Rates and Paying for Benefits

View Your Benefit Plan Rates on Wolverine Access

Your individualized monthly rates for all benefit plans for which you are eligible are available on Wolverine Access under Employee Self-Service > Benefits > Display Benefit Plan Rates. A uniqname and UMICH password are required. 

In addition, each plan section on this website includes rate information that will help you determine the amount of your deductions. If you have questions about rates, call the SSC Contact Center at 5-2000 from the Ann Arbor campus, (734) 615-2000 locally, or (866) 647-7657 toll free, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Faculty and Staff Health Plan Rate Estimator

Use the Health Plan Rate Estimator if you do not have uniqname or if you want to see how an appointment change might impact your monthly health plan rates. 

Benefit Plan Rates for Other Groups

Paying for Benefits

The university invests in you by contributing a significant amount toward the cost of your benefits. If you are a faculty or staff member, you pay any balance through automatic deductions from your pay. Your benefit costs are calculated on the first day of each month based on your employment status, plan and coverage level.

You are responsible for making sure your U-M paycheck is sufficient to cover the deductions for the benefits and coverage level you elect. You can view your appointment information, including your per pay period gross amount, on Employee Self-Service > Employment Information > View Appointment in Wolverine Access.

Payroll Deductions for Faculty and Staff

Pre-Tax or After-Tax Deductions

Certain benefits are paid for by payroll deduction from your salary on a pre-tax basis (before taxes are calculated).
The benefits plans with pre-tax deductions are:

  • Health Plan
  • Dental Plan
  • Vision Plan
  • Flexible Spending Account
  • Retirement Savings Plan (excluding Roth retirement savings plan options)

The plans with after-tax deductions are:

  • Legal Services Plan
  • Optional Group Term Life Insurance
  • Dependent Group Term Life Insurance
  • Long-Term Disability
  • Roth retirement savings plan options

Frequency of Deductions

If you are paid biweekly and you participate in U-M benefits plans, payroll deductions for plans for which you pay a premium will be taken from your first two paychecks each month. If there are three pay dates in a month, no benefits deductions will be taken from the third paycheck, except that retirement savings plan contributions will be taken from all paychecks if you are enrolled.

If you are paid monthly, payroll deductions for U-M benefits will be taken from each monthly paycheck.

Priority of Deductions

Deductions for benefit plans in which you are enrolled — for example, your share of the monthly premiums for medical, dental and other U-M benefits, and your contributions to Flexible Spending Accounts and Retirement Savings Plans — are automatically taken from your paychecks in this order: 

  1. Health Plan
  2. Legal Services Plan
  3. Dental Plan
  4. Vision Plan
  5. Life Insurance
  6. Long-Term Disability Plan
  7. Basic Retirement Plan
  8. Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
  9. Health Care Flexible Spending Account
  10. TIAA pre-tax Extra to Base Plan
  11. TIAA pre-tax SRA
  12. Fidelity pre-tax SRA
  13. 457(b) pre-tax
  14. Fidelity after-tax Roth SRA
  15. TIAA after-tax Roth SRA
  16. 457(b) after-tax Roth

Other Deductions Taken from Your Pay

In addition to deductions for your U-M benefits, it is important to note that you have other deductions taken from your pay. It is critical to plan your elected contribution amounts – for example, the amount you contribute to an FSA or an SRA – so there is also enough pay to support other deductions that need to occur. Examples of deductions that need to occur include FICA (Medicare and Social Security tax), federal and state withholding taxes, court-ordered deductions, parking, union dues, athletic tickets and voluntary charitable contributions, such as donations to Michigan Medicine, U-M schools and colleges, or United Way. You will need to make alternate arrangements to pay these other contributions if there is not enough pay to support these amounts after U-M benefit and retirement contributions are taken out.  

Please note that it is your responsibility to adjust your various contributions and deductions to ensure your pay can cover all of the deductions. In addition, you may need to adjust your contributions to the different retirement savings plans to make sure the plans you want to receive your contributions given that the deductions are taken in order. 

Review Your Paycheck

Be sure to review your paycheck periodically to ensure payroll deductions are as you expect, and to ensure you have sufficient funds prior to signing for additional contributions. To view your paycheck on Wolverine Access, login to Employee Self Service and select Payroll and Compensation. The View Paycheck window will be displayed. Under Select Paycheck, click the View Paycheck link for the check you would like to view.

Cost Adjustments

If changes to your U-M benefits occur during the month, cost adjustments are made the following month. For example, if you add a dependent to your coverage on the second day of the month or later, your benefit cost increase takes effect the following month. Likewise, if you remove a dependent from your coverage on the second day of the month or later, the cost decrease takes effect the following month.

Retroactive Contributions

The timing of your elections and payroll cutoffs may result in a missed deduction. Please be aware that missed deductions for retroactive periods of coverage will be taken from your next available paycheck.

"MHealthy Programs" and "MHealthy Rewards" on Your Paycheck

The line items "MHealthy Programs" and "MHealthy Rewards" listed under the EMPLOYER PAID BENEFITS section on your paycheck are amounts contributed by the university each pay period to provide programs and incentives geared toward helping faculty and staff improve their health and wellness. They are not deductions from your pay. Learn more about MHealthy program and services available to faculty and staff.

Paying for Benefits in Retirement

You can pay for your benefits in retirement via an automatic monthly deduction from your bank account or by personal check or money order. Learn more about how to pay for benefits as a U-M retiree.