2027 Open Enrollment is October 22 – November 5

This is your limited chance to review and update your Alera Group benefits for 2027. We’re making a few benefit changes you’ll want to know about, so keep reading. To register for an Alera Group-led enrollment session, vendor-led webinar and office hour drop-in session, review the schedule.

Need-to-Know Info

This Is It

Open Enrollment is your only chance to choose your benefits for 2027 — unless you have a qualifying life event next year like:

  • Welcoming a new child
  • Getting married
  • Losing coverage elsewhere, or
  • Becoming Medicare-eligible

Help Is Everywhere

You have lots of places to learn more and get help from experts, including:

  • This website, including the Virtual Benefits Assistant
  • Informational webinars and office hours. See the schedule and register.
  • Sofia on the Alera Group Benefits Center
  • The Alera Group Benefits Center at 888-850-1765 (special hours during Open Enrollment, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. CT)

Don't Miss the Deadline

Choose your 2027 benefits from October 22 – November 5. Remember, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) must be re-elected each year. Submit your elections on the Alera Group Benefits Center.

What’s New

Depending on the plans you enroll in and your coverage tier, you may see some cost increases to help manage rising healthcare costs across the country. We’re also making some vendor changes to improve your experience with our benefits. 

Health Plan and Account Changes

Medical: Paycheck costs are increasing for Employee Only coverage for all medical plan options. If you cover dependents, your costs are not increasing.

Dental: If you're enrolled in the DHMO dental plan and cover dependents, you'll see  minimal paycheck contribution increase.

Vision: In the vision plan, you’ll see minimal paycheck contributions across all coverage levels.

See the 2027 Contributions and Costs page for medical, dental and vision. 

If you live in Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, or Washington D.C., you can choose the Kaiser HDHP or Kaiser HMO plan for 2027. Kaiser is known for coordinated, high-quality care, and we’re pleased to offer this option to more colleagues.

Kaiser plan details vary by state, so be sure to check your specific state’s plan details on the Plan Documents page before you enroll.

The IRS raises minimum deductible limits for high-deductible health plans almost every year. For 2027, the individual, in-network deductible for the $3,400 HDHP and Kaiser HDHP plans is becoming $3,500 to align to the new IRS minimum.

For the Kaiser HDHP, the individual out-of-pocket maximum is also increasing to $3,500 and the family deductible and out-of-pocket maximum is increasing to $7,000.

If you’re a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) user, IRS maximum contribution limits are increasing for 2027:

  • HSA: $4,500 (if you only cover yourself) or $9,000 (if you cover dependents in your Alera Group medical plan). Remember: This amount includes Alera Group’s contributions to your account. If you are age 55 or older, you can contribute an additional $1,000.
  • Health Care FSA: The annual contribution limit will increase to the IRS maximum for 2027.

Please note: To help ensure the Dependent Care FSA remains available for all employees, the annual contribution limit will remain $5,000 per year ($2,500 if married and filing separately) for 2027.

New Vendors and Plan Enhancements

The vendor who supports our life insurance, disability benefits and leaves of absence is changing from Unum to Reliance Matrix. Unum will continue to administer any leaves of absence and disability claims that start before January 1, 2027. Reliance Matrix will take over any new leaves and claims that start on or after January 1.

We will be using this transition as an opportunity to make the following enhancements to these benefits:

  • Our Basic Life Insurance and Basic Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) benefit maximum is increasing from $200,000 to $300,000. You’re automatically enrolled and these benefits are company paid.
  • Short-Term Disability (STD) is changing from a flat 60% of pre-disability income to a tiered benefit:

4 weeks

Up to 100% of your pre-disability income (maximum benefit of $2,500 per week)

4 weeks

Up to 80% of your pre-disability income (maximum benefit of $2,500 per week)

8 weeks

Up to 70% of your pre-disability income (maximum benefit of $2,500 per week)

9 weeks

Up to 60% of your pre-disability income (maximum benefit of $2,500 per week)

This change will increase the financial support available while on STD.

  • The maximum number of weeks for STD is doubling to 26. Because the maximum amount of time on STD is increasing, eligibility for Long-Term Disability will begin after 26 weeks.

Questions? Register for a Reliance Matrix webinar on:

  • October 26, 1–1:45 p.m. CT. 
  • October 29, 3–3:45 p.m. CT

Accident, Critical Illness and Group Hospital Insurance are moving from Unum to UnitedHealthcare (UHC). With this change:

  • Claims integration will be smoother for those who are also enrolled in an Alera Group medical plan through UHC or Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). Medical claims will be automatically reviewed to see if they qualify for a payment through Accident, Critical Illness and Group Hospital. In some circumstances, there will be no need to file a claim and UHC will simply mail you a check. Other times, UHC will actively reach out to confirm details in order to be able to issue your payment. With this change, you’ll be more likely to get paid for qualifying incidents. UHC will also automatically pay your $50 “Be Well” Cash Benefit when they receive a claim for an eligible health screening or preventive care.
  • You will continue to have two Group Hospital Insurance plans to choose from — with improved benefits for hospitalization for mental/nervous and substance abuse and lower paycheck contributions. See the Open Enrollment flyer and 2027 Summary of Benefits for more information.
  • You will have a second Accident Insurance plan to consider. The new plan (Option 1) costs more, but also pays a higher benefit for covered incidents. See the example below, the Open Enrollment flyer and the 2027 Summary of Benefits for more information. 

Benefit Type

Option 1

Option 2

Hospital Admission

$1,500

$800 

Daily Hospital Confinement

$300 (up to 365 days)

$200 (up to 365 days)

ICU Daily Confinement

$800 (up to 30 days)

$600 (up to 30 days)

Emergency Room

$300

$200

Questions? Register for the UnitedHealthcare webinar on October 26, 2:30–3:15 p.m. CT. 

