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Enrollment period for health, dental insurance programs begins |
| By Larry B. Dendy |
|
| The annual enrollment
period for university employees and retirees to enroll in health,
dental and other insurance programs, or to make changes in their insurance
coverage, will be Oct. 12-Nov. 12. Premiums for insurance coverage will be higher in 2005, but the rate of increase will be lower than this year’s rate nationally for employer-sponsored health care plans, according to Andy Brantley, associate vice president for human resources. During the five-week open enrollment period, employees can enroll, change or cancel coverage in their health, dental and accidental death and dismemberment plans, and can cancel, decrease or increase life insurance coverage. Enrollment will also be open for the Med-Flex and Dependent Care flexible-spending accounts. Faculty who participate in the Optional Retirement Plan can change ORP company allocations. Retirees can use open enrollment to change the type of health insurance they carry, or to drop dependents or cancel coverage. They can also drop dependents or cancel coverage for dental insurance. The human resources office has begun sending packets with detailed information on open enrollment changes and forms to all employees and retirees. The office will also hold a series of information meetings in Athens and other cities, and full information will also be available on the Web at www.hr.uga.edu (select “annual enrollment”) beginning Oct. 12. Provisions of health insurance plans will remain basically the same for next year, though the wellness benefit in the Indemnity and PPO/ PPO Consumer Choice plans will increase from $500 to $750 per person. In addition, pre-certification codes for some outpatient procedures and diagnostic tests under these plans have been revised. The Indemnity and PPO/PPO Consumer Choice plans will also include a new disease management program called the Cardiovascular Disease with Stroke Overlay Program, which provides information and intervention strategies to help manage chronic medical conditions. Employee and retiree premiums for the Indemnity and PPO plans will not increase until July 1, when they will rise by 5 percent. The HMO rates will increase by 11.25 percent on Jan. 1, and outpatient surgical co-payments will rise from $15 to $50. Brantley says rates for most employer-sponsored health care plans nationwide rose 12-15 percent this year. He also points out that employees at UGA and all other schools in the University System are covered under a board of regents insurance plan, while all other state employees are covered under the state health benefits plan. Premiums in that plan increased by 10 percent in July of this year. The Express Scripts pharmacy program, available under the indemnity and PPO plans, will not change, with member co-payments and quarterly out-of-pocket maximums remaining the same as in 2004. Dental plan provisions will also remain the same, though the premiums will rise by 3 percent on Jan. 1. During the open enrollment period, active employees can enroll in the dental plan, add or drop dependents, or cancel coverage. No future open enrollment periods for dental coverage are planned. The meetings on open enrollment will begin Oct. 19 and continue through Nov. 9. In addition to Athens, meetings will be held in Griffin, Tifton, Statesboro, Calhoun, Blairsville and at the Savannah River Ecology Lab in Aiken, S.C. The schedule of meeting dates, times and locations is on the “annual enrollment” section of the human resources Web site. |
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