Health Care

If you are eligible and interested in enrolling in a retiree medical plan, this is done through the Seattle Department of Human Resources (SDHR) Benefits Unit.

  • SDHR Benefits Unit requires that enrollment happen thirty days prior to your last paid work day.
  • We provide an SDHR Benefits Unit packet of enrollment information at the retirement appointment, but it is your responsibility to contact the SDHR Benefits Unit soon enough to meet their deadlines.
  • If you or your spouse are sixty-five or older, you must be enrolled in Medicare Part A and B prior to enrolling in a retiree medical plan.

Please direct health insurance plan questions to SDHR Benefits Unit.

Phone:     206-615-1340

Email:      benefits.unit@seattle.gov

Mail:        City of Seattle - SDHR, Benefits Unit

               PO Box 34028

               Seattle, WA  98124-4028

Drop-off: Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Avenue, 54th Floor

When you retire, you may continue self-paid medical coverage through the City of Seattle by electing COBRA or one of the retiree health plans.

If you are eligible (retire as an active City of Seattle employee) and would like to sign up for retiree medical coverage, you must enroll thirty days before your retirement date to avoid a break in coverage.  Review the packet of options provided at your retirement appointment and submit the paperwork to the SDHR Benefits Unit or contact them to enroll.

At your retirement appointment, you will also receive an application and informational letter about dental coverage available through Delta Dental.  If you wish to apply, you must complete the application and mail it with a check for two months' premiums to the address listed on the information page prior to your retirement date.

If you or your spouse/partner are sixty-five or older, you must be enrolled in Medicare Part A and B before your retirement date to avoid a break in coverage and to remain eligible for these plans.

If you waive retiree medical insurance and later involuntarily lose employer-sponsored group coverage, you may apply for coverage under a City plan.  You will need to provide proof of continuous employer group coverage to enroll in a City-sponsored plan.

If you are re-employed by the City of Seattle as a benefit-eligible temporary employee, you can re-enroll in the active plan and suspend enrollment in the retiree medical insurance.

If you are retired and not yet sixty-five years of age, shortly before you turn sixty-five you will receive a letter from the SDHR Benefits Unit explaining that since you will be eligible for Medicare Part A and B, your City retiree medical plan coverage will be discontinued.  You will also be given the opportunity to enroll in one of the City's Medicare Advantage Plans, which supplement Medicare.

The City gives annual notices about changes in health care coverage during open enrollment, in the fall of each year.

To make any changes to your coverage or to cancel your medical or dental coverage, please contact the SDHR Benefits Unit.