Retirement FAQs

A Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) is an account that can be used to reimburse yourself for payment of insurance premiums. It is administered through Employee Benefits Corporation (EBC) and is a partner to MMSD. You may stay enrolled in the District’s health, dental, and long term care insurances and file claims to be reimbursed for those premium payments. You may also shop and enroll in any health, dental, and/or long-term care plan and use the HRA funds to reimburse the cost. You would also receive an EBC debit card, which can be used at any Point-of-Sale register to make medical-related purchases. Examples include prescription drugs, eyeglasses, dental work, bandages at a pharmacy, etc. Please note the debit card cannot be used to set up online payments for insurance premiums.

You can continue to pay for your insurance directly to the insurance carriers. Medical insurance can continue to age 65 and dental insurance can continue indefinitely. More information on transitioning to directly paying the insurance carriers will be mailed to you prior to your account ending.

You will want to contact the Wisconsin Retirement System (through ETF) for a Retired Annuitant Estimate and to make your Annuity election. WRS can be reached at 608-266-3285 or at etf.wi.gov.

WRS imposes a 75-day wait period after retiring before being allowed to work for another WRS allowable employer, but no more than 880 hours per year. After the 75 day wait period has elapsed, you can begin working for any WRS-type employer (school district, municipality, county, state, etc.). The 75 day wait period is not required for any non-WRS employer. Therefore, you can work for any non-WRS (private) employer at any time.

You can apply at a Social Security Office or by calling 1-866-770-2262.

You and/or your spouse/domestic partner should consider enrolling in Medicare when reaching the age of 65 and are a retiree. You may also need to enroll at other times, based on certain medical conditions.

For questions regarding signing up for a Medicare Supplement or Advantage plan, contact Virginia Van Haren at M3 Insurance (at no cost as an MMSD employee)

You can enroll in Medicare A and B by applying at a Social Security Office or by calling 1-866-770-2262. You can also apply online at www.ssa.gov. You can enroll in a Medicare D plan at www.medicare.gov or by calling 1-800-663-4227.

You may also want to consider enrolling in a Medicare B Supplement or Medigap plan. Please note: If you enroll in a Medicare B or D Supplement and have an HRA Account, you can submit for reimbursement from your HRA Account of the cost of the supplemental plan.

Many local insurance carriers provide Medicare B and D supplement plans. Please contact the local carriers for more information about their plans.

You can email retirement@madison.k12.wi.us for any retirement-related questions!