Thank you for your service to Merck. Whether you’re leaving for a new position or retiring, you have several important benefits decisions to make.
The information on this page is designed to help you with what you need to know and what you may need to do for a smooth transition.
If your employment is ending due to workforce restructuring, as a rebadged employee or an involuntary separation, please review our Separation Benefits Program (from a Merck device) for information.
A note about COBRA: If eligible, you may choose to continue the following coverages through COBRA for up to 18 months.
Please see each section below for more details.
Coverage for you and your covered dependents under Merck’s medical, dental and vision plans generally ends on the last day of the month in which your employments ends.
If you are subsidized retiree medical eligible (generally, at least age 55 with 10 years of post-age 40 service as of your termination date), your employee medical coverage will end at the end of the month following the month in which your employment ends. Please refer to the “Retiree medical plan” section below for more information.
If you are eligible, you will receive a COBRA notice from the Merck Benefits Service Center at Fidelity (Benefits Service Center) after your last day of employment.
You may choose to continue your Merck medical coverage (medical, dental and vision) through COBRA for 18 months at your own expense. Note: COBRA coverage may end early for many reasons. Refer to the section “Early Termination of COBRA Coverage” in the applicable summary plan description at onlinespd.com for details.
If you choose to continue your coverage through COBRA within the 60-day election period and make required payments in a timely manner, coverage will be retroactive to the day after your active coverage ended. There will be no lapse in coverage.
You can:
If you choose COBRA coverage, you have 60 days from the date of your COBRA notification to make your COBRA election.
Contact the Benefits Service Center at 800-666-3725 or netbenefits.com. Or, refer to the applicable summary plan description at onlinespd.com.
Your before-tax contributions stop on your last day of employment for both the health care and dependent care FSAs.
Health care FSA: If there is a balance remaining, you cannot incur additional health care expenses after your employment ends unless you enroll in COBRA. However, you can submit claims up until April 15 of the year after your employment ends. If you elect COBRA, you can continue participation on an after-tax basis and submit eligible expenses incurred through December 31 of the year in which your employment ends.
Note: While continuing coverage under COBRA, if you have money left in your health care FSA at the end of the year, you may carry over the balance to pay for eligible expenses the following year. However, you must incur those expenses during your COBRA continuation period; any funds remaining in your health care FSA after your COBRA continuation period expires must be forfeited.
Dependent care FSA: You may use any remaining money in your account to receive reimbursement of eligible expenses incurred through December 31 of the year in which your employment ends. Eligible claims must be submitted on or before April 15 of the year after your employment ends. There is no COBRA election for dependent care FSA, and any remaining balance will be forfeited.
You can:
If you are enrolled in the dependent care FSA, there is no COBRA election.
Submit eligible claims for both your health care FSA and dependent care FSA to Horizon BCBS by April 15 of the year following the year in which your employment ends.
If you choose COBRA coverage, you have 60 days from the date of your COBRA notification to make your COBRA election.
Contact Horizon BCBS at horizonblue.com/merckfsa or 877-663-7258. Or, refer to the applicable summary plan description at onlinespd.com.
To elect COBRA coverage for the health care FSA, contact the Benefits Service Center at 800-666-3725 or netbenefits.com.
All life, disability and other insurance coverage will end on your last day of employment, except where noted below. (If you are retiring, life insurance will end at the end of the month in which your employment ends.) See below for additional information.
When you end your employment with Merck, you can begin receiving a distribution from the 401(k) savings plan immediately or you can defer receiving a distribution to any later date, until you reach age 65. For more information, contact the Benefits Service Center at 800-666-3725 or netbenefits.com.
If you leave Merck with an outstanding loan, you will have the opportunity to repay any outstanding loan balance in full or set up an automated loan repayment arrangement with Fidelity. If you do not, your loan will be in default, which is generally a taxable event.
You must take action to repay or begin paying your loan within 60 days of your last day of employment or your loan will be in default.
If your account balance is $5,000 or more, you will not receive a distribution until you request one or you reach age 65, whichever is earlier. You may elect a single lump-sum distribution (which can be rolled over, in whole or in part, to an IRA or another employer’s qualified retirement plan) or installment payments.
If your account balance is less than $5,000 but more than $1,000, your account balance will be transferred to an IRA held by Fidelity as trustee.
If your account balance is less than $1,000, you will receive a lump-sum payment as soon as administratively possible.
For more information on distributions, see the U.S. Savings Plan summary plan description at onlinespd.com.
You may continue to reallocate your investments, but you may not receive a partial distribution or obtain a loan. You will be responsible for an annual recordkeeping fee. When you reach age 65, your account balance will automatically be distributed to you in a lump sum unless you are receiving installment payments or request to have it rolled over.
If you are eligible for, and have a balance in, the Supplemental Savings Plan, your account will be paid in accordance with plan terms. For more information, call the Benefits Service Center at 800-666-3725.
For information about the Merck pension plan benefits available to you, contact the Benefits Service Center at 800-666-3725 or online at netbenefits.com.
The earliest you can begin receiving vested benefits after your employment ends:
You may distribute your balance as soon as administratively feasible following termination regardless of age.
Note: Balances in Legacy OBS and Legacy Inspire plans may be distributed as soon as administratively possible following termination. Some Legacy OBS employees may have a pension benefit under a prior frozen plan. Contact the Benefits Service Center for details.
For more information, see the summary plan descriptions (SPDs) for the Merck Group Retiree Medical Plan and the Merck Retiree Health Reimbursement Account (HRA), available at onlinespd.com or by or contacting the Benefits Service Center at 800-666-3725.
Your current Merck medical coverage will generally end the last date of the month following the month in which your employment ends. At this time, you will be generally eligible for retiree medical coverage under the Merck retiree medical plan for yourself and your eligible dependents if you have reached age 55 and have at least 10 years of service after age 40 by the date your employment with Merck ends.
