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Clinical Faculty Benefits Guide

Clinical Faculty Benefits Guide 2026-2027 | UF College of Medicine Human Resources

This guide has been designed to assist our Clinical Faculty with understanding the rich benefit program that the State of Florida, University of Florida, and College of Medicine (COM) has to offer.

UF College of Medicine Human Resources
Email: HR@comfs.ufl.edu
Website: https://hr.med.ufl.edu/

1. Employee Benefits and Retirement Overview

If you are covered under your spouse’s benefits either through UF or another employer, you may choose to waive coverage. Please contact COM HR if you need assistance.

For salaried employees working fewer than 0.75 FTE: You are eligible to participate in all plans offered under the State of Florida / PeopleFirst upon hire, but pay a prorated share of the health and life insurance employer premium based on the FTE, plus the employee share. Contact the COM-HR team for assistance with calculating the monthly premiums.

Employee Benefits Overview – Clinical Faculty

Benefit Provider / Coverage Effective Date Who Pays Premium Enrollment (within 60 Days of Hire) Page
Health Insurance GatorCare Premium (0.5-1.0 FTE) (employee + dependents) Date of Hire UFCOM UFSelect 2
Health Insurance PPO (FloridaBlue) or HMO (depends on county) 1st of the Following Enrollment Employee PeopleFirst (State Plans) 5
Life Insurance The Standard. $500,000 (0.75-1.0 FTE); $100,000 (0.5-0.74 FTE) Date of Hire UFCOM Automatically Enrolled 3
Accidental Death & Dismemberment The Standard. $150,000 (0.75-1.0 FTE); $50,000 (0.5-0.74 FTE) Date of Hire UFCOM Automatically Enrolled 3
Disability Insurance The Standard. 60% of monthly salary, max of $15,000 pre-tax (0.75-1.0 FTE) Date of Hire UFCOM Automatically Enrolled 3
Dental Insurance Eagles Dental Date of Hire Employee UFSelect 2
Dental Insurance Ameritas, Cigna, Humana, MetLife, & Sun Life Financial 1st of the Following Enrollment Employee PeopleFirst (State Plans) 5
Vision Humana Date of Hire Employee UFSelect 2
Vision Humana 1st of the Following Enrollment Employee PeopleFirst (State Plans) 5
Legal Plan Preferred Legal Date of Hire Employee UFSelect 3
Supplemental Plans (Accident, Cancer, Disability, Hospitalization & Hospital Intensive Care) Aflac, Cigna, Colonial Life, New Era 1st of the Following Enrollment Employee PeopleFirst (State Plans) 6
Savings & Spending Accounts Chard Snyder: Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Account & Health Reimbursement Account 1st of the Following Enrollment Employee PeopleFirst (State Plans) 6

Note: If you have a qualifying status change (QSC) such as birth/adoption of a child, marriage, divorce, etc., please contact COM-HR at HR@comfs.ufl.edu for assistance in changing your benefits.

Retirement Options – Clinical Faculty

Program Effective Date UF Contribution Employee Contribution Page
403(b) Optional Retirement Plan (ORP). Select vendor within 90 days of hire. Date of Hire 5.14% (on 1st $26k of salary) 3% (pre-tax) 8
403(b) Academic Enrichment Fund (AEF), Fidelity Investments Date of Hire 5.14% (on remaining salary) 3% (pre-tax) 8
403(b) Plans & 457 Deferred Compensation Plan Upon Enrollment (begin/end anytime during the year) None Voluntary employee contribution up to IRS limit 9

2. UFSelect Insurances: GatorCare Premium

Dedicated GatorCare Representative
Phone: 352-733-9200
Email: GatorCareCSR@bcbsfl.com
Website: https://gatorcare.org/

The Premium plan offers you three network tier options:

GatorCare Premium network tiers

Tier Benefits
1 Benefits are services you receive from the GatorCare Network, which includes hospitals, physicians and providers in Gainesville and Jacksonville. Tier 1 benefits offer the best value, with lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.
2 Benefits apply when you receive services from Florida Blue’s Network BlueOptions providers, which typically result in higher out-of-pocket costs. When using Tiers 1 and 2 for wellness and preventive care, annual physicals and labs are offered with no out-of-pocket expense to you.
3 Benefits apply when you receive services from an out-of-network provider; you still have coverage, but may be billed for the difference between the provider’s charge and the allowed amount.

