Change Your Benefits

During your employment, you may update or change your benefits when you experience a life event or during the annual open enrollment period.

Life Events

An experience that changes a person's family or work status. In such circumstances, you may change health care plans and add or drop eligible dependents from coverage within 31 days after the event occurred.

Use the links below to learn more about each life event and how to make benefits changes:

• Marriage and partnership (including divorce/dissolution)
• Leaving Stanford (COBRA, retiree medical, retirement savings, etc.)
• Your benefits on leave (disability, family medical, maternity or personal leave)
• Death and survivorship (including eligible spouse, registered domestic partner or children)
• Birth or adoption of a child (including guardianship or foster children)

31 Day Deadline

When you experience a qualified life event, you have 31 days from the date of the event to make changes to your benefits and submit certifying documentation. If you miss the 31 day deadline, you will need to wait until the annual open enrollment period, which occurs in late fall, or experience another qualified life event to make changes. 

We cannot process a future event, meaning you need to wait until the event happens first, then you have 31 days to request the change.

Documentation Required for Verifying Dependents

Waiving Medical Coverage

If you are a full-time employee, have medical coverage elsewhere and do not want Stanford coverage, you must actively waive coverage by logging into My Benefits. If you waive your medical coverage, you will receive a $25 credit (if you work in a full-time, benefits-eligible position) or a $12.50 credit (if you work in a part-time, benefits-eligible position) provided as taxable income in each paycheck.