5-minute read

Disability insurance can offer protection and peace of mind

Illness or accidental injury can strike anyone, at any time. Being young and healthy doesn’t necessarily protect you from disability. In fact, more than one out of four people, currently in their twenties, will become disabled before they retire and most of us can’t afford a few months without a paycheck. The Texas Income Protection Plan^SM (TIPP) is disability insurance that can help cover bills and everyday expenses if you become disabled for a period of time.

What is disability insurance?

TIPP offers short-term and long-term disability insurance that protects your income by paying a percentage of your paycheck if you become disabled and can’t work due to a medical illness, injury, pregnancy or childbirth. TIPP is an optional benefit and is only available to active employees, who apply to enroll in one or both plans.

TIPP is administered by Alight Solutions (formerly ReedGroup).

How it works

Using your sick leave

If you have sick leave available to you, you must use all of it before you can collect TIPP disability insurance payments. This includes extended sick leave, donated sick leave and sick leave pool. If your sick leave days exceed the TIPP waiting period, you must use all the sick leave before you can get TIPP benefits.

Example:

• If you have TIPP short-term disability coverage and 45 days of sick leave, you cannot collect short-term disability payments until you’ve used all 45 days of sick leave.
• If you have TIPP long-term disability coverage and 200 days of sick leave, you cannot collect long-term disability payments until you’ve used all 200 days of sick leave.

You do not have to use annual (vacation) leave or any other available leave.

The Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) and TIPP do not manage leave hours. For questions about your leave hours, please contact your agency’s or institution’s HR department or benefits coordinator.

Pre-existing conditions and other exclusions

You should review TIPP’s documents before applying for disability insurance. Only active employees at participating state agencies and higher education institutions can enroll. TIPP coverage is not available to family members. Pre-existing conditions are subject to certain exclusions. If you drop your TIPP coverage, you won’t be able to re-enroll unless you provide evidence of Insurability (EOI) during Summer Enrollment or within 31 days of a qualifying life event, or if you become a new hire.

Upcoming and recent TIPP enhancements

In response to a decline in short-term disability claims, ERS has made certain program enhancements for TIPP to continue to support the financial security and overall well-being of employees and their families.

These changes will provide added flexibility related to when employees can access benefits, without increasing premium rates.

Short-term disability waiting period

Starting Sept. 1, 2024, the waiting period before short-term disability benefits begin will reduce from 30 consecutive days to 14 days. This change can help participants begin receiving disability payments sooner, especially those with limited sick leave.

State agency paid parental leave coordination with TIPP short-term disability insurance

Texas Senate Bill 222 became effective in 2023, providing paid leave to eligible state agency employees who are parents of new children. In response to this legislation, ERS has clarified that new mothers participating in TIPP short-term disability insurance do not have to exhaust paid parental leave before they can start receiving short-term disability payments for an eligible maternity claim.

However, they still have to complete the disability waiting period or exhaust all available sick leave, whichever is longer. TIPP coverage will not apply if available sick leave lasts longer than the Maximum Benefit Period.

Note: Paid parental leave under SB 222 is available to an eligible state agency employee—woman or man—who has a newborn or newly adopted child. TIPP disability payments for a maternity claim are available to a woman who:

• works at participating state agency or higher education institution,
• has TIPP coverage,
• is pregnant and/or gave birth, and
• completed the waiting period and/or used all sick leave.

ERS does not administer paid parental leave. To learn if you are eligible for paid parental leave, contact your human resources department.

Cost for Plan Year 2025

How to apply for TIPP disability insurance

Take the following steps to apply for disability insurance during your two-week Summer Enrollment phase with these steps. Please note evidence of insurability is required and coverage is not guaranteed.

1. Log in to your ERS OnLine account at ers.texas.gov/my-account-login.
2. Select short-term and/or long-term disability coverage.
3. Complete the EOI process.

EOI is used to determine eligibility for disability coverage. You will receive instructions on how to submit your EOI application.

Want to know more?

Join TIPP representatives for an upcoming webinar to learn more about coverage and program enhancements!

You can register at the links below.

• Thursday, June 20, 3-4 p.m. CT
• Tuesday, July 9, 3-4 p.m. CT

You can also visit the TIPP website at www.texasincomeprotectionplan.com or call TIPP Customer Care toll-free at (855) 604-6230 (TDD - 711), Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. CT.