Lee County Government provides the following group insurance benefits to all eligible retirees. To determine your eligibility to participate in these programs, please contact your HR department at least 90 days prior to the date of your retirement. Please note that if at any time you decline to participate in any of these benefits, you will not be eligible to rejoin them at a later date, however you are able to switch between plans at open enrollment.

• Medical Coverage
• Dental Coverage
• Vision Coverage
• Voluntary Life Insurance Coverage ($5,000)

The Employee Benefits team provides assistance on a variety of retirement issues. If you need help understanding what your benefits include, or if you have questions about the DROP, retirement, or medical plans, please contact our office.

The Retiree Benefit Highlights Booklet provides a general summary of the benefit options as a convenient reference. Please refer to the plan summaries on each page for detailed information. If you need further explanation or assistance regarding claims processing, please refer to the customer service phone numbers within the Benefits Guide.

Retiree Open Enrollment takes place annually in the fall of each year. To ensure you receive all your open enrollment materials, please make sure we have your current contact information by calling 239-533-2245 or by emailing benefits@leegov.com. As a reminder, if you need to update your address, please make sure to do so both with Lee County Human Resources as well as the Florida Retirement System (FRS). 

2024 Retiree Benefits Guide

Eligibility:
Enrollment and participation in Medicare parts A and B are required for retirees to be eligible to participate in any Lee County Government group health insurance plan upon retirement. Lee County allows participation in group benefits to all eligible retirees, their legal spouses, and their legal dependents under the age of 26 for our Aetna Select and POS II plans as well as our Vision and Dental plans.  For participation in our Medicare Advantage Plan, all participants must be Medicare eligible.
Eligibility for Coverage from Age 26-30 and Affidavit of Dependent Eligibility:
 

At the end of the month in which a covered dependent attains the age of 26, he/she will no longer be eligible for coverage and will be dropped from all insurance plans.

The employee may elect to continue their dependent(s) coverage in the medical plan only and pay an additional premium for each dependent covered in the 26-30 age group. For the plan year 2024, that rate is $1,180 per month in addition to any other applicable tier of medical premiums.

The dependent(s) must meet the eligibility requirements, and an Affidavit of Dependent Eligibility (26-30 years old) must be completed for each dependent in order to continue coverage for that dependent. For employees who currently access this benefit, you must complete and verify dependent's eligibility each year during open enrollment. If your dependent is permanently disabled, please contact the Benefits team to discuss your options.

If you are adding a spouse or dependent(s) on any of your benefits, you will need to submit Legal Documentation at the time of enrollment. Please see below for acceptable documentation:

To add a Dependent:

• Birth Certificate
• Social Security Card
• Legal documentation for adoption, fostering, or court appointed guardianship
• Stepchildren: Marriage License, Birth Certificate and Social Security Card

Open Enrollment:

After your initial eligibility enrollment period, Open Enrollment is your only opportunity to make changes to your coverage, unless you experience a qualified change in status. Open Enrollment takes place every fall for a January 1 effective date for the following calendar year. Please make sure to look for email communications and instructions on when and how to make enrollment changes during the Open Enrollment period. Please make sure your contact information is up to date with our Benefits Team.

Qualifying Events:

A "Qualifying Event" is when you experience a change in your situation — like getting married, divorced, having a baby, or losing health coverage — that can make you eligible for a Special Enrollment Period, allowing you to enroll in health insurance or make eligible changes in enrollment outside of the yearly Open Enrollment Period.

"Qualifying Event" includes but is not limited to:

• Marriage, divorce, or annulment.
• The birth or adoption of a child.
• The death of your spouse or child.
• A change in the number of your dependents.
• A change in employment status for you, your spouse, or your dependent that results in a change of insurance eligibility.
  

If you experience one of these events, please contact the Benefits Team immediately. A qualifying event must be reported within 60 days of the date of the event. It is your responsibility to notify the Benefits team and provide required paperwork within this timeframe.

Please note: A divorce changes the eligibility for your spouse to participate in Lee County benefits. If your divorce decree states that you must maintain coverage for your spouse, you still need to contact Benefits within the timeframe above in order to avoid any penalties. If benefits continuation is mandated for your spouse via the final dissolution of marriage, benefits for divorced spouses will need to be maintained through COBRA at the COBRA rate.

Failure to report a qualifying event or change in eligibility timely will result in a reversal of claims, which will become your financial responsibility. Additional penalties may apply.

New additions to our plans as a result of a qualifying event will not be allowed past the required qualifying event reporting period.

Please notify Benefits immediately and complete the Qualifying Event Enrollment Packet.

You can find all of the plan design and coverage summaries for Lee County Retiree benefits below

2024 Lee County Open Access Aetna Select Plan Design

2024 Lee County Open Access Aetna Select Summary of Benefits & Coverage

2024 Lee County Aetna Choice POS II Plan Design

2024 Lee County Aetna Choice POS II Summary of Benefits & Coverage

2024 Medicare Advantage Plan Information Guide

2024 Lee County Medicare Advantage Plan Summary of Benefits 

Medicare Advantage Plan Presentation (Prerecorded Video)

Medicare Advantage Plan Presentation (PDF) 

Medicare Overview by Aon (Prerecorded Video)

2024 Lee County Dental Benefit Summary 

2024 VSP Summary (High and Low Plans)

2024 Voluntary Life Coverage Highlights

2024 Retiree Rates with Subsidy

2024 Retiree Rates No Subsidy

2024 Aetna Medicare Advantage Plan Rates Subsidy

2024 Aetna Medicare Advantage plan Rates No Subsidy

If you have questions about your current plans or plan options, please contact the Lee County Benefits Department at 239-533-2245 or benefits@leegov.com.

If you do not want to make any changes to your benefits and wish to keep everything the same as they currently are, you do not need to complete and return the enrollment form, your elections will stay the same in 2024.

If you do wish to make changes, please submit the 2024 Benefit Election Form on page 4 of the mailed letter you receive, to Lee County Human Resources, no later than 5:00 PM, Friday, October 13, 2023.

We also ask that if you participate in our voluntary retiree life plan, that you please update your beneficiary form with us annually. You will find the beneficiary form below as well as enclosed with the mailed letter you will receive.

Life Insurance Beneficiary Form

If you currently participate in Life Insurance and wish to drop your coverage, please fill out the Life Insurance Drop Form. Please note if you leave the plan, you will not be able to reenroll at a later date. You will find the Life Insurance drop form below as well as enclosed with the mailed letter you will receive.

Life Insurance Drop Form

• Return required forms in person or by mail: Human Resources Benefits, 1825 Hendry Street, Suite 200, Fort Myers, FL  33901
• Fax:  239-485-2052
• Scan & Email: Benefits@leegov.com 

As a reminder, if you need to update your address, please make sure to do so both with Lee County Human Resources as well as FRS. You may update your contact information with Lee County here: 

Contact Information Update Link

You can also find a copy of our Creditable Coverage Memo and Notice below. These will also be included in the mailing you receive.

Cover Memo Creditable Coverage Retiree

LCBOCC Creditable Coverage Notice

Enrollment Questions:

Camilla Smith
Senior Benefits Specialist
239-533-2245
benefits@leegov.com
1825 Hendry Street, Suite 200 Fort Myers, FL 33901

MAP Claims Questions:

888-267-2637

Aetna Claims Questions:

Jim Cotter
Dedicated Lee County Aetna Representative
239-533-0829
CotterJ@Aetna.com

The Employee Benefits team provides assistance on a variety of retirement issues. If you need help understanding what your benefits include, or if you have questions about the DROP, retirement or medical plans, please contact our office.