GatorCare health insurance monthly premiums are paid for by UF College of Medicine for all eligible employees and their dependents.

For additional information, review the plan documents at https://gatorcare.org/plans/com-gnv/.

For all additional insurances (dental, vision, life, etc.), see the College of Medicine Clinical Faculty Benefits and Additional Insurances resource. (Link the “Benefits and Additional Insurances” video/page here.)

Prescriptions are managed through Prime Therapeutics: https://gatorcare.primetherapeutics.com/

Domestic Partnership Coverage: COM Clinical Faculty are eligible for GatorCare plans regardless of whether they are covering a spouse or domestic partner. If you are not married but have been in a committed relationship with a domestic partner for at least six months, you may be eligible to enroll your partner in coverage. For assistance with enrollment, please contact the COM-HR team.

3. UFSelect Supplemental Plan

All pricing is specific to the individual employee. Please contact the provider for monthly premiums.

AD&D, Disability, and Life (The Standard)

  • As a clinical faculty member in the College of Medicine, you are provided with group term life insurance at no cost to you. Coverage amounts are based on your full-time equivalent (FTE) and include life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) benefits. Coverage becomes effective on your first day of employment.
  • Clinical faculty members working 0.75 FTE or higher are provided long-term disability insurance at no cost. This policy provides a tax-free monthly benefit equal to 60% of basic monthly earnings, up to a maximum of $15,000 per month. Coverage is effective on the first day of employment and includes a 180-day elimination period. This is a specialty own-occupation policy.
  • You also have the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your covered dependents, through both the UFSelect Plan and the State of Florida. Rates are age banded and based on your UF salary portion only.
  • You also have the option to purchase additional disability insurance for you through the UFSelect Plan. There are 30-day and 90-day plans to choose from and you are responsible for the monthly premium rates.

The Standard
Christine D’Angelo, National Accounts Consultant
Phone: 813-878-0283
Email: Christine.Dangelo@standard.com
Website: https://www.standard.com/

Preferred Legal Plan

Schedule of Benefits includes:

  • Divorce
  • Child Support, Custody and Visitation
  • Traffic Tickets / Suspended Licenses / DUI
  • Credit Repair
  • Loan Modifications / Foreclosures
  • Bankruptcy
  • Wills / Powers of Attorney / Living Wills
  • Revocable Living Trusts
  • Identity Theft Services
  • Buying or Selling a Home
  • IRS Issues
  • Landlord-Tenant Disputes
  • Probate
  • Garnishments
  • Civil Litigation / Small Claims
  • HOA / Condo Disputes
  • Immigration
  • Personal Injury
  • Criminal Defense
  • Domestic Violence
  • Car Accidents

Member Benefits include:

  • Free unlimited legal advice via phone consultation
  • Free review of legal documents (real estate contracts, lease agreements, court papers, etc.)
  • Free letters and phone calls on your behalf to third parties to resolve disputes
  • Free credit repair and settling of accounts in collection
  • Free identity theft protection and restoration
  • Free loan modification assistance and foreclosure defense
  • Free face-to-face initial consultations with local attorneys
  • Free wills for member and spouse or domestic partner (powers of attorney and living wills also available)
  • Free legal forms available through the Form Library (bills of sale, court forms, promissory notes, contracts, affidavits, etc.)

Preferred Legal Plan
Phone: 1-888-577-3476
Website: www.preferredlegal.com

4. How to Enroll in UFSelect

UF College of Medicine, UFSelect Enrollment Instructions.

  1. Log in to the myUFL System. Visit the myUFL system at my.ufl.edu. Enter your Gatorlink username and password. After you log into the portal, use the following navigation: Main Menu > My Self Service > Benefits > Benefits Enrollment.
  2. Access Your Open Event. Click the Select button next to the open event (for example, new hire, marriage, birth). Elections must be completed within 60 days from your event date, which is displayed on the page. In the fall, an event for Open Enrollment will also be made available. Elections made during Open Enrollment are effective January 1.
  3. Select Your Benefits. Click the Edit button next to each plan to review your coverage options and to add or remove dependents/beneficiaries if applicable. The “Election Summary” section displayed at the bottom of the page reflects any plan selections you make, along with the total biweekly costs.
  4. Add Dependent/Beneficiary Information. Select a plan to add or remove dependent information. For security, UF’s Privacy Office requires validation of your SSN and date of birth to complete the entry. On the dependent page you must enter the date of birth and SSN for each dependent, along with the required fields indicated by an asterisk. On life plans, your beneficiaries do not need the SSN. Missing dependent information will delay your coverage.
  5. Select Dependent Coverage / Assign Beneficiaries. After adding dependents, follow the hyperlinks on each page to return to your Enrollment Session. From the Dependent/Beneficiary list, you MUST select each person in order to enroll them in coverage or assign them as a beneficiary. Click the Update Elections button to store your selections and return to the Enrollment Summary page to review other plan options.
  6. Submit Your Enrollment Selections. Verify that your benefit selections are complete and accurate. Finalize your enrollment by clicking the Submit button. Coverage is assigned to begin on your event date (see Step 2). Once you click Submit, your elections are final and no other changes can be made.

Please note, you can save your progress by clicking the Update Elections button. After you click the Submit button, your selections are final and can only be changed during Open Enrollment or if you have a Qualified Event.

5. State of Florida Insurance: PPO & HMO Options

PeopleFirst Service Center
Phone: 866-663-4735, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET
Website: https://www.mybenefits.myflorida.com/health

State of Florida health plan comparison (network services)

Feature State PPO (Standard) State HMO (Standard) High-Deductible PPO High-Deductible HMO
Coverage Area Entire U.S. / Worldwide HMO Service Area Entire U.S. / Worldwide HMO Service Area
Provider Any In-network Only Any In-Network Only
Pre-existing Condition Provision No No No No
Cost (Spouse / Individual / Family) $15 Spouse Program; $50 Individual; $180 Family $15 Spouse Program; $50 Individual; $180 Family Not available (Spouse); $15 Individual; $64.30 Family Not available (Spouse); $15 Individual; $64.30 Family
Calendar Year Deductible (Individual / Family) $250 / $500 $0 $1,400 / $2,800 $1,400 / $2,800
Office Visits (General / Specialist) $15 / $25 $20 / $40 20% after CYD 20% after CYD
Prescriptions $7 generic; $30 preferred brand; $50 non-preferred brand $7 generic; $30 preferred brand; $50 non-preferred brand 30% generic (after CYD); 30% preferred brand (after CYD); 50% non-preferred brand (after CYD) 30% generic (after CYD); 30% preferred brand (after CYD); 50% non-preferred brand (after CYD)

The state contributes $41.66/month for single coverage (up to $500/year) and $83.33/month for family coverage (up to $1,000/year).

  • * Comparison of Network Services only. (Non-Network is available for the PPO Plan, however it is more costly.)
  • ** Cost per month based on a full-time, 1.0 FTE employee.
  • *** Only after CYD (Calendar Year Deductible).

For all additional state insurances (dental, vision, life, etc.), see the College of Medicine Clinical Faculty Benefits and Additional Insurances resource. (Link the “Benefits and Additional Insurances” video/page here.)

For the Summary Plan Description (SPD), refer to: https://www.mybenefits.myflorida.com/myhealth/publications_and_resources

Spouse Program: If you and your spouse work for a State of Florida agency, you may be eligible to participate in the State’s Spouse Program. Contact the COM-HR team for enrollment assistance.

6. State of Florida Supplemental Insurance

All pricing is specific to the individual employee. Please contact the provider for monthly premiums.

Accident

Helps you pay the following types of expenses when injured during a covered accident:

  • Expensive medical treatment for broken bones and dislocations, or physical therapy.
  • Crutches, wheelchairs or other medical aids you may need as a result of your accident.
  • Copays and deductibles.

Provider: Colonial Life (Colonial Insurance Company), 888-756-6701

Cancer

Depending on the plan you choose, supplemental benefits for:

  • Cancer diagnosis and treatment, including certain screening tests.
  • Procedures and treatments you may require to care for your cancer.

Providers:

Disability

Helps supplement your income during short-term disability to help you pay the following expenses:

  • Mortgage or rent payments, utility bills and other household expenses.
  • Food, clothing and other necessities.
  • Copayments and health costs not covered under other plans.
  • Travel and lodging expenses for treatment.

Provider: Colonial Life (Colonial Insurance Company), 888-756-6701

Hospitalization

Daily cash payments when you are hospitalized.

Providers:

Hospital Intensive Care

Daily benefit for confinement in a hospital intensive care or a sub-acute intensive care unit.

Provider: Aflac (through Capital Insurance Agency), 800-780-3100

Flexible Spending Account

A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) lets you use pretax payroll deductions to pay for eligible healthcare and dependent care expenses, helping reduce your taxable income.

Provider: Chard Snyder Service Center, 1-855-824-9284. For more information, please visit https://www.chard-snyder.com/.

7. How to Enroll in State Insurance

State of Florida Enrollment Instructions, PeopleFirst Service Center, 1-866-663-4735.

  1. Log on to https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com. Note: Certain web browsers are not supported on this site. Disable the pop-up blocker on your browser before you begin.
  2. Enter your ID and password. User ID (7-digit ID number): You can obtain it by calling 866-663-4735 or by going to MyUFL.edu > Main Menu > My Self Service > My Benefits > PFID and Beneficiary. If you have not established a password before, use: PeopleFirstMMDDYYYY! For example, a 1/1/70 date of birth would be PeopleFirst01011970!
  3. Change your password and complete three security questions. Click the “Save and Logon” button to proceed with enrollment. Click on the People First Password Guidelines link and review. Passwords must follow the delineated criteria to be approved.
  4. Select the Change My Benefits link to begin your enrollment. You may view your benefits summary, premium history, dependent information, etc. by accessing the links on this page any time during the year.
  5. Select your qualifying event. This screen displays your event (hire, open enrollment, etc.) and your deadline to enroll in benefits.
  6. Register/validate eligible dependents if applicable. Name, birth date, social security number, etc. are required for each entry. This list is used later to attach dependents onto your plans. Detailed instructions can be found in the People First Dependent Certification Process guide. (If enrolling in individual coverage, skip this section and go to the next step.)
  7. Click Add to select a plan or Cancel to remove a plan. Select dependents for each plan if applicable.
  8. Verify your selections and any dependents if added. Coverage is assigned based on the payroll cycle. Health is the only plan that provides an option to request an earlier coverage date for new hires.
  9. Enter your password and click the Complete Enrollment button to finalize your elections. No other changes are permitted until the next open enrollment period or if you have a qualified event. Print the confirmation sheet for your records.

Note: Once you have enrolled in your benefits, your information will be transmitted to the vendor within 1-2 weeks of the effective date. If you need to access care and have not received your ID card, please contact People First at 866-663-4735.

8. Mandatory Retirement Plan

403(b) SUSORP: State University System Optional Retirement Program

  • For the portion of your salary funded from the State of Florida (usually $26K for full-time faculty), you will need to select one of the following companies to administer your Optional Retirement Program (ORP) account.
  • Employer contributions in the ORP are at the rate of 5.14% and a mandatory employee contribution of 3% will automatically be withdrawn from your salary.
  • Voluntary employee contributions are permitted up to 5.14% of biweekly earnings.
  • For the portion of your salary funded from the State of Florida, you ARE REQUIRED to elect one of the companies to administer your ORP account within 90 days of your hire date.

All four investment providers are approved and contracted under the State University Optional Retirement Program (SUSORP). Employees may confidently choose any of the available vendors. However, selecting a vendor and managing investment decisions is the employee’s responsibility.

COM Retirement Investment Providers (choose one):

  • CoreBridge Financial (AIG/Valic)
  • Equitable
  • TIAA
  • Voya

To enroll in your 403(b) State University System Optional Retirement Program, follow these steps:

  1. Contact an investment provider listed above and open an account.
  2. Email the completed Mandatory Optional Retirement Program Enrollment Form to UF Benefits at benefits@ufl.edu (without your SSN) within 90 calendar days from hire.

403(b) Academic Enrichment Fund (AEF)

For the portion of your salary funded from the Academic Enrichment Fund (AEF), you will work with Fidelity Investments to administer your AEF account.

Employer contributions in the AEF are at the rate of 5.14% and a mandatory employee contribution of 3% will automatically be withdrawn from your salary.

Voluntary employee contributions are not permitted to this plan.

For the portion of your salary funded from the Academic Enrichment Fund, an account will automatically open with Fidelity Investments to administer your AEF account.

9. Voluntary Retirement Plan

403(b) Plans & 457 Deferred Compensation Plan

The University of Florida offers voluntary retirement savings plans, the 403(b) and 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan, to help employees supplement their core retirement benefits. These optional, employee-funded plans allow you to contribute through payroll deductions on a pre-tax and/or Roth (after-tax) basis, subject to IRS limits. While there is no employer contribution, both plans offer valuable tax advantages and flexible investment options. Employees may contribute to one or both plans, and because each has separate IRS limits, participating in both can significantly enhance long-term retirement savings.

University of Florida 403(b) Plan (Tax-Deferred or After-Tax Roth), through Fidelity: https://hr.ufl.edu/benefits/retirement/plans/voluntary-403b/

457 Deferred Compensation Plan: https://www.myfloridacfo.com/DeferredComp/

Bureau of Deferred Compensation
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET
Toll-Free: 877-299-8002
Fax: 850-488-7186
Address: 200 East Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399
Email: DeferredCompensation@MyFloridaCFO.com

All contributions are subject to IRS guidelines. Please find current limits here: https://hr.ufl.edu/benefits/retirement/enrollment/plan-limits/

10. UF Leave

UF College of Medicine.

As an employee at UF, you are entitled to the following leave options. Leave accruals are prorated based on an employee’s FTE. Rates below are for 1.0 FTE, 12-month employees. Please speak with your supervisor regarding departmental leave policies and tracking processes.

Sick Leave

  • Full-time faculty members accrue 4 hours biweekly (roughly 13 days/year) of sick leave. There is no limit on total hours accrued. Sick leave must be earned before being taken.
  • There is no cash-out option for sick leave.
  • UF’s Sick Leave Pool is a way for employees to combine a portion of their individually accrued sick leave for collective use. Enrollment into the Sick Leave Pool occurs each October. More information: https://benefits.hr.ufl.edu/time-away/sick-leave/

Vacation Leave

  • Full-time faculty members on 12-month appointments accrue annual leave at the rate of 6.769 hours biweekly (roughly 22 days/year).
  • Upon resignation or retirement, an employee may have a lifetime cash-out up to 200 hours of annual vacation leave.

Paid Holidays

Full-time faculty members are eligible for 11 paid holidays each year. All full-time leave-accruing Academic Personnel, TEAMS, and USPS employees earn 8 hours of holiday pay as long as they are in pay status for a reasonable portion of their last regularly scheduled workday before the holiday. The holiday schedule is available at: https://benefits.hr.ufl.edu/time-away/holidays/

December Personal Leave

Full-time faculty members earn 4 additional days of leave which are credited to their account in December of each year. These days are typically used between December 26th and 31st. However, due to department staffing needs, these days will be available for use until the end of the current fiscal year (June 30th).

FMLA Leave (unpaid)

The University of Florida values its employees and recognizes the challenges employees can face when it comes to balancing work and personal responsibilities, particularly when those responsibilities are related to the employee’s own health and the health of loved ones. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. To be eligible for FMLA, you must have at least 12 months of employment with UF, worked at least 1,250 hours for UF during the 12 months prior to starting FMLA leave, and not exhausted your current entitlement.

Paid Family Leave

UF Paid Family Leave provides up to 8 weeks of paid family leave in a rolling 24-month period for full-time faculty and staff, as a mechanism to provide for work-life integration and protection against income loss in times of major life events. These 8 weeks count towards your FMLA entitlement. Employees can use this time in one of two ways:

  1. Parental: to cover absences related to parental leave (birth, adoption, fostering).
  2. Medical: a personal illness/injury, or an immediate family member’s illness/injury.

Employees are not required to exhaust their accrued leave in order to use this benefit.

Hospitalist positions are considered non-leave accruing appointments. As such, individuals in these roles do not earn vacation or sick leave and are not eligible for vacation leave cash-out or sick leave pool participation.

For questions regarding leave, please contact the UFHR Central Leave team at central-leave@ufl.edu or (352) 392-2477.

11. Wellness Benefits

Employee Assistance Program

University of Florida faculty, staff, graduate assistants, non-student OPS employees, housestaff/residents, and postdoc associates who live within the State of Florida, as well as their spouses or domestic partners, are eligible for six free counseling sessions (per presenting concern) with one of three dedicated therapists.

BabyGator

UF Early Childhood Collaboratory has three centers on campus that serve infants ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. Our centers are NAEYC accredited, offer VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten), and are school readiness centers.

Employee Education Program

The Employee Education Program, or EEP, is an opportunity funded by university resources that enables full-time eligible staff and faculty employees who have been employed in good standing for at least six months to receive tuition assistance for up to six credit hours of instruction per semester at the state university closest to their work location.