Loading
Print This Issue
Subscribe:
E-Almanac

Benefits Open Enrollment 2012–2013: Monday, April 9–Friday, April 20

PDF
February 28, 2012, Volume 58, No. 24

Benefits Open Enrollment, your annual opportunity to make changes to your healthcare elections, is right around the corner. The 2012-2013 Open Enrollment period will run from April 9-April 20.

While there’s still over a month until Open Enrollment begins, we want to give you plenty of time to consider the changes that are coming and think about what’ll work best for you in the new plan year.

You’ll receive materials at your home address with details about Open Enrollment and the changes that are coming. We’ll also hold several information sessions so you can learn more and ask questions. Some of the upcoming changes may impact you even if you keep the same coverage for the new plan year, so we encourage you to read the materials, attend an information session and consider your options carefully.

Plan Changes as of July 1, 2012

We’re pleased to announce several enhancements to our benefits for the 2012–2013 plan year.

Medical
The following services for women will be covered at 100% under all medical plans (only when using in-network providers): contraceptives (such as birth control pills or IUDs), sterilization procedures and patient education and counseling.

Coverage for transgender benefits will be extended to include sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) under the Aetna POS II plan. This is the only plan that will cover this procedure, because it offers the most flexibility in finding covered providers who perform this surgery. 

Prescription
Penn’s prescription drug carrier will change from CVS/Caremark to Medco. Medco has a wide network of pharmacies, including CVS and the UPHS pharmacies. This is a change to the carrier only—your benefit coverage will stay exactly the same. The move to Medco offers several benefits. First, the plan will include certain drugs which CVS/Caremark has recently removed from their preferred drug list. Second, if you take a maintenance medication and use the 90-day retail pick-up option, you’ll be able to use Rite Aid, Walmart, Kmart and CVS pharmacies—an expansion from the current option of CVS pharmacies only. And if you currently use the mail order option, your prescription will be automatically transferred to Medco. You’ll receive more details about the switch to Medco in future communications.

Dental
The Penn Faculty Practice plan (PFP) will offer enhanced coverage at no increase in premium cost. Coverage is being added for adult orthodontia and cosmetic dentistry, and coverage for dental implants is being enhanced.

Vision
We’re adding a new vision plan, so you’ll have a choice between the existing Davis Vision plan and the new VSP plan. The VSP plan offers a slightly higher level of benefit and more in-network providers but will have a slightly higher payroll deduction.

Life Insurance
Currently, if the combination of your basic and supplemental life insurance coverage is more than $500,000, you must provide evidence of insurability (or proof of good health) to the insurance company. As of July 1, 2012, the evidence of insurability will be required only for supplemental life insurance coverage greater than $500,000 (no longer combined with basic life insurance).

Dependent life insurance coverage will increase for both spouse/same-sex domestic partners and children. Spouse/partner coverage will increase from $15,000 to $20,000, and child coverage will increase from $7,500 to $10,000. The rate per $1,000 of coverage will remain the same, but your payroll deduction will increase due to the higher coverage amounts.

Flexible Spending Accounts
To be more consistent with industry standards, we’re changing the name of the Health Care and Dependent Care Pre-Tax Expense Accounts. They’ll work exactly the same, but they’ll be called Flexible Spending Accounts.

We’ll be making several changes that apply only to the Health Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA):

• To comply with health care reform, the annual maximum contribution you can make to this account will decrease from $4,000 to $2,500.

• You’ll be able to use an FSA debit card to pay for eligible expenses such as copayments, prescriptions, and out-of-pocket medical, dental or vision care expenses. This eliminates the need to send in claim forms for many expenses.

• There no longer will be a grace period for incurring expenses for this account. The claims will have to be incurred between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013.

—Division of Human Resources

Open Enrollment Presentations and Health Fair

Learn more about these exciting enhancements at one of the following presentations. Presentations will begin at the times listed below; they’ll run for 45 minutes followed by a Q&A session. Additional presentations are currently being scheduled; please check the Human Resources website at www.hr.upenn.edu for more dates.

March 8—Wharton, Room 351, Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall—12:30 p.m.
March 9—ISC, Room G-17, Claudia Cohen Hall—noon
March 20—SAS, Wolf Room, McNeil Center—2 p.m.
March 21—Vet School, Alumni Hall, New Bolton—2 p.m.
March 23—DAR, Room 351, Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall—noon
March 26—Left Bank Building, Conference Room #1, 3101 Walnut Street—9 a.m.
March 30—Dental School, Sig Seigal Boardroom, Evans Building—12:30 p.m.
April 2—Hall of Flags, Houston Hall (2 presentations)—9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

We also encourage you to attend the Open Enrollment and Health Fair on April 10—Hall of Flags, Houston Hall—10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Questions? For more information, contact Human Resources at benefits@hr.upenn.edu or the Penn Benefits Center at 1-888-PENNBEN (1-888-736-6236).

 

Related: Did You Know? Your 3-Step Plan to Save for Retirement

 

Almanac - February 28, 2012, Volume 58, No. 24