Posts Tagged: benefits

Open Enrollment closes Nov. 24

Are you covered? Open Enrollment is time to look at benefits, consider changes

Open Enrollment – which begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, and ends at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24 – is your annual opportunity to review your UC benefits to make sure you have the best coverage for 2016.

While there aren't major benefits changes in store for 2016, there will be some changes, including a few benefits enhancements. Complete details will be available beginning Oct. 26 when the Open Enrollment website launches, and employees begin to receive their Open Enrollment booklets via U.S. mail. The website also will offer videos, resources for answers to questions about UC benefits, and other online tools to help you decide the best coverage for you and your family.

Meanwhile, here are some highlights about next year's health benefits:

• UC has worked hard to maintain a full range of quality medical plan and pricing choices for employees, and to control costs as health insurance costs nationwide continue to rise. Next year, many employees will see less than a $6 monthly premium increase. View 2016 rates for employees here.
• All UC's current medical plans will be available in 2016, and UC added several programs to improve your care.
• UC makes sure you are covered for dental and vision care, and again these plans will be free to you and your family.
• Due to the Affordable Care Act, benefits eligibility will be calculated differently, and some employees not previously eligible for benefits will be eligible beginning January, 2016. More details about what the ACA means for you.
• The ARAG Legal Plan is open for enrollment. There will be no rate changes and the plan is very affordable, with a monthly cost of $10 to $15, depending on the eligible family members you choose to cover.

Medical plan enhancements

UC has added several programs to improve your care:

• For those who travel, all plans in 2016 will cover immunizations needed for travel. Check with your plan or the Open Enrollment website for the coverage your plan will offer. 
• For smoking cessation, Health Net Blue & Gold will add the “Quit for Life” telephonic behavioral coaching program, in addition to its current online program.
• Health Net Blue & Gold will expand the Omada Prevent program for people with pre-diabetes to support those who are at risk for heart disease.
• Blue Shield Health Savings Plan and Core will add “Oncology Practice of the Future,” a program designed to ensure comprehensive cancer care for its members.
• Core will add coverage for applied behavioral health services to support autism care.
• UC Care will add more Ambulatory Surgery Center providers in its UC Select tier with a $100 co-pay.

Wellness

UC Living Well, the systemwide wellness initiative, will continue to promote numerous wellness activities offered at each location, and in addition, will highlight wellness resources available through UC's medical plans. Wellness coaching and the $75 incentive earned through Optum will not be available in 2016.

Legal Plan

The ARAG Legal Plan is open for enrollment this year. Legal assistance, credit monitoring and expanded identity theft protection are among the many services offered through this plan. Slight changes will be made, which will result in fewer limitations and more benefits for certain services. For example, the limitation of one claim per benefit year per family will be eliminated. 

Open Enrollment is your opportunity to explore your options in order to make the best choices for you and your family. Review your Open Enrollment booklet for more information about what to consider during Open Enrollment and the steps to take if you decide to change your benefits.

Open Enrollment starts, new videos help explain UC benefits

Do you know the difference between an HMO and a PPO? Do the terms copay, coinsurance and deductible confuse you? Are you looking for ways to keep your medical costs in line?

If so, take a look at four new videos UC Human Resources is offering to help you make the most of your medical benefits.

Medical benefits are complex, and these new short videos will help you make the most of your medical benefits by explaining terms and concepts, showing you how to use your benefits wisely, and more.

HR is launching four videos during Open Enrollment: 

• A comparison of UC's six medical plans
• An explanation of medical terms and concepts
• Some advice on how to make the most of your medical benefits
• An explanation of disability benefits 

The medical plan comparison video is also available in Spanish.

Each video is six to eight minutes long and can be viewed online and on mobile devices. You can view the videos at https://uc.a.guidespark.com.

UCOP launches new website for employees and retirees

The Office of the President (OP) launched a new website today (Feb. 6) that aims to make life easier for faculty, staff and retirees.

The new site, UCnet, is the fruit of more than two years of development by OP's communications team and is part of a broader strategic initiative to improve the usefulness of the university's main systemwide websites. UCnet (ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu)is meant to make it simpler for employees and retirees to keep up with what's happening at UC, find information about benefits and policies and quickly access personal accounts. It's also designed to allow users to learn about and engage with colleagues around the system and build a stronger sense of community.

UCnet replaces At Your Service as the source of information about benefits and the portal to At Your Service Online and Fidelity Retirement Savings accounts. At Your Service Online, the password-protected portal that employees and retirees use to access their personal pay and benefits information, continues to exist. UCnet also offers timely news about UC and a wide array of tools and resources such as a gateway to systemwide data and interest groups.

Put another way, all the news and information on benefits that employees and retirees are used to finding on At Your Service is readily available on UCnet. The search function on the site is much better than At Your Service, so finding essential information should be easy. 

“UCnet employees and retirees will be able to find news, a wealth of resources and access to their personal accounts on UCnet,” said Paul Schwartz, UC's director of internal communications. “We wanted to give employees and retirees a site that makes it easy to get information, conduct personal business and stay connected with the UC community.”

UCnet is one of three new websites created by OP communications in the past year to improve university information and resources offered online. The other two are ucop.edu (http://www.ucop.edu), OP's website, which launched last year, and UCal (http://universityofcalifornia.edu), a site aimed principally at conveying the breadth and depth of UC to external audiences.

UCnet will maintain a lively presence on Twitter, and those who use the social media site can receive news updates and alerts by following @UC_net. Readers can comment on stories and share them via Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

UCnet is organized into five sections, each with its own distinct focus. The Home page, where most readers will start, serves as UCnet's “front page,” