September 16, 2010

Benefits open enrollment set for Oct. 1-15

• Health Plan – Aetna Standard, employee-only tier (even if you currently waive Health Plan coverage)
• Dental Plan – waive (no coverage)
• Vision Plan – waive (no coverage)
• Accidental Death & Dismemberment – waive (no coverage)
• Flexible Spending Accounts – waive (no spending accounts)

Note: Your current Short-term Disability election will not change.
A Special Enrollment for Adult Children will be available Sept. 16 – Oct. 15, an option made available through health care reform.

Health Plan
Faculty and staff 2011 monthly payroll deductions for the Health Plan will be based on salary, or more accurately, the Annual Base Benefits Rate (ABBR), an amount on which Human Resources bases the cost of other benefits, including life insurance. The ABBR is not necessarily the same as an employee’s annual salary.

Faculty and staff are urged to find their ABBR, upon which 2011 Health Plan rates will be based, on the ‘Job Profile’ tab of C2HR at www.vanderbilt.edu/c2hr. ABBRs as of Sept. 16, 2010, will be used to determine 2011 Health Plan payroll deductions.

Administration determined that by moving to salary-based payroll deductions, the plan will be better positioned to maintain affordable coverage for the future. The majority of faculty and staff will not see any increase to their monthly payroll deductions for the third consecutive year. To find what your monthly payroll deduction amount will be, log on to https://hr.vanderbilt.edu/secure/oe2010/2011options.htm.

Other changes to the health plan include a switch to the BlueCross S network. Not all providers that were in the P network are in the S network, and faculty and staff should check whether their providers are in-network by looking at the provider directory on www.bcbst.com/members/vanderbilt. There is no change to the Aetna POS II network. All Vanderbilt providers are in both BlueCross S and Aetna POS II networks.

There will be no increase to office visit co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for those who seek care at Vanderbilt. Co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums will increase for in-network and out-of-network providers and facilities.

Dental and Vision
The monthly premiums for both Dental Plans and the Vision Plan will increase in 2011, however, there are no changes to the coverage.

Accidental Death and Dismemberment
There are no changes to the Accidental Death & Dismemberment plan or rates.

Short-term Disability
New enrollments in short-term disability will require evidence of insurability. You will need to answer questions about your health and any existing conditions on The Hartford’s online enrollment site. The Hartford must approve all new short-term disability applications, as coverage is not guaranteed this year. This does not apply to anyone who already has the short-term disability insurance.

Flexible Spending Accounts
Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, due to health care reform, if you want to purchase specific over-the-counter items and medicines using your Health FSA, you will need a prescription from your doctor. You should keep this in mind when planning your 2011 Health FSA contribution, as any funds not used will be forfeited.

Enrollment Assistance
A computer will be available for online enrollment in HR Express, 2525 West End Ave., on the second floor, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday during open enrollment. Enrollment labs will also be available at various locations during open enrollment. To find a list of enrollment labs, visit http://hr.vanderbilt.edu/benefits/oe.htm.

Faculty and staff will need to have their VUnetID and e-password to use the Web-based enrollment. Those needing to get a VUnetID and e-password, should contact ITS at 343-9999 or visit http://its.vanderbilt.edu/epassword.