2026 Open Enrollment
*** Please do not call the ERS regarding health insurance if you are a MPS, MMSD, United Water, Veolia or MATC retiree. Contact your agency directly. ***
2026 Health Insurance Benefits
If you do not wish to change your health and prescription drug benefits plan, you do not need to do anything.
Please make note of the following:
- Retirees under the age of 65 years will have a rate increase of 12.6%.
- For Medicare retirees, the City will switch over to a Medicare Advantage plan (that will include Part D prescription coverage), instead of offering the secondary UHC EPO / PPO plans like prior years.
- Any benefit changes you make during the open enrollment period will take effect on January 1, 2026. You will continue to be covered under your current health plan through December 31, 2025.
- If you did not receive an Enrollment Packet or you are not currently enrolled in a City health insurance plan and wish to receive a packet or enrollment form, call the ERS Open Enrollment Hotline at (414) 286-3689.
- If you are choosing to drop your City of Milwaukee retiree coverage, both Medicare retirees and retirees without Medicare, you must notify the ERS in writing at least 30 days in advance. Please note that you must maintain health insurance coverage if you ever plan to return to the City of Milwaukee’s retiree coverage. At that time, you will be required to provide proof of creditable coverage during the period that you were not covered by the City’s plan.
- The ERS does not send automatic confirmations upon receipt of open enrollment forms. If you would like to receive confirmation of receipt, please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for this purpose when submitting your form. We also recommend that you keep a copy of your open enrollment form for your records prior to mailing it to the ERS.
Health Insurance
The 2026 Open Enrollment period will be October 20, 2025 through November 4, 2025. Packets will be mailed out starting early-October to all City of Milwaukee retirees presently enrolled in a City health insurance plan. This excludes MATC, MMSD, MPS, United Water Services, and Veolia. If you do not receive your packet by October 27, 2025, call the ERS Open Enrollment Hotline at (414) 286-3689 and request that one be sent to you. If you are not currently enrolled in a City health insurance plan and wish to receive a City Open Enrollment packet, or want to request an enrollment form, call the ERS Open Enrollment Hotline at (414) 286-3689 and request that one be sent to you.
Please note that the premium rates will increase for retirees under the age of 65 years (non-Medicare) by about 12.6%. For Medicare retirees, please note that the City will switch over to a Medicare Advantage plan (that will include Part D prescription coverage), instead of offering the secondary UHC EPO / PPO plans like prior years. Unless you opt out, current Medicare retirees on the City’s plan will automatically be enrolled in this new UHC Medicare Advantage plan. More details for the new UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage (MA) plan will be provided by the City and UHC – please be on the lookout for those mailings.
You can find the answers to your questions in your Retiree Benefits Guide or on the ERS website – www.cmers.com. Click on “Read More” under Open Enrollment to find links to frequently asked questions, 2026 rate charts and an online copy of the 2026 Benefits Guide. Please read your Benefits Guide carefully. Rate information and the Retiree Benefits Guide will be available around the beginning of October.
When submitting a new health enrollment form, please keep a copy for your records. ERS does not send out confirmation letters. However, if you want confirmation of receipt of this form, please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for this purpose.
Due to the high volume of forms received each year, we cannot confirm by phone if we have received your health enrollment form.
Life Insurance
There are no changes to the life insurance benefit design for current retirees. No action is required on your part if you currently participate in the City’s Life Insurance plan as a retiree. If you currently do not participate in the City’s plan as a retiree, you are not eligible to enroll in the plan. You can reduce or cancel your coverage at any time, but please note you cannot then increase or reenroll in the future.
Open Enrollment Fairs
The City will be holding five (5) Open Enrollment Fairs that are open to all City employees and retirees.
Wednesday, October 22nd –10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ……... City Hall Rotunda
200 E. Wells Street
Thursday, October 23rd – 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ………... DPW Field Headquarters
3850 N. 35th Street, Cafeteria
Tuesday, October 28th – 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. …………. DPW Field Headquarters
3850 N. 35th Street, Cafeteria
Wednesday, October 29th – 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ……… DNS Lake Tower
4001 S. 6th Street
Thursday, October 30th – 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ………… MFD Local 215 Union Hall
5625 W Wisconsin Ave.
The ERS will also hold two (2) virtual fairs. You can visit our website www.cmers.com for more information.
Tuesday, October 21st – 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Monday, October 27th – 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
These virtual fairs will be conducted using WebEx (similar to Zoom), and you can use your computer or smart device (phone, iPad, etc.) to join. If you want to join via your smart device, you should get the WebEx Meet app from the App Store of your smart device (Android or Apple) prior to joining the meeting. For more information, please visit the Open Enrollment page of ERS’s website.