Short-term Disability Coverage

For complete information on coverage for Texas Income Protection Plan (TIPP) short-term disability insurance, please visit the TIPP website.

Monthly Benefit

  • Maximum: lesser of 66% of your monthly salary (capped at $6,600 per month for individuals making more than $10,000 monthly).
  • Minimum: not less than 10% of your income (occurs if you are receiving Worker’s Compensation, a disability retirement benefit, Social Security benefits, or other disability benefits)

Coverage Period 

Benefits are paid to you for up to 5 months.

Enrollment

  • You can enroll in this plan during your Hire or Rehire event without evidence of insurability (EOI) and coverage would begin right away.
  • You can enroll in this plan during your first 31 days of employment without EOI and coverage would begin the first of the following month.
  • If outside your first 31 days of employment, you can apply through EOI if you have a qualifying life event (QLE) like birth or marriage and coverage will begin the first of the month following the approval or during Summer Enrollment and coverage will be begin September 1 or first of the month following the approval. 

Eligibility

  • Certified as totally disabled by an approved practitioner
  • Completed the waiting period
  • Approved for disability payments by third-party administrator. 

Waiting period

Before the plan begins to pay you benefits, you must use your sick leave balance (including extended sick leave, donated sick leave and sick leave pool) or finish a 30-day waiting period, whichever option is a longest. Sick leave use and waiting period run concurrently. However, you are not required to use your vacation or other annual leave.

Pre-existing Condition Clause

In the three months prior to the date coverage begins, if you have a medical condition for which you received:

  • medical treatment,
  • medical advice,
  • medical services or
  • prescription drugs or medicine.

Disability benefits for that specific condition would not be covered for the first six months of enrollment. After the six-month period ends, you must fulfill the waiting period before the plan begins to pay benefits.

If you receive disability payments from other sources, such as Social Security disability or Workers’ Compensation, TIPP benefit payments are reduced. 

You must file your disability claim within one year after the first day of your disability in one of two ways: online using the self‐service option on the TIPP website or call TIPP Customer Care.

For your convenience, ERS has made the historical plan documents available.