Parent/Child Benefits
For those expecting to expand your family in the near future, congratulations! Whether you are having a baby or becoming a parent through adoption, a new child brings a lot of changes. Purdue’s goal is to help you and your family welcome the new addition with our family-friendly benefits for parents and children.
Anthem, Purdue’s medical plan administrator, can help you navigate insurance and childbirth costs. Additionally, other resources and benefits such dependent care FSAs offered by HSA Bank, paid parental leave and more are available.
The following are available to help you and your family:
For all Purdue health plans, if you are in-network the hospital/doctor is responsible for any pre-certification process. If you are out-of-network, you are responsible for any pre-certification process. To learn more about your coverage see the Plan Summaries and Plan Booklets on the Medical Coverage web page for coverage details.
The Anthem website or Sydney Health mobile app, lets you access your plan information at your fingertips. With the member-friendly website or mobile app, you can check a claim, find a doctor, or keep track of your out-of-pocket costs.
Additionally, Anthem representatives are available to assist you with your plan. Call 855-502-6365 to reach a representative at the Purdue University Service Center at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Welcome to Building Healthy Families, a wellness program available to support growing families. Anthem’s all-in-one program is designed to help each unique family as it grows in its own way. Offering personalized, digital support through Anthem’s Sydney™ Health mobile app or via anthem.com at no extra cost to you, the hub offers an extensive collection of tools and information. Building Helping Families can help your family grow strong whether you're trying to conceive, expecting a child or currently raising young children. Through the program, you have access to tools to help you stay organized, health and wellness expertise for you and your family, personalized pregnancy support (if applicable) and much more. More information is available here as well as on Anthem’s Building Healthy Families website.
Adding a new child to your household – through birth or adoption – qualifies as a change in family status, which means you can update your benefit elections outside of the annual open enrollment timeframe. You have 30 days following the birth or adoption to add the child to your medical, dental, vision and life insurance plans. To make benefit changes, sign on to Benefitfocus, Purdue's online benefits system. Select “Life Event Enrollment Changes” from the right-hand column. Once this has been processed and other necessary documentation has been received, the family status change will cover expenses as per plan guidelines back to the birth or adoption date.
Learn more about a qualifying life event/change in family status benefit change here.
HSA Bank, Purdue’s funding accounts advisor, offers Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (DCFSAs), which can be used for eligible expenses for children under age 13 or adult dependents incapable of self-care. Eligible expenses include Au Pair services, babysitting, childcare and more. For more details on eligible expenses, review IRS Publication 503 - Child and Dependent Care Expenses.
Purdue employees may contribute up to the IRS maximum of $2,500 if single or married, filing separately or $5,000 if married, filing jointly for the calendar year to a DCFSA.
You may manage your DCFSA (e.g., check your balance, reimburse yourself for eligible expenses paid out-of-pocket, pay a bill) online at www.hsabank.com or on the HSA Bank mobile app.
For details on DCFSAs, see the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCSFA) web page.
Paid parental leave (PPL) is part of your Purdue leaves/time off/disability benefit. PPL provides parents additional flexibility and time to bond with their new child, adjust to new family situations and balance professional obligations.
Eligible employees receive up to 240 hours (6 weeks) if employed by the University for at least one continuous year, half-time or more, in a benefits-eligible position. If both parents are employed by the University, each parent may receive up to 240 hours of paid parental leave.
Additional details on your leaves/time off/disability benefits are available here.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) went into effect June 27, 2023, and on April 15, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued its final regulation to carry out the law. The final regulation became effective June 18.
PWFA mandates that employers provide reasonable accommodations to a qualified applicant’s or employee’s known limitations related to, affected by or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. The PWFA does not replace federal, state or local laws that are more protective of workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. More information is available here.
Since 2008, Purdue University has been proud to join hundreds of employers across the United States in providing support for their employees and attending students who are breastfeeding mothers. Research has shown that employer-based lactation support programs decrease employee sick time and increase employee productivity, retention and satisfaction.
Through the Lactation Support Program, Purdue University Human Resources provides an information packet for expecting mothers, lactation spaces for breastfeeding and resources to help employees and students be successful in their transition back to work or school after having and breastfeeding a child.
You can register for the program here. Registration is simple and free and also helps the program continue.
Learn more about lactation support resources here.