At the Chicago Transit Authority, we offer a very competitive benefits program. The program provides a variety of benefits for an employee’s family, now and in the future. It also provides flexibility allowing employees to structure their available benefits to meet their unique needs and to change the structure annually as their needs change.
Employee Self-Service
2025 Open Enrollment Period
Fall is a season of change. Fall is also the time to carefully review your personal benefits and consider any changes during the annual Open Enrollment period. Open Enrollment allows you to take charge of your benefits by selecting the options most important to you and your family.
The 2025 Open Enrollment period is October 28-November 15. This is the only time of the year employees may make changes to healthcare plans and enroll eligible dependents (except in the case of a change in family status). Changes will be effective on January 1, 2025. Employees will receive a personalized Open Enrollment statement with coverage, bi-weekly contributions and dependent information, effective January 1, 2025 mailed to their home address. Eligible CTA employees can enroll in a Flexible Spending Account, Supplemental Term Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability Plan - with proof of good health. If you are eligible for the MetLife Vision Plan, you must enroll to have coverage for you and your eligible dependents.
Remember, if you do not wish to make any changes your current elections will continue for the 2025 plan year. If you wish to participate in the Flexible Spending Account (FSA) program, you must enroll as a new participant or re-enroll in the program EVERY year during the Open Enrollment period. Eligible employees with outside medical coverage must make an annual election to opt-out of CTA medical coverage.
Opt-Out Provision
You may choose not to enroll in the CTA healthcare plans. If you provide proof of alternate insurance coverage to the HR Benefit Services Department, CTA will reimburse eligible active employees up to $950. (The amount will be divided over the course of the calendar year and paid bi-weekly.) The payments will be reflected as a separate item on your payroll check. Failure to provide proof of alternate insurance coverage to the HR Benefit Services Department will result in no reimbursement payment. You will, however, no longer be enrolled in the CTA healthcare plans.
If a change occurs with your alternate health coverage, you have 31 days from an eligible change in family status (new marriage, new civil union, new birth, adoption, divorce or involuntary loss of alternate coverage) to enroll eligible dependents to your CTA healthcare plans.
Documentation is required when opting out of CTA’s plans or when adding a dependent(s). SEE REQUIREMENTS.
How to Make Your 2025 Elections
Open Enrollment elections (including opting out, if eligible) should be made using Employee Self Service beginning October 28. The last day to change elections is November 15.
Open enrollment is also the perfect time to make sure your beneficiary information in on file and up-to-date at all THREE of your CTA related beneficiary accounts. You need to have beneficiary information on file with the:
- CTA Pension Office for your retirement and HCRT accounts (ctaretirement.org or 312-441-9694),
- MetLife for any Life Insurance benefits (metlife.com/mybenefits or 866-492- 6983), and with
- Empower if you are participating in a 401(k) or 457 fund (empower.com/cta or 833-282-1CTA).
ALL THREE NEED TO BE COMPLETED SEPARATELY
Please also ensure that your home address is current to receive all CTA Benefits Services mailings.
Come to an Open Enrollment Information Session
The HR Benefits Services team has scheduled information sessions throughout the 2025 Open Enrollment period. Visit us at your worksite for plan and enrollment information, giveaways and the opportunity to win great prizes!
Open Enrollment Information Sessions Calendar
Open Enrollment Information
Benefits and Plan Information
Reminder: Two CTA employees cannot cover each other on their benefits. Each must carry their own separate coverage. (This applies to ALL CTA benefits).
The following documents contain an overview of the benefits offered. Plan documents/policies govern the actual benefits provided:
FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES
Election Forms
Summary of Benefits
Summary Plan Descriptions
Vision
Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability
Flexible Spending Account(s)
PART -TIME EMPLOYEES
Election Forms
Summary of Benefits
Summary Plan Descriptions
Vision
Flexible Spending Account
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT INFORMATION FOR ALL EMPLOYEES
| CTA HR Benefit Services Note: Contacts listed here can only help with HR Benefit Services, and cannot provide answers to questions related to the hiring process or pending applications for employment. |
| Hotline |
1-312-681-2225, press “3” |
| Fax |
1-312-275-8722 |
| On the Web |
transitchicago.com/hrbenefits |
| E-mail |
[email protected] |
Transparency in Coverage
This link Transparency in Coverage-CTA leads to the machine readable files that are made available in response to the federal Transparency in Coverage Rule and includes negotiated service rates and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. The machine-readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to more easily access and analyze data.