Open Enrollment
Once a year benefit eligible employees have the opportunity to make changes in their medical, dental, vision and flexible spending plans. This year open enrollment will be held from November 2 – 16, 2009 and will include a Benefits Fair on Thursday, November 5 in UC 107 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Representatives from United Healthcare, Delta Dental, Spectera, NJ Manufacturers, TIAA-CREF, CONCERN and others will be there to answer your questions. Raffles, massages, free stuff and refreshments will be available! More information to follow.
Medical Rates
In the year since our last Open Enrollment period, Human Resources has continued to work with our insurance carriers to ensure that we are receiving the best services and products at competitive prices. As you know, the availability and cost of health care coverage continues to be of concern across the nation, and Congress has been engaged in discussions and town meetings on this topic. However, while the debates have helped to identify the range of issues associated with health care, they have not slowed the pace at which healthcare costs continue to grow.
While the initial forecast of 8.7% for the medical plan is less than the increases we are hearing about nationwide, this projected increase is still more than we had hoped. In an effort to find ways to reduce this increase, we reviewed our current plan design and the factors that were driving our costs, but determined that given all the changes we made last year, we could not make any additional changes to the plan this year. We agreed to continue to concentrate on identifying potential cost savings in medical and other benefit programs, specifically life, short-term and long-term disability insurance. We are also exploring the possibility of joining a consortium for prescription drug coverage.
As you may recall, Drew’s health care plan is a self-insured plan. That means that Drew can design the plan to meet its needs and assumes responsibility for all costs that are not paid for by the patient. For example, a doctor’s visit may cost $125 for which United has negotiated a rate of $85. The patient (our faculty and staff and their families) pays the $20 co-pay; Drew funds the remaining $65 due to the doctor through the premiums and deductibles paid by our faculty and staff. The same is also true for prescriptions, which represent over 20% or our overall costs. With a self-funded plan, Drew assumes most of the financial risks associated with providing medical coverage.
We asked United to provide us with a proposal for moving to a fully insured plan. A fully insured plan is one in which the insurer offers a medical plan at a rate they set based on utilization and other factors (similar to purchasing car insurance). With a fully insured plan, the insurer assumes responsibility for any costs that exceed the rate they set. Unfortunately, the rate we were quoted to move to a fully insured plan was 22% higher than the rate we are already paying!
The good news is that our utilization of the plan these past couple of months has been terrific and working with Aon Consulting, we have managed to get our forecast for 2010 to under a 4% increase in expected cost! The new rates, along with a new option and other information will be shared with you on November 2 when we distribute Open Enrollment materials.
Tuition Exchange Reminder
2010-11 applications for new and returning students who are applying for a Tuition Exchange scholarship are due in Human Resources no later than Friday, October 30th.
Calendar of Events
New Faculty and Staff Orientation:
Monday, November 2 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Madison House, Room 104
Monday, November 16 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Madison House, Room 104
TIAA-CREF Individual Counseling Sessions (by appointment only)
Thursday, October 29 9:00 am. – 5:00 p.m. University Commons, Room 207
Wednesday, Nov 18 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. University Commons, Room 207
Tuesday, December 15 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. University Commons, Room 207
Open Enrollment
Monday, November 2 through Monday, November 19
Benefits Fair
Thursday, November 5 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. University Center Room 107