Basic Life Insurance and AD&D Coverage
The County provides term Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment insurance for employees at no cost, through The Standard. Eligible employees will receive 1x or 2x their annual base salary, determined by their position.
Additional Life Insurance
Eligible employees may purchase additional term life insurance through the County's Group Additional Life Insurance program. This is a voluntary, payroll-deducted benefit designed for employees, their spouse, and/or children.
Group Additional Life Insurance allows employees to select the amount of additional life insurance which best fits their needs. Guarantee Issue amounts listed below are applicable at time of initial eligibility. Enrollments outside of the initial enrollment period are subject to providing Evidence of Insurability (EOI). Once EOI is completed, the Standard will approve or deny increased life insurance requests.
Please note:
- Employees must participate in Additional Life Insurance themselves in order to cover a spouse or dependent.
- The coverage amount for a spouse or child cannot exceed 50% of an employee's additional life coverage.
- Covered individuals cannot be full time members of the armed forces.
- Employees may not be covered as both an employee and a dependent.
- Children cannot be covered by more than one employee.
When can I enroll or make changes to my Additional Life Insurance?
Initial Eligibility Period: This is typically at the time of hire, or if an employee moves from a non-benefits eligible position to a benefits-eligible position. Coverage would be effective the 1st of the month following either of these events.
Employee Only Additional Life Coverage
Employees have the opportunity to elect up to the guaranteed issue amount of $300,000 at the time of hire without submitting an Evidence of Insurability (EOI) form. Employees can elect up to a maximum of $500,000 with EOI.
Spouse Life Coverage
Employees have the opportunity to elect up to a maximum amount of $50,000 for their spouse at the time of hire without submitting an Evidence of Insurability (EOI) form. Anything over $50,000 would require EOI.
Child Life Coverage
Employees have the opportunity to elect up to a maximum amount of $25,000 for their dependent children under the age of 26 at the time of hire without submitting an Evidence of Insurability (EOI) form.
Guarantee Issue Amounts are only applicable during the initial 31-day eligibility timeframe.
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Qualifying Status Change: If employees experience a Qualifying Status Change as defined in the plan document, they may elect to increase their coverage by an additional $50,000 (not to exceed $300,000), without submitting evidence of insurability, so long as they do so within 31 days of the Qualifying Event. Please contact the Benefits Department to initiate this process.
Annual Open Enrollment: During this period, employees may increase their election without Evidence of Insurability by $10,000 not to exceed the Guarantee Issue amount. Requests for increase amounts exceeding $10,000 or for those exceeding the Guarantee Issue Amount, will require the Evidence of Insurability. The same applies for Spouse Life Coverage. These requests may be completed by contacting the Benefits Team at benefits@leegov.com or 239-533-2245.
Any time outside of Initial Eligibility, Qualifying Status Changes and Annual Open Enrollment: Any election outside of the initial 31 days of eligibility or one of the special enrollment periods detailed above, is subject to medical underwriting and approval by the carrier after completing Evidence of Insurability (EOI). Once EOI is completed, the Standard will approve or deny increased life insurance requests.
Beneficiaries
Employees are required to provide a beneficiary election for their life insurance. Beneficiary totals must equal 100%. Employees are strongly encouraged to review beneficiaries at least annually and update as needed.
Not sure how much life insurance is needed?
Each family's needs are different and employees must consider all factors when determining what coverage is best suited for them. Employees may visit The Standard's Life Insurance Estimator here to help calculate how much coverage they may need.
Additional Information
Additional Life Enrollment Form (2025)
Exploring Additional Life Insurance
Beneficiary Form
Active Employee Additional Life Coverage
Beneficiary FAQ
Group Basic Life and ADD at a Glance
Life Services Toolkit for Beneficiaries
Life Services Toolkit for Employees
Standard Life Insurance FAQ