The Merck retiree medical plan consists of two parts:
1. The Merck Group Retiree Medical Plan — Available to those retirees and their eligible dependents who are under age 65 or not Medicare-eligible. Once you and/or your dependent reaches age 65 and becomes eligible for Medicare, coverage under the Group Retiree Medical Plan component will end for the age 65 Medicare-eligible person.
2. The Merck Retiree Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) — Available to those retirees and their eligible dependents age 65 or older who have enrolled in medical and prescription drug coverage through Alight Retiree Health SolutionsTM (Alight). Alight provides personalized support to help you understand your options for coverage and choose a plan with benefits that are best suited for your health care needs. Note: If you were hired or rehired on or after April 1, 2022, you are not eligible for the Merck Retiree HRA; however, you can access Alight to enroll in a Medicare supplement and prescription drug plan.
If you and/or a covered dependent are eligible for Medicare, Medicare is primary and the Merck Group Retiree Medical Plan is secondary. If not already enrolled, the Medicare-eligible person must enroll in Medicare Parts A and B immediately upon your termination of employment to avoid a gap in coverage, Medicare late enrollment penalties and possible underwriting for Medicare supplemental coverage. The Medicare-eligible person must pay the Medicare required premiums in addition to the contribution payable to Merck for coverage under the Merck Group Retiree Medical Plan.
For more information, see the Merck Group Retiree Medical Plan SPD at onlinespd.com.
Generally within two weeks after your last day of employment, you will receive enrollment details from the Benefits Service Center. Review the information you receive carefully. If you do not make an election, you and/or the eligible dependents that you covered on the date your Merck employment ended (provided they are still an eligible dependent) will be automatically enrolled when your active coverage ends, as follows:
| On the day your Merck employment ends, you and your covered dependents are enrolled in… | …you and/or your covered dependents will be e |
|---|---|
| Merck PPO — Horizon BCBS | 80/70 PPO Core — Horizon BCBS |
| Health Plan Plus Hawaii HMO | 80/70 PPO Core — Horizon BCBS |
| No coverage | No coverage |
You have 30 days from the date you are automatically enrolled to change your medical plan option, add eligible dependents or drop covered dependents from your coverage. For complete details, see the Merck Group Retiree Medical Plan SPD at onlinespd.com.
Once you and/or your eligible dependents become age 65 and Medicare-eligible, the age 65 Medicare-eligible individual is not eligible to participate in the Merck Group Retiree Medical Plan. However, if you were hired or rehired prior to April 1, 2022, and are eligible for subsidized retiree medical coverage under the Merck retiree medical plan, the age 65 Medicare-eligible individual may be eligible to enroll in the Merck Retiree HRA.
To be eligible to enroll in the Merck Retiree HRA, the age 65 Medicare-eligible individual must first enroll in Medicare Parts A and B and then enroll and maintain enrollment in medical and prescription drug coverage supplemental to Medicare through Alight Retiree Health Solutions. The age 65 Medicare-eligible individual is responsible for paying the premiums required for Medicare and the medical and prescription drug coverage supplemental to Medicare purchased through Alight Retiree Health Solutions. Note: Changes to your coverage must be made through Alight Retiree Health Solutions. If you make plan changes directly through the insurance company, it may impact your Merck Retiree HRA eligibility.
Once the age 65 Medicare-eligible individual is eligible for Alight Retiree Health Solutions, they will receive an education kit (approximately 90 days prior to turning age 65, or as soon as administratively possible) from Alight Retiree Health Solutions that includes an appointment date and time and the Merck Retiree HRA amount (if applicable). The scheduled appointment is to meet with an Alight Benefits Advisor who will help you with your enrollment into a medical and prescription plan. Note: The appointment must be confirmed or rescheduled; otherwise, it will be cancelled.
For additional details, please review this flyer.
Your participation in the following benefits and programs ends on the last day of employment unless otherwise noted.
The benefits on this page are not intended for members of the United Steelworkers Union Local 10-00086. See Terms of Use for more details.
Don’t forget to join the Alumni Network to stay connected. Need to verify your employment with Merck? Have the inquiring organization (e.g., mortgage company, governmental agency, etc.) contact The Work Number from Equifax at theworknumber.com or 800-367-2884 (company code: 36098).
COBRA coverage may end early for many reasons. Refer to the applicable summary plan description for details.
Tip! Even though you may have a remaining balance, if you’ve already been reimbursed up to at least the amount you contributed through payroll deductions by your termination date, it might not be worthwhile to elect COBRA since payments are made on an after-tax basis.
If you are enrolled in the no coverage option under the group retiree medical plan when you become age 65 and Medicare-eligible, your choices for coverage through Alight Retiree Health Solutions may be limited. For example, you may be subject to underwriting and you may not be able to enroll in Alight Retiree Health Solutions until the next Medicare Open Enrollment period, which may result in a gap in your coverage, increased Medicare premiums and Medicare late enrollment penalties if not enrolled elsewhere. If your eligible dependents are not enrolled for coverage under the group retiree medical plan when they become age 65 and Medicare-eligible, their choices for coverage through Alight Retiree Health Solutions may be limited and they may be subject to similar adverse consequences if they are not enrolled elsewhere.
Important information about enrolling a dependent into Alight Retiree Health Solutions: If your eligible dependent is currently enrolled in the no coverage option under the group retiree medical plan and you want to enroll your dependent into Alight when they reach age 65 and become Medicare-eligible, you must first contact the Benefits Service Center. The Benefits Service Center will register your dependent with Fidelity and have the eligibility information forwarded to Alight Retiree Health Solutions. Failure to do this could jeopardize your dependent’s eligibility for the Merck Retiree HRA.