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Recently, you may have received a flyer from the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) announcing the FY19 Benefits Choice period. The Benefits Choice period is the time for employees to make changes to insurance plans and re-enroll/enroll in flexible spending accounts. It takes place from May 1-31.  

CMS has no immediate plans to implement increases in premiums for full-time employees. We will keep you informed as we learn of any changes to that plan. If you don’t plan to make any changes to your insurance plans or life insurance, you do not have to process a Benefits Choice event. Employees must re-enroll every year for the flexible spending plans. Below are other key highlights in benefit changes:

What is NOT changing

• Using the MyBenefits online enrollment platform
• Full-time employee health insurance premiums
• Employee salary ranges at which premiums are calculated
• Full-time employee dental insurance premiums
• Medical Care Assistance Plan (MCAP) rollover limit - $500
• Overall plan designs for medical, dental, and vision (includes co-pay/deductible amounts)
• Plan Administrators

What is changing

• Medical Care Assistance Plan (MCAP) annual amount increasing to $2,650 from $2,600
• Part-time employee health and dental insurance premiums
• Life insurance premiums are decreasing

MyBenefits Online Enrollment Platform

As a reminder, employees must now use CMS’s new online system for Benefits Choice. If you do not go online, your insurance coverage will remain the same. However, employees must re-enroll in flexible spending every year to continue the benefit.  Below are instructions for registering and logging into MyBenefits Marketplace. We have been informed that the site may be down due to the large volume of State employees logging in at one time. The state’s vendor has chosen to not place a message on the website indicating when the site is not working. Instead, the employee will see that his/her login isn’t working.  If this happens to you, please try again at a later time. If you continue to have login issues, please call the MyBenefits toll-free number at 844-251-1777. We recommend that you make your choices online as early in May as possible to avoid the high volume expected at the end of May.

 Initial Login/Registration

• Go to MyBenefits at MyBenefits.illinois.gov and click Login (upper right of screen).
• Look for the small text "Logging in for the first time? Register" and click Register (lower right of screen).
• Answer the Self-Registration questions.
  • Last 4 digits of your Social Security Number
  • Date of birth
  • Last name
  • First two letters of your first name          
  • Mailing address zip code
  • Enter the CAPTCHA code and click Continue
• Create your unique secure password and click Continue.
• Click view login ID to view your CMS-issued Employee ID Number (EIN) and save this number for future logins! Click Continue.
• Create your challenge questions (to be used if you forget your password).
• Accept the CMS disclaimer.

Processing a Benefits Choice Change

• Go to MyBenefits at MyBenefits.illinois.gov and click Login (upper right of screen) – must register first (follow instructions above) or call toll-free at 844-251-1777.
• Click on the check mark above ”Benefit Choice.”
• Add/remove any dependents. Hit modify, if applicable.
• Make any changes to your plans.
  • Reminder: You do not have to make changes to insurance plans if you want to keep everything the same.
  • MCAP and DCAP (flexible spending account) totals must be entered for the annual amount.  The maximum is $2,650 for MCAP and $5,000 for DCAP. The system should automatically re-adjust your total based on your pays per year.
• Once plan changes are made, hit next at the bottom right hand of the screen.
• Items that have been changed will be shown in blue font under “Personalize your benefits plan page,” section 3 “Finalize.“ Please note that if you re-enroll for MCAP or DCAP for the same amount, the change may not be reflected in blue.
• You will also see a warning code. This shows that the change is part of a Benefits Choice change.
• Once you are finished, click done. We suggest you print a copy of your confirmation page. Once you have fully processed your event, your check mark will turn green.
• Once you’ve made changes, you can go back into the Benefits Choice Enroll Now, Benefits Choice, and view that your Benefit Choice transaction is completed.
  • Please note: if you go into a processed event and click modify, you will need to re-process the entire event or the transaction will not be completed.

If you have any questions regarding MyBenefits, please visit our FAQ page: or email benefitshr@siue.edu.