New Long-Term Care/Life policies for 2027 will be with Aflac rather than Chubb.

As part of this change, enrollment in Long-Term Care/Life will happen during Open Enrollment (instead of separately in November). You can enroll in this benefit at the same time as you choose your other Alera Group benefits in the Alera Group Benefits Center.

Aflac policies offer the following features:

  • A guaranteed issue amount of $200,000 for employee coverage and $75,000 for spouse coverage. That means you can elect up to that amount of coverage without providing proof of good health.
  • If you have a long-term care event, you can draw down the plan’s death benefit over time to help cover care (depleting your death benefit) or take a lump sum of up to 50% of the death benefit (depleting your long-term care benefit).

If you’re currently enrolled in Long-Term Care/Life with Chubb: You can continue to make payroll contributions at your current coverage level. If you want to increase your coverage for 2027, you’ll need to buy a new, second policy with Aflac for the additional amount.

Questions? Register for the Aflac webinar on October 29, 1:30–2:15 p.m. CT. 

Your Open Enrollment Checklist

There are a few things to do ahead of Open Enrollment, while you’re enrolling and after enrollment ends.

Spend time reading this site and using the Virtual Benefits Assistant. There’s a lot of useful information to help you understand your Alera Group benefits. Bookmark it for quick access year-round and be sure to ask your benefit questions to the Virtual Benefits Assistant in the bottom right-hand corner of the site.

Consider all your medical plan options. The Surest plan will continue to offer the lowest paycheck contributions, no deductible, and fixed copays when you need care. The Surest plan uses the UnitedHealthcare provider network. Some of you will also have additional plans available through Kaiser, depending on where you live.

Attend a webinar. They’re packed full of information, and there are many options. Some are led by the Alera Group Benefits team, and some are led by our vendors. Review the schedule and register for at least one! Recordings will be posted on ARCH, if you can’t attend a live webinar you’re interested in.

NEW! Join office hours. Register, then drop in to ask the Alera Group Benefits team your general benefits and Open Enrollment questions. Review the schedule and register! 

Know who you can cover. Generally, you can cover:

  • Yourself, as long as you’re working a minimum of 30 hours a week.
  • Your legal spouse or domestic partner.
  • Your and/or your domestic partner's child(ren)* up to age 26.
  • Your disabled child(ren) up to any age (if disabled prior to age 19). This includes natural, step, legally adopted/or a child placed for adoption, or a child under your legal guardianship.
Get your enrollment documentation together. If you’re planning on adding a dependent, you’ll need their Social Security number, date of birth and documentation (e.g., marriage certificate, birth certificate).

Between October 22 and November 5, head to the Alera Group Benefits Center. This is where you’ll see your current elections and coverages, where you’ll be able to access a guided enrollment experience if you’re not sure what makes sense for your situation, and where enroll in your 2027 benefits. Enroll by the deadline to get the coverage you want!

Review and update your beneficiaries. Before you close out of Alera Group Benefits Center, make sure your beneficiary information is accurate. It only takes a couple of minutes to make sure the right people receive benefits in the event of your death. You should have beneficiaries for Life Insurance, Basic Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Accident Insurance, Group Hospital Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance and Business Travel Accident (BTA). This includes any supplemental coverages you purchase.

Submit any required documents. Pull out that pile of documents you gathered and upload them to the system. Your coverage may not be valid unless you submit required documents ahead of the deadline.

Make sure you click “submit.” You’ll get a confirmation screen, and you should get a confirmation email. Check your personal email and junk folder if you don’t see them in your inbox. Please note: If you go back into your elections after you have saved them, you will need to complete the enrollment process and save all over again. Be sure to keep a copy of the confirmation email for your records and future reference.

New Hire? If you are hired between October 22 and November 30, 2026, you must elect Alera Group benefits twice — once for the remainder of 2026 and once for 2027. These are two separate actions, and both must be taken if you want Alera Group benefits this year and next.

Complete any follow-ups. You may hear from Businessolver if more information is required from you. If you don’t respond, your coverage may not go into effect on January 1.

Watch for new cards. if you are new to Alera Group benefits, switch medical plans, or are in a plan with a deductible increase, you may get a new ID card from your medical carrier. If you open an FSA and/or new HSA for 2027, you will also receive a debit card from MyChoice Accounts. These should arrive in mid- to late December. If you don’t have them by early January, contact your medical carrier or MyChoice Accounts.

Need Help Choosing?

Not sure which plans best meet your needs or fit your budget? All you need to do is answer some basic questions about your health care needs and preferences as you enroll on the Alera Group Benefits Center to receive a personalized recommendation. Your answers are confidential and never shared.

Available by chat 24/7/365 on the Alera Group Benefits Center, Sofia knows multiple languages and is ready to take your questions and tell you about your benefits.

The Alera Group Benefits Center is also available through the MyChoice Mobile App. The app includes all the same functionality as the online Alera Group Benefits Center and lets you store digital versions of your plan ID cards and share digital copies via email or text message. Download this tool via the App Store or Google Play.

Get in Touch

Alera Group Benefits Center

(888) 850-1765
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. CT

Special Hours During Open Enrollment (October 22 – November 5), 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. CT
Sofia, your virtual personal benefits assistant
Available by chat through the Alera Group Benefits Center and the MyChoice Mobile App
Alera Group, Inc. is aware that there are persons fraudulently impersonating our company by using fake internet domains that appear to look like our legitimate services. If you are contacted by someone claiming to work for Alera Group, or any of our partners, please carefully review the email address and domain.
© 2025 Alera Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Deerfield, IL