Open Enrollment

Open Enrollment is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Log in to the Employee Self Service (ESS) portal to review information about your benefits under Employee Notifications. Your Notification will confirm your benefit eligibility and Benefit Group (A, B, C, D, or E). Your Benefit Group tells you which memo(s) you should read.
2. Follow the link in the Notification to this webpage. The Open Enrollment page is where you’ll find materials for the 2026 Plan Year, including the packet of memos specific to your Benefit Group and additional resources to help you make informed decisions about health, dental, and vision insurance. If after reviewing the Open Enrollment materials you decide you will not make any changes to health, dental, or vision insurance, you do not need to do anything else. If no changes are submitted, any existing enrollment(s) will continue automatically into 2026 at 2026 rates.
3. If you are planning to enroll in, change, or cancel health, dental, and/or vision insurance, follow the instructions on how to do so outlined the appropriate sections of this webpage, below.

Questions? 

Check out the 2026 Plan Year Open Enrollment FAQ page - new this year!

If your question isn't answered by the FAQ and your Payroll Clerk refers you to HR, please reach out to the Benefits Team at benefits@cityofmadison.com or (608) 266-4615.

To save resources and better serve our employees, the City has moved to providing Open Enrollment packets digitally.  A courtesy email will be sent on the first day of each Open Enrollment period to all employees with an email address on file in MUNIS. This email directs employees to log on to Employee Self Service (ESS) to view the Open Enrollment Notification, which provides relevant information (including Benefit Groups for Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance) and links to the Human Resources Open Enrollment webpage.

After you have confirmed your Benefit Group in the ESS Notification, please read and review the packet for your Benefit Group below:

• Group A: Permanent Full-Time (100% FTE) Employees: Health, Dental, Vision
  • This group also includes limited-term full-time and acting full-time employees, the Mayor, and the Municipal Court Judge
• Group B: WRS-Eligible Permanent Less than Full-Time Employees: Health, Dental, Vision
  • This group also includes WRS-Eligible Council Members
• Group C: Teamsters-represented Metro Transit Employees in Compensation Groups (CGs) 41 and 42 only: Health, Dental, Vision
• Group D: WRS-Eligible Hourly Employees: Health Only
  • This does not include CG 28 IATSE, as IATSE members do not participate in City's Health Insurance Program
• Group E: Non-WRS Permanent Less than Full-Time Employees: Dental and Vision only
  • This group also includes Non-WRS Council Members

Note: even if you are not making changes, make sure to read your memo(s). Premium rates for 2026 are included in the memo packet for your Benefit Group.

• If you are eligible for health insurance, be sure to also review the 2026 Health Benefits Decision Guide to find out what's changing in 2026.

If you do not want to make change(s) to existing health insurance coverage, no action is required. If no change(s) are submitted, your existing enrollment(s) will continue into 2026 at 2026 rates.

If you want to enroll in, make changes to, or cancel City health insurance for the 2026 Plan Year, you will need to submit a completed Health Insurance Application/Change Form to Human Resources in one of the following ways:

• Via in-person drop-off to HR at the following address:
       215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Ste. 261
       Madison, WI 53703
• Via interdepartmental mail (inter-d) to HR at MMB Ste. 261, Care of "Benefits"
• Via fax to (608) 267-1115
• Via email: Because all City emails are subject to open records requests, the Human Resources Department cautions against submitting confidential documents via email. If email is the only or best option available to you, you may choose to email your health form to benefits@cityofmadison.com from an email address on file for you with the City, using email encryption.

Reminders for returning health forms to HR:

• An ink signature is required for all hardcopy forms - typed signatures are not accepted.
• If you have any questions about your form, in-person drop-off is highly recommended.
• In all cases, HR needs to be in receipt of your health form by 4:30pm on Friday, October 31st. If you are close to the deadline, we recommend you avoid inter-d, as inter-d delivery from most agencies takes 1-3 days.
  • If your form is not received timely, you will be subject to the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) late Open Enrollment process; late Open Enrollment requests are subject to ETF approval or denial, and are not guaranteed.

What about online changes?

While online changes have been possible in previous years, ETF is currently in the process of transitioning to an improved benefits system, Benefitplace. They plan to implement the new system for local employers in March 2026. Due to this upcoming shift, ETF has scaled back support for myETF Benefits, and most employees can no longer access the system. For this reason, in 2025 all health insurance changes for the 2026 Plan Year must be submitted with paper/PDF forms.

