Resources - Health Care & Benefits Division

Access the forms you need to manage your State of Montana employee benefits. The Forms page includes enrollment and change forms, claim and reimbursement forms, and other documents for updating benefits, dependents, or coverage options.

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Understanding Your Benefits

To help members better understand their State of Montana Benefit Plan (State Plan) benefits, the Health Care & Benefits Division posts monthly "Understanding Your Benefits" presentations. These presentations are designed to provide State Plan information regarding specific benefit related topics in short easy to understand videos.

Recent Presentations

• March 2026: How Oral Health Impacts Your Heart

• February 2026: Importance of an Annual Eye Exam

• January 2026: 2026 Live Life Well Incentive

• December 2025: When to Choose Primary Care, Urgent Care, or ER

• November 2025: 2026 Open Enrollment Benefit Summary

• October 2025: 2026 Open Enrollment Overview

• September 2025: How to Optimize Your FSA

• August 2025: MediKeeper Health Risk Assessment

Additional Presentations

• Coordination of Benefits (COB)

• Employee Assistance Program

• Life Insurance Options

• Long Term Disability Insurance

• Medical Explanation of Benefits (EOB)

• Ovia Apps for Maternity & Family Support

• State Plan Coverage When Employment Terminated

Find helpful documents, guides, and forms related to your State of Montana employee benefits. The Publications page includes plan documents, enrollment guides, coverage summaries, wellness materials, and other official resources to help you understand and manage your benefits.

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HCBD works with an independent actuary each year to set rates for the State of Montana Benefit Plan, which is self-funded. To make sure there is enough money available to cover plan costs, HCBD projects claims expenses, administrative fees, and other costs for the upcoming plan year.

Based on these estimates, HCBD determines the amount of contributions needed to cover costs while maintaining an adequate reserve. Since the State Plan is self-funded, third-party administrators, like BlueCross BlueShield of Montana and Navitus Health Solutions, assume no financial risk related to claims expenses. This allows the State to set rates based on historical plan costs.

View the 2025 and 2026 State Plan Rates on the 2025 State Plan Rates and 2026 State Plan Rates pages.

2025 State Plan Rates

2026 State Plan Rates

The State Plan charges a Tobacco Surcharge for plan members who use nicotine. The surcharge adds $60 per month to the contribution amount for members who use nicotine and/or $60 per month if the member's covered spouse or domestic partner uses nicotine.

To avoid the $60 per month Tobacco Surcharge, you need to annually self-attest your, and if applicable, your covered spouse or domestic partner's, nicotine use.

Note: The Tobacco Surcharge is separate from the Live Life Well (LLW) Incentive nicotine attestation. Indicating you are not a nicotine user to earn the LLW Incentive does not remove the Tobacco Surcharge, you must complete enrollment to attest your Nicotine use for the Tobacco Surcharge.

Definitions

• Nicotine
  • Nicotine is an addictive stimulant proven to have negative health effects that is found in cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and most vaping products.
• Nicotine Free
  • You are nicotine free if you have never used nicotine, have quit using nicotine, use only FDA-approved Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), or infrequently use nicotine (less than 4 times per month).
  • You are nicotine free if you are currently using nicotine but have completed an eligible alternative (nicotine cessation program or a nicotine counseling session with a medical provider) during the past 12 months.
• Nicotine User
  • You are a nicotine user if you are currently using nicotine and have not completed an eligible alternative (nicotine cessation program or a nicotine counseling session with a medical provider) during the past 12 months.

Eligible Alternatives

If you use nicotine, you may avoid the Tobacco Surcharge if you complete and self-attest one of two eligible alternatives:

1. Completed a nicotine cessation program during the previous 12 months from the date of your enrollment event; OR

2. Completed a nicotine counseling session with a medical provider during the previous 12 months from the date of your enrollment event. (This is a good alternative for those who use nicotine replacement therapy, such as gum, patches, or lozenges).

Current Members

To avoid the Tobacco Surcharge, it is imperative for primary plan members to complete their benefit elections using the State Plan’s benefit enrollment system during the Open Enrollment period. They will be asked to self-attest nicotine use status as part of the annual benefit election process.

If a primary plan member does not complete their online benefit elections and self-attest that they , and if applicable, their spouse or domestic partner is nicotine free, the member and/or their covered spouse or domestic partner will be charged the Tobacco Surcharge.

If a primary plan member does not use nicotine and did not self-attest during the Open Enrollment period, they are able to update their attestation at any time by completing the following steps:

1. Go to benefits.mt.gov.

   • If accessing on the State of Montana network, click “On State Network Benefit Enrollment System Access” to automatically enter the system. You will not be required to sign in.

   • If accessing outside of the State of Montana network, click “Off State Network Benefit Enrollment System Access” then login using the prompts provided.

2. Select “Change my Benefits,” then “Life Update,” and then “Tobacco Surcharge Update.”

3. Follow the prompts and use the current date at the effective date.

   • The attestation of being nicotine free becomes effective the date the member updates their attestation in the enrollment system. The State Plan does not allow retroactive changes to tobacco attestations.

   • Employees will see the change within two payroll cycles. Retirees and legislators will see the change on their next monthly invoice.

New Employees & Covered Spouse or Domestic Partner

New employees enrolling on the State Plan must self-attest their nicotine use status as part of their 31-Day Initial Enrollment Period, as well as during subsequent Open Enrollment Periods. If a new employee does not self-attest their, or their covered spouse or domestic partner's, nicotine use status as part of their 31-Day Initial Enrollment Period, the employee and their covered spouse or domestic partner will be charged the Tobacco Surcharge.

Why a Surcharge?

Tobacco and nicotine use significantly contributes to State Plan expenses by causing a variety of conditions, including cancer. Read more about how tobacco use increases cancer in Montana from the Montana DPHHS.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) allows employer plans to offer nicotine cessation programs that include a Tobacco Surcharge if the program complies with HIPAA requirements. Those requirements include limits on the amount of the tobacco surcharge, a program design that promotes good health and prevents disease, an opportunity to avoid the surcharge annually, and program availability to all similarly situated employees, with the right to satisfy a reasonable alternative standard if the employee is unable to stop smoking, vaping, or using tobacco or nicotine products. The State Plan provides an exemption for religious or ceremonial use. Because the State Plan program does not use medical tests to detect nicotine usage, the amount of the tobacco surcharge can be as much as 50% of the total cost of employee only (which includes the employer and employee contribution) health coverage.