, John McQuilkin, at jmcquilkin@albemarle.org or by phone at (434) 296-5827 #3074.
Anything else I need to be aware of?
Deductibles on our health plan! Effective January 1st, our medical plan will be subject to a deductible when we seek certain services.
What Is A DEDUCTIBLE?
A deductible is a specified amount of money that the insured must pay before an insurance company will pay certain claims.
When will I have to pay a deductible?
Effective January 1, 2015, anyone enrolled in our health plan will need to pay a deductible towards services NOT covered by a co-pay before the insurance begins to pay for those services. This is not applicable to things like trips to your doctor, and you will continue to pay your normal co-pay for those visits. Once you meet your deductible for the plan year, you will not have to pay this again that year.
What will our deductibles be?
If you are the only enrolled member in your household, your deductible will be $250. If you have one or more spouse/dependents on your plan, your maximum deductible will be $500 for the plan year, regardless of how many dependents you may be covering.
How can I learn more about what services are subject to the deductible?
Reviewing the Schedule of Benefits is a quick and easy way to see what services are co-pay based (NOT subject to a deductible) and which are co-insurance based (subject to a deductible). If you see a $ co-pay next to the service, the deductible won’t apply. If you see a % co-insurance next to the service, the deductible WILL apply.
Trouble accessing the site or links?
Here are a few pointers:
If you are only asked for username and password, enter them as follows:
- Username: schls\your username
- Password: your password (the same one you use to sign onto your computer)
If you are asked for username, password and domain, enter them as follows:
- Username: your username
- Password: your password (the same one you use to sign onto your computer)
- Domain: schls
For more detailed information about your employee benefits, our web pages are always available when you are.