Linked below are several pertinent resources as you consider making changes to health insurance during Open Enrollment. The most important resources are indicated in bold.

• Health Insurance Memo: The City's health insurance memo, also included in the packet for eligible Benefit Group(s)
• ETF 2026 Health Benefits Decision Guide: Please note that only the health and pharmacy benefit information applies to City employees
  • For a more detailed breakdown of the items in the coverage summary on page 4 of the Decision Guide, we recommend you review the 2026 Schedule of Benefits for Program Option 14.
  • For the most detailed breakdown of coverage information for all Group Health Insurance Program options through ETF, including for Program Option 14, we recommend you review the 2026 Uniform Benefits Certificate of Coverage.
• ETF's 2026 Health Plan Search: Includes provider directories, summaries, and contact information for all available plans
• City of Madison Open Enrollment FAQ: New this year, the Benefits Team has created an FAQ that pulls together the most common questions asked about Open Enrollment!
• ETF Program Option 14: Local Deductible without Dental - 2026 Plan Year: General information for our group health insurance Program Option via ETF
• Pharmacy benefit vaccination information: vaccinations are available at in-network pharmacies at no cost to participants
• ETF Video Library: Online benefits forums, on-demand videos, and other recorded or interactive resources from ETF, including resources about the 2026 Plan Year and Open Enrollment
• ETF's Notice of Privacy Practices
• ETF's Continuation of Coverage Rights (COBRA information)

Please see the packet for your Benefit Group (linked above in the "Benefit Group" drop-down section) for 2026 health insurance premium rates. Health insurance premiums are provided after the health insurance memo.

Employee contributions to health insurance premiums are deducted from the first paycheck of each month for the following month's coverage. For example, the employee contribution to the premium for January 2026 coverage will be deducted from the 12/05/2025 paycheck.

For more information on health premium increases for the 2026 Plan Year, please review ETF's FAQ on 2026 Premium Increases. The ETF FAQ also includes contact information for the Group Insurance Board (GIB), with whom participants in the Group Health Insurance Program can lodge formal comments and concerns. Information is also available in the City's Open Enrollment FAQ webpage.

If you do not want to make change(s) to existing dental and/or vision insurance coverage, no action is required. If no change(s) are submitted, your existing enrollment(s) will continue into 2026 at 2026 rates.

If you want to enroll in, make changes to, or cancel City dental and/or vision insurance for the 2026 Plan Year, you will need to make your change via the Employee Self Service (ESS) portal online. Paper/PDF forms are not accepted for dental/vision Open Enrollment changes, enrollments, or cancellations.

After logging in to ESS, instructions on how to submit Open Enrollment changes are available at the top of the Resource Menu in the upper-right corner, and are also linked below:

• Instructions for 2026 Dental/Vision Changes via ESS

ESS Security Update Reminder

In June 2025, the City implemented a second level of authentication for ESS logins. In addition to your username and password, ESS login now also requires employees to answer two security questions. If you have not yet set your security questions, you will be prompted to do so when you next log in to ESS.

Human Resources strongly recommends you attempt to log in to ESS early in the Open Enrollment period in case you need to reset your password or security questions. The reset process may take longer than you think, and missing the Open Enrollment deadline due to technical difficulties will not grant you a grace period.

Listed below are resources related to dental insurance.

• Dental Insurance Memo: The City's dental insurance memo, also included in the packet for eligible Benefit Group(s)
• Dental Insurance Coverage Summary (English): A summary of the City's group dental insurance benefits; also available in Spanish/en Español
• Dental Provider search function: Search for an in-network provider with DeltaDental
  • The PPO Network provides the greatest level of coverage
• City of Madison Open Enrollment FAQ: New this year, the Benefits Team has created an FAQ that pulls together the most common questions asked about Open Enrollment!

Listed below are resources related to vision insurance.

• Vision Insurance Memo: The City's vision insurance memo, also included in the packet for eligible Benefit Group(s)
• Vision Insurance Coverage Summary (English): A summary of the City's group vision insurance benefits; also available in Spanish/en Español
• Vision Provider search function: Search for an in-network provider with DeltaVision
  • We are in the Select Network
• City of Madison Open Enrollment FAQ: New this year, the Benefits Team has created an FAQ that pulls together the most common questions asked about Open Enrollment!