Who is Eligible for Benefits?
- Full time employees working 30 or more hours per week are eligible for all lines of coverage.
- Religious employees working full time are eligible for Medical, Dental, and Vision.
- Diocesan Priests are eligible for Medical, Dental, Vision, Priests Life Insurance, and Voluntary Life.
- Retired Diocesan Priests are eligible for Dental and Vision coverage.
- Working Spouse Eligibility: spouses are eligible to be covered under the health plan if they do NOT have medical coverage available to them through their employer
2026 Diocese of Columbus Benefit Guide
When Does Coverage Begin?
Employees become eligible for benefits the 1st of the month following date of hire. You must complete the enrollment process within 30 days of your date of hire or within 30 days of the date of your qualifying event.
Please visit our New Employee welcome page.
Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment is typically scheduled for two weeks in November each year.
This is your once-a-year opportunity to pick your plans or make changes to your existing coverage. The choices you make during Open Enrollment will become effective on January 1st of the benefits plan year and will remain in effect through December 31st of that plan year.
When you complete the open enrollment process, you can:
- Change your current coverage, if needed
- Enroll in benefits for the first time, if newly hired or newly eligible for benefits
- Update your dependent information
- Update your beneficiary information
Qualifying Life Event
Due to IRS regulations, you cannot change your elections until the next Open Enrollment period, unless you have a Qualifying Event during the year. The following are examples of the most common qualifying events:
- Marriage, divorce, or legal separation
- Birth of a child
- Adoption, foster placement, or guardianship of a child
- Change in employment status affecting eligibility
- Change in a dependent’s eligibility status
- Death of a dependent
- Gain or loss of other coverage
- Gain or loss of Medicaid/Medicare eligibility
- Receipt of a Qualified Medical Child Support Order
Please note that there are less common events that could also trigger a change. In the event you encounter one of these special circumstances, please reach out the Office of Human Resources.
The change you request must be consistent with the qualifying event. You are required to provide supporting documentation within 30 days of the event.
Important
To make changes to your benefit elections, you MUST notify HR within 30 days of the Qualifying Event (including newborns). Be prepared to show documentation of the event such as a marriage license, birth certificate, or a divorce decree. If changes are not submitted on time, you must wait until the next Open Enrollment period to make your election changes.