U.S. home-based expatriate employees, or expatriate employees who are assigned to the United States, pay for coverage with before-tax dollars — contributions that are taken from your pay before U.S. federal (and, in most cases, state and local) taxes are withheld. Before-tax dollars are also generally taken from your pay before U.S. Social Security taxes are withheld. This lowers your U.S. taxable income and your U.S. income tax liability. This reduction to taxable income will not affect any other pay-related benefits, such as basic life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and your Retirement Plan benefits. So, your other benefits will continue to be based on your full, unreduced benefits pay.

Keep in mind that before-tax contributions do not count as earnings for U.S. Social Security purposes. Therefore, your future U.S. Social Security benefit could be slightly reduced if your total earnings for the year are less than the Social Security wage base ($102,000 for 2008). However, this reduction is nominal and may be outweighed by the immediate tax savings resulting from using before-tax dollars to pay for your benefits.

The company that provides certain claims administration services for the Medical Plan and Dental Plan.

The way you share costs for certain covered services after you meet the annual deductible. The Medical and Dental Plans pay a percentage of reasonable and customary (R&C) charges for medically necessary services, and you pay the remainder. The actual percentage depends on the type of covered service.

A United States federal law that allows you and/or your covered dependents to continue Medical and/or Dental Plan coverage on an after-tax basis (under certain circumstances) when coverage would otherwise have ended. Non-U.S. home-based expatriate employees assigned outside the United States and their dependents are not eligible for medical and/or dental continuation coverage.

The rules that determine how benefits are paid when a patient is covered by more than one group plan. Rules include:

In general, the following coordination of benefits rules apply:

Specific rules may vary, depending on whether the patient is an employee in active status (or the dependent of an employee) or covered by Medicare.

The amount you pay toward certain health care services under the Medical and Dental Plans. For example, the Medical Plan requires a $10 copayment for X-rays and labs (for in-network care received in the U.S. or care received outside the U.S.).

The reasonable and customary (R&C) charges for medically necessary covered services or supplies that qualify for full or partial reimbursement under the Medical and/or Dental Plans.

Medical or dental procedures that are generally reimbursable by the JPMorgan Chase Expatriate Medical and/or Dental Plans when they are "medically necessary." While the plans provide coverage for numerous services and supplies, there are limitations on what's covered. For example, experimental treatments, most cosmetic surgery expenses, and inpatient and outpatient private duty nursing are not covered under the Medical Plan. So, while a service or supply may be medically necessary, it may not be covered under the plans.

Medical or non-medical services that do not seek to cure, are provided during periods when the medical condition of the patient is not changing, or do not require continued administration by medical personnel. An example of custodial care is assistance in the activities of daily living.

The amount you pay in a calendar year for covered expenses before the Medical or Dental Plan begins to pay benefits. Amounts in excess of reasonable and customary (R&C) charges do not count toward the deductible.

You may cover a "domestic partner" as an eligible dependent under the Medical and/or Dental Plans if you're not currently covering a spouse. You and your domestic partner must:

OR

You must certify that your domestic partner meets the eligibility rules as defined under the plans before coverage can begin. You may also be asked to certify that your domestic partner and/or your domestic partner's children qualify as a tax dependent as determined by the United States Internal Revenue Code to avoid any applicable imputed income.

Please see the Domestic Partner Coverage Guide for additional information on covering a domestic partner.

Under the Medical and Dental Plans, your eligible dependents can include your spouse or domestic partner, and your dependent children. Please see "Your Eligible Dependents" for more information.

Medical, surgical, diagnostic, psychiatric, substance abuse, or other health care services, technologies, supplies, treatments, procedures, drug therapies, or devices that, at the time the claims administrator makes a determination regarding coverage in a particular case, are determined to be:

The claims administrator, in its judgment, may determine an experimental, investigational, or unproven service to be covered under the Medical Plan for treating a "life-threatening" sickness or condition if the claims administrator determines that a service:

Please Note: For the purpose of this definition, the term "life-threatening" is used to describe sicknesses or conditions which are more likely than not to cause death within one year of the date of the request for treatment.

A statement that the claims administrator prepares, which documents your claim and provides a description of benefits paid and not paid under the Medical and/or Dental Plans.

Generally, a full-time student is defined as a dependent enrolled in an educational institution on a full-time basis at the time services are received. An educational institution is defined as a school maintaining a regular faculty, an established curriculum, and having an organized student body in attendance. It includes high schools, colleges, technical schools, and similar institutions but not on-the-job training. JPMorgan Chase will use the educational institution's definition of a full-time student. During the summer term, when few students are enrolled, coverage will be based on enrollment during the previous term, unless the student has completed his or her full course of studies.

A program that tends to the needs of a terminally ill patient as an alternative to traditional health care, while meeting medically necessary and acceptable standards of quality and sound principles of health care administration. The program must be a written plan of hospice care for a covered person, and it must be approved by the appropriate claims administrator.

An institution legally licensed as a hospital — other than a facility owned or operated by the United States Government — that's engaged primarily in providing bed patients with diagnosis and treatment under the supervision of licensed physicians. The hospital must have 24-hour-a-day registered graduate nursing services and facilities for major surgery. Institutions that don't meet this definition don't qualify as hospitals.

Terms referring to whether a covered service is performed by a provider who is part of the networks associated with the Medical and Dental Plans or by a provider who is not part of the networks ("out-of-network"). When a service is performed in-network, benefits are generally paid at a higher level than they are when a service is performed out-of-network.

The most the Medical or Dental Plan option will pay for covered services in each participant's lifetime.

Health care services and supplies that are determined by the claims administrator to be medically appropriate and:

Please Note: For the purpose of this definition, the term "life-threatening" is used to describe sicknesses or conditions that are more likely than not to cause death within one year of the date of the request for treatment.

The fact that a physician has performed or prescribed a procedure or treatment or the fact that it may be the only treatment for a particular injury, sickness, or condition does not mean that it is a medically necessary service or supply as defined above. The definition of "medically necessary" used here relates only to coverage and may differ from the way in which a physician engaged in the practice of medicine may define "medically necessary."

Finally, to be considered necessary, a service or supply cannot be educational or experimental in nature in terms of generally accepted medical standards.

Generally, government-provided medical coverage for retired, elderly, or disabled Americans. Technically, Medicare is the Health Insurance for the Aged and Disabled provisions of Title XVIII of the Social Security Act of the United States, as enacted or later amended. Coverage is available to most U.S. residents age 65 and above, those with a disability, and those with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who do not have primary plan coverage available to them through an employer-sponsored plan such as the JPMorgan Chase Medical Plan. Generally, Medicare is the primary coverage for those individuals who are age 65 and above, unless these individuals are actively working.

The Medical and/or Dental Plans do not allow for duplication of benefits. If you and your eligible dependents are covered under more than one group plan, the primary plan (the one responsible for paying benefits first) needs to be determined. You are entitled to receive benefits up to what you would have received under the Medical or Dental Plan if it were your only source of coverage, but not in excess of that amount. If you have other coverage that is primary to the Medical or Dental Plan, the claims administrator will reduce the amount of coverage that you would otherwise receive under these plans by any amount you receive from your primary coverage. Please see the definition of "Coordination of Benefits" in this section.

The most you would need to pay in a calendar year for medically necessary covered services under the Medical Plan for in-network or out-of-network care. Once the out-of-pocket maximum is reached, the Medical Plan will pay 100% of reasonable and customary (R&C) charges for medically necessary covered services for the rest of the year. However, amounts that you pay toward your deductible, and amounts above R&C charges, do not count toward your out-of-pocket maximum.

The plan that provides initial coverage to the participant. If the participant is covered under both the JPMorgan Chase Expatriate Medical Plan and/or Dental Plan options and the plan of another employer, the rules of the primary plan govern when determining the coordination of benefits between the two plans.

The JPMorgan Chase benefits you elect during each annual benefits enrollment period will generally stay in effect throughout the plan year, unless you elect otherwise due to a qualified change in status (such as marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, etc.).

Please Note: Any changes you make during the year must be consistent with your qualified change in status. Please see "Qualified Change in Status" for more information.

The actual charges that are considered for payment when you receive medically necessary care for covered services under the Medical and/or Dental Plans. R&C means the prevailing charge for most providers in the same or a similar geographic area for the same or similar service or supply. These charges are subject to change at any time without notice. Reimbursement is based on the lower of this amount and the provider's actual charge.

If your provider charges more than the R&C charges considered under the plans, you'll have to pay the difference. Amounts that you pay in excess of the R&C charge are not considered eligible expenses. Therefore, they don't count toward your deductible, benefit limits, or maximums.

An institution that primarily provides skilled nursing care and related services for people who require medical or nursing care and that rehabilitates injured, disabled, or sick people.