Enrolling in Your Optional Benefits Program

On This Page...

A Look At Your Vought Benefits
When You Can Enroll
Selecting Your Coverage Category
Your Cost For Coverage
Before-Tax Vs. After-Tax: What Is The Difference?

A LOOK AT YOUR VOUGHT BENEFITS

Your Vought Benefits program includes two types of benefits - basic benefits and optional benefits.

When you become a Vought Aircraft employee, you automatically receive your "basic" benefits. Vought pays the full cost of these benefits. Because you receive them automatically, you do not have to make an election.

Your benefit program also allows you to purchase - through weekly payroll deductions - other benefits for yourself and your family. These are called "optional" benefits, and you and Vought Aircraft share the cost of these benefits. You need to make an election to receive optional benefits.

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WHEN YOU CAN ENROLL

You may elect your optional benefits:

• When you are a new employee and
  
• During Annual Enrollment.

In addition, you may make new elections during a benefit plan year under certain circumstances.

To make changes in benefit elections which you purchase with before-tax dollars (medical, dental, optional AD&D, and Flexible Spending Accounts), you must have a qualified change in life status as defined by the Internal Revenue Service.

• For benefit elections which you purchase with after-tax dollars, the rules of the plan determine whether changes are allowed during the plan year.
  

These are your basic benefits provided at no cost to you:

• Basic short-term disability (STD)
  
• Basic long-term disability (LTD)
  
• Basic life insurance
  
• Basic accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D)
  
• Employee assistance program (EAP)
  
• Business travel accident

Enrolling as a New Employee

On your date of hire, you begin participating in company-provided basic benefits for as long as you are eligible for Vought Benefits.

If you want to participate in any of the optional benefits plans, you must make an election. During the hiring process or orientation, you will receive information about your benefit options, including the health and welfare benefit plan. The enrollment materials will also include your cost for each option.

You enroll for benefits within 31 days of your hire-date, and your benefit elections become effective retroactive to your hire date.

When Coverage Begins for a New Employee

Your benefit coverage begins on your first day of work. Your eligible dependents also are covered on your first day of work, as long as you enroll them in the benefit program within 31 days of your first day of work.

Enrolling Your Dependents

If you want to enroll your dependents in any of the plan options, you must enroll them at the same time you elect benefits for yourself (that is, within 31 days after you're hired). If you do not enroll your spouse and children in Vought Benefits when they first are eligible, you generally cannot enroll them until the next Annual Enrollment.

Enrolling as an Active Employee

When You Have a Qualified Change in Status

In most cases, after you elect your before-tax benefits for the new benefit plan year, you cannot make a change until the next benefit plan year. However, the IRS allows you to make changes to before-tax benefits at any time during the plan year if you experience a qualified change in status. The before-tax benefits are:

• Medical
  
• Dental
  
• Flexible Spending Accounts
  
• Optional Accidental Death & Dismemberment.

To be eligible to make qualified status changes to your before-tax benefits, all three of the following must occur:

• You experience a qualified change in status
  
• Your change in status causes a gain or loss of eligibility for a Vought Aircraft plan, your spouse's plan, or your dependent's employer's plan
  
• Your new election corresponds to the gain or loss of coverage (for example, if you have a baby or get married, you can change your coverage category to add your new dependent).

You have 31 days from the date of the event to call the Vought Benefits Center and make your benefit changes. If you do not make your changes within 31 days, you must wait until the next Annual Enrollment.

Special Enrollment Periods Provided Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

If you waive medical coverage for yourself or your dependents (including your spouse) during enrollment because you or they have other health insurance coverage, and then you or they lose that coverage, you may be able to enroll yourself or your dependents in a Vought Aircraft medical plan option before the next Annual Enrollment. Specifically, you may enroll in a Vought Aircraft medical plan option within 31 days of the date you or your dependents:

• Lose eligibility for coverage under another group health plan
  
• Lose the employer contribution toward another group plan's coverage, or
  
• Exhaust COBRA coverage (your COBRA coverage ends, but not because you failed to make the premium payment).

Once you enroll, your coverage is effective retroactive to the date you lost coverage.

After-tax Benefits - Governed By the Particular Plan

After you elect your after-tax benefits for the new benefit plan year, you may be able to make changes during the year, depending on the terms of the particular plan.

Enrolling During Annual Enrollment

Each year you have an opportunity to reassess your benefit choices and, if necessary, to make changes during Annual Enrollment. Any changes you make remain in effect for the following benefit plan year - from July I to the following June 30.

Several weeks before Annual Enrollment, Vought Aircraft makes information available to help you decide if you want to make changes to your benefits.

• If you do not want to make any changes ... you do not have to re-enroll. The benefits from the previous benefit plan year ­- including your Flexible Spending Accounts - remain in effect. Even though you may not want to make changes, your options may change from year to year, so it is important to review your Annual Enrollment materials each year.
• If you do want to make changes ... simply follow the instructions provided in your enrollment materials.

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SELECTING YOUR COVERAGE CATEGORY

When you elect your optional benefits, you also elect your coverage category (the number of dependents you want to cover). You can choose from the following coverage categories:

• Employee only
  
• Employee + child(ren)
  
• Employee + spouse
  
• Employee + family (employee,
  child[ren], and spouse)
  
• No coverage.

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YOUR COST FOR COVERAGE

Each benefits option has a cost associated with it - your cost to purchase coverage under that option. That amount is your cost per pay period to purchase that benefit. Generally, the higher the level of coverage you choose, the higher the cost. Your cost for coverage varies, based on your coverage category. Each year during Annual Enrollment, your enrollment materials provide your cost for each benefit option available to you.

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BEFORE-TAX VS. AFTER-TAX: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

There are certain benefits you purchase on a before-tax basis and others you purchase on an after-tax basis.

With before-tax payroll dollars, you pay for medical and dental coverage, optional AD&D insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts for dependent care and out-of-pocket health care expenses. With after-tax dollars, you pay for optional long-term disability, optional life insurance for yourself (for amounts that exceed $50,000), optional life insurance for your spouse, optional life insurance for your child(ren), and group legal.

When you purchase benefits with before-tax dollars, you pay for your coverage before federal and Social Security taxes are deducted from your paycheck – and, at some locations, before state and local taxes are withheld. In other words, you pay for these benefits with tax-free money. This tax-free payment method can lower your taxable income, which then lowers your tax liability and increases your take-home pay. However, the tax savings also mean you may pay less into Social Security, and your Social Security benefit could be slightly reduced.

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