FAQs for school administrators

Yes. Districts will provide benefits to any employee who works or is anticipated to work 630 hours within the school year.

If employees do not choose medical, dental, and vision plans, they will be automatically enrolled in UMP Achieve 1 (medical), Uniform Dental Plan (dental) and MetLife (vision). These plans are available in all Washington counties.

SEBB organizations cannot endorse or make available any benefits that compete with those authorized as part of the SEBB Program. This includes but is not limited to, inviting a vendor to attend a benefits fair to endorse products that compete with any form of a benefit under the SEBB Program’s authority—even if the vendor’s product would be fully paid by the employee. It also includes providing vendors with employee contact information for marketing purposes or facilitating payroll deductions.

View the answer to this question and other related information in the Dual Enrollment FAQ.

Dual enrollment is when a school employee is eligible to enroll in the SEBB Program and is also eligible as the spouse, state-registered domestic partner, or dependent of another eligible school employee. Dual enrollment is not allowed for medical, dental, or vision coverage. The single-enrollment policy helps maintain the affordability of the SEBB Program’s health plans.

The insurance plan year for the SEBB Program is a calendar year, January 1 through December 31. Plans run from the beginning to the end of the insurance year.

The school year, as defined in RCW 28A.150.203(11), is September 1 through August 31. Employee benefits eligibility and coverage period are based on the school year.

When the Legislature created the SEBB Program in 2017, a SEBB organization’s authority to offer any benefits to their employees was removed in its  entirety beginning January 1, 2020. This meant that SEBB organizations had no authority to offer any benefits to their employees once the SEBB Program launched. However, during the 2018 session, the Legislature revised the law to allow school districts (but not educational service districts or charter schools) to offer benefits that do not conflict with the SEB Board’s authority to offer benefits.

If new employees who are eligible for SEBB benefits do not either enroll in or waive SEBB Program medical coverage within SEBB timelines, they will be automatically enrolled in the benefits below. They will also be charged a $25-per-month tobacco use premium surcharge. This surcharge can be stopped if the employee attests that they do not use tobacco. Attestation can be done either in Benefits 24/7 or on a paper enrollment form.

• Medical: UMP Achieve 1
• Dental: Uniform Dental Plan (no premium)
• Vision: MetLife vision (no premium)
• Basic life: MetLife (no premium)
• Basic accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D): MetLife (no premium)
• Basic long-term disability (LTD): The Standard (no premium)

The SEBB Program is directing employees to contact their payroll or benefits office.

For every SEBB benefits-eligible employee, the employer will pay the funding rate, which includes the following:

• Employer share of medical premium contribution
• 100 percent dental premium
• 100 percent vision premium
• 100 percent basic life premium
• 100 percent accidental death and dismemberment premium
• 100 percent basic long-term disability premium
• K-12 remittance (for retirees)
• Administration