WHAT, WHEN, HOW

Open enrollment booklets should have arrived, or should arrive shortly, by U.S. mail, at employees’ homes. (If you became eligible for benefits after Sept. 1, you will not receive a booklet by mail.) Complete information is available on the open enrollment website.

The site went live on Oct. 27, but you will not see the "Sign In" button until 8 a.m. Thursday (Oct. 30). The button is in the right-hand column, under "Make Changes." Open enrollment will run until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25 (two days before Thanksgiving).

If you are making changes, click on the button and sign in to your At Your Service account. When you are finished with your changes, you'll receive a confirmation number; if you do not receive this number, your changes will not be processed.

If you need assistance or don’t have access to a computer, contact your benefits office:

• Davis campus — Human Resources Administration Building, Orchard Road (west of La Rue Road). Benefits office customer service walk-in hours, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Note: The HR building is closed during the noon hour.) Benefits Office telephone hours, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Telephone: (530) 752-1774.
• Sacramento campus — Ticon III, 2730 Stockton Blvd., Suite 2300. Benefits office hours, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Telephone: (916) 734-8099.

PRESENTATIONS AND HELP DESKS

General overview of open enrollment, not including medical coverage (one hour; first-come, first-seated):

• Friday, Oct. 31 — 11 a.m. and noon, Ballroom B, Activities and Recreation Center (Davis campus)
• Wednesday, Nov. 12 — 11 a.m. and noon, Ballroom B, ARC

Medical coverage overview (90 minutes; first-come, first-seated):

• Friday, Oct. 31 — 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., Ballroom B, ARC
• Monday, Nov. 3 — 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., auditorium, Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2279 45th St. (Sacramento campus)
• Friday, Nov. 7 — 8 a.m., auditorium, Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Wednesday, Nov. 12 — 8 a.m., Ballroom B, ARC

Can’t attend the medical coverage overview? You can watch it online, in the form of PowerPoint slides or streaming video.

Help desks for individual counseling on medical coverage (no appointments, first-come, first-served):

• Friday, Oct. 31 — 9:30-11 a.m. and 2:30-3:30 p.m., Ballroom B, ARC
• Monday, Nov. 3 — 9:30-11 a.m., auditorium, Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Friday, Nov. 7 — 9:30-11 a.m., auditorium, Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Wednesday, Nov. 12 — 9:30-11 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m., Ballroom B, ARC

Sacramento campus HR announced that it will hold an Open Enrollment Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, in the ballroom at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, 4422 Y St.

NEW VIDEOS

UC this year is presenting a series of videos — each about six to eight minites long — that help explain employee benefits. Watch them on your desktop, laptop or mobile device.

• Medical Terms and Concepts: Pick the Right Plan
• Medical Plan Comparison: The Best Plan for You and Your Family (English and Spanish versions)
• Comparación de planes de salud
• Making the Most of Your Medical Benefits
• Disability Benefits: We’ve Got Your Back

The open enrollment 2015 website is up and running (with some cool, new videos to help you) — and, starting at 8 a.m. Thursday (Oct. 30) you can go there to take care of business.

You will have until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25 (two days before Thanksgiving) to do the following:

• Enroll in or opt out of UC-sponsored medical, dental and/or vision plans.
• Transfer to a different medical or dental plan.
• Add eligible family members to your medical, dental and/or vision plans.
• Opt in or out of TIP (tax savings on insurance premiums); enrollment is automatic unless you previously opted out.
• Enroll or re-enroll in flexible spending accounts, for health care expenses and dependent care expenses. These are the only plans that require positive re-enrollment; participation does not carry over automatically into the next year. (If you enroll in the Blue Shield Health Savings PPO (preferred provider organization) medical plan, you may not enroll in the health flexible spending account for 2015.)
• Increase your waiting period for supplemental disability, but only if you are already enrolled for this benefit, and only if you are signed up for the seven- or 30-day waiting period (before the benefit begins). For 2015, premiums for the seven- and 30-day waiting periods are going up approximately 19 percent. You can lessen the impact of rising rates by selecting a longer waiting period.

If you are satisfied with your enrollments as they stand now, there is nothing you need to do — your coverages will continue into 2015 (with the exception of flexible spending accounts, as stated above).

Here are open enrollment highlights for 2015:

Medical

• The medical plan lineup stays the same.
• No major changes to the plans.
• Modest rate increases.
• Out-of-pocket maximum for all medical plans, except UC Care, now includes both medical services and prescriptions. UC Care has a separate out-of-pocket maximum for prescription drugs.
• All medical plans are offering a retail option for 90-day maintenance medications, using certain local pharmacies.
• All HMO (health maintenance organization) plans are now offering chiropractic and acupuncture services (maximum of 24 visits yearly).
• Blue Shield Health Savings Plan, Core and UC Care are adding the Teladoc program, through which members can speak with U.S. board-certified doctors on the phone or via videoconference any time of the day or night. (Health Net Blue & Gold offers a similar program, MDLIVE.)
• Western Health Advantage HMO is expanding to Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties.

Of special interest to employees who live in or near Davis, or in El Dorado or San Joaquin counties:

• The UC Davis Medical Group's Davis clinic is growing, with recent and planned increases in primary care and specialty care services, and soon will have more space. The UC Davis Medical Group is a provider option in all but one of the medical plans offered to UC Davis employees (the exception is Kaiser Permanente).
• UC Care is adding Marshall Medical Center (El Dorado County) and Lodi Health (San Joaquin County) to the plan’s UC Select option, as providers of primary care and specialty services, for the convenience of employees and their families who live in those areas.

Read more about the UC Davis Medical Group's Davis clinic expansion, and Marshall Medical Center and Lodi Health additions to UC Care.

Dental

• No plan changes.
• Premiums still fully paid by UC.

Vision

• No plan changes.
• Premium still fully paid by UC.

Legal

• ARAG Legal is open for new enrollments.
• Enhanced identify theft benefit.
• No rate changes.

Health FSA (flexible spending account)

• The 2 1/2-month “grace period” is eliminated (this has been the period, from Jan. 1 to March 15 of the following year, during which you could continue to incur expenses against your previous year's contributions). Instead, enrollees in 2015 will be allowed to carry over $500 of unspent dollars to 2016 (Jan. 1-Dec. 31). Any balances over and above the $500 carryover amount should be spent prior to Dec. 31, 2015, or they will be forfeited.
• If you are a 2014 enrollee and you wish to continue participation, you must re-enroll during open enrollment. You may also enroll for the first time during open enrollment.
• You may not participate in this plan if you enroll in the Blue Shield Health Savings medical plan.

DepCare (dependent care) FSA

• No plan changes.
• If you enroll for 2015, you will have a “grace period” from Jan. 1 to March 15, 2016, in which you can incur expenses against your 2015 contributions. There will be no carryover provision for this plan.
• If you are a 2014 enrollee, and you wish to continue participation, you must re-enroll during open enrollment. You may also enroll for the first time during open enrollment.

Supplemental disability

This benefit is not normally a part of open enrollment. But, for your convenience, if you are already enrolled in the plan and have a seven- or 30-day waiting period, UC is giving you the opportunity during open enrollment this year to increase your waiting period — which is something you may want to consider as a way to lower your cost, given the fact monthly premiums for the seven- and 30-day waiting periods are going up approximately 19 percent. More information.

At other times during the year, you can increase your supplemental disability waiting period by completing the UPAY850 form. To apply for enrollment or to reduce your waiting period, you must submit an evidence of insurability form (also called a statement of health) via the MyLibertyConnection website.

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