Death of an Active Employee

Life Insurance Benefits

The State of Iowa provides $20,000 ($50,000 for SPOC) of term life insurance for employees working 30 or more hours per week. The employee may also have elected additional supplemental life insurance coverage. The employee’s HRA can tell the beneficiar(ies) the amount of supplemental insurance elected, if any. The HRA will complete the employer section of the Group Life Insurance Claim form and give a Beneficiary Statement to each beneficiary.

Each beneficiary completes the form showing their current address(es), date(s) of birth, and Social Security Number(s). The completed Beneficiary Statement is returned to the HRA. The HRA will submit the entire claim, including a copy of the death certificate, to DAS-HRE for submission to the life insurance carrier.

Accidental Dismemberment Benefit

Certain losses of sight, speech, limbs, or fingers may be covered by the Accidental Dismemberment benefit. If you have a qualifying loss, your HRA will provide you with the forms that both you and your attending physician must complete. The completed forms are returned to the HRA. The HRA will submit the entire claim to DAS-HRE for submission to the life insurance carrier.

Health and Dental Insurance

Health and dental insurance will continue through the end of the month in which an active employee dies. The family members who were covered by the health and dental plans will be sent COBRA continuation information within two weeks of the decedent’s last pay check.

Family members may be eligible for COBRA up to a maximum of 36 months. Email [email protected] for assistance.

Deferred Compensation

If the decedent was a participant in the state’s deferred compensation program (Retirement Investors’ Club or RIC), the beneficiary should contact a RIC team at [email protected] or 866-460-4692 for additional information.

Workers' Compensation Benefits

In the event of death due to an injury or illness covered under Workers' Compensation, please direct any questions regarding Workers' Compensation benefits to the Iowa Department of Administrative Services Workers' Compensation Coordinator at (515) 414-6212.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

If the decedent has funds remaining in a health or dependent care FSA, the options depend on whether the funds are in the health FSA or dependent care FSA.

For health FSA, a spouse or eligible dependent may continue to incur eligible expenses up to the end of the month in which the decedent had coverage. Claims may be filed through April 15th of the following year. A spouse or eligible dependent may continue coverage in the health FSA under FSA COBRA provided through the vendor ASIFlex. Continuation is only available if on the date of the employee’s death, the remaining potential annual benefits under the health FSA are greater than the remaining contributions. 

Contributions to the health FSA under FSA COBRA are made on a post-tax basis. 

For the dependent care FSA, the decedent’s spouse, one of the decedent’s dependents, or a representative of the decedent’s estate may submit claims for eligible expenses or benefits for the remainder of the plan year or until the account balance is exhausted. Contact the FSA Program Administrator at [email protected] if you have questions.