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Active employees covered by state insurance; Healthlink, Aetna Plans, HMO Plans, or Reliance Standard, the ACA Gap insurance, may view and print your 2017 1095C form once they are available through Banner Self -Service via CougarNet.  To use this feature, you first must provide electronic consent to receive the form this way. Accessing your 1095C through Banner Self Service allows you to view and print your 1095C as often as needed and helps the university keep mailing costs down.

In order to access your on-line 1095C, log into Banner Self Service via CougarNet and provide electronic consent.  This means you agree to print your 1095C from this site and you will receive it sooner than if it was mailed to you. We will have these ready by the end of this week.

After you log into CougarNet:

• select Employment,
• select Tax Forms,
• select W-2 and Electronic W-2 Consent,
• under Selection Criteria, check Yes to – I consent to receive 1095-C electronically.
• Then click on Submit.
• Select Return to Tax menu
• Under the Tax Forms menu, select the bullet point 1095 Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Statement.
• When the 2017 forms are ready, you’ll select 2017 and view & print the form from here.

If you do not provide consent to obtain your 1095C this way, your 2017 1095C will be mailed to you, postmarked by March 2, 2018.

If you have previously provided 1095C online consent and have not contacted us since to have it revoked, it is not necessary to provide consent again.  An email notification will be sent out when the 2017 1095C forms are available.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Benefits staff in Human Resources. 618-650-2190  

SURS Counseling Sessions

The State Universities Retirement System (SURS) Representatives will be on campus Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17 and 18, 2018, to meet with employees regarding retirement planning.  Appointments are available to employees who are within four years of retirement and meet the following minimum eligibility requirements:

• Age 55 and 8 or more years of service
• Age 62 and 5 or more years of service
• 30 or more years of qualifying service at any age

The ability to make an appointment will close on March 16, 2018.  A copy of the SURS appointment scheduling procedures can be found here.

If you meet the criteria to schedule a retirement counseling session with a SURS counselor, please follow the procedures below for Traditional and Portable participants.  Self-Managed plan participants do not need to complete a Retirement Request form:

• Go to www.surs.org
• Click on Member Login to view your home page. (You must log into your account first. This form is listed in the menu on the left as Retirement Counseling.)
• Once this Retirement Estimate Request form is completed and submitted electronically, you can contact SURS to schedule an appointment. This will only be done after the completed Retirement Estimate Request form is received by SURS.
• If the form has been faxed to SURS, you may call SURS the next working day to schedule the appointment.

You may also call SURS at (800) 275-7877 to request the Retirement Estimate Request form. It will be sent by SURS via U.S. mail to your home address or fax.  This form must be completed and returned to SURS.

This form asks you to provide:

• Anticipated retirement dates
• Current salary
• Future expected annual salary increases
• Other credits such as eligible purchases or reciprocal service
• Sick and vacation accumulations - SURS requests that you provide unused sick leave and vacation information if it is to be included in the annuity projections. SURS does not have access to SIUE records of sick leave and vacation accumulations. If you will have excess vacation and sick leave, you will be asked to provide an estimate of the amount of hours that will be paid out or used for service credit.  Vacation and sick leave guidelines are on the SIUE Benefits web pages: http://www.siue.edu/humanresources/benefits/vac-sick.shtml.  Payable, unused leave is typically paid the following payroll after retirement depending on your usage near retirement and when your department submits the hours to Benefits.

IMPORTANT: The accuracy of retirement annuity estimates depends on the information provided to SURS. The actual retirement annuity may vary from the estimates provided. Final benefit determination is pursuant to verified date and to the provisions of Chapter 40, Articles 1, 15, and 20 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes. An estimate request is not an application for retirement. Employees must submit a retirement application to SURS to initiate a retirement claim.

Please keep the following in mind when you schedule an appointment:

• Per SURS, you are limited to one counseling session (via phone or in-person with a SURS counselor) or a written estimate every 12 months. While eligible employees are allowed to meet with a counselor every 12 months, it is not necessary to schedule an appointment every 12 months unless the previous estimate information has changed significantly.
• If you have had a counseling appointment or retirement estimate prepared by SURS within the last 12 months, you must wait and may request another appointment one year after the last counseling appointment or retirement estimate.
• You may request up to 2 different dates for your potential retirement estimate with starting dates within the next 4 years. SURS cannot project a retirement benefit amount beyond the next 4 years.
• Everything discussed in the session is held in the strictest confidence and not shared with SIUE or the Benefits staff.
• These appointments are set on a very tight half-hour schedule. To maintain this schedule, SURS requests employees to be on time for the 30-minute appointment. Failure to arrive on time may require that you reschedule your appointment or forfeit your appointment with SURS.
• You are welcome to bring a guest to the retirement counseling session, if desired.
• If the appointment must be cancelled, you are encouraged to call SURS at (800) 275-7877 as soon as possible.
• A retirement estimate in no way commits you to retire on a date; it’s merely a projection to help you make a determination for a future retirement date.

Note: If you have participated in one of the Illinois reciprocal systems and plan to retire under the Reciprocal Act, the reciprocal service may apply to these years of service to meet the minimum qualification requirements.

For additional questions, please contact Human Resources at 650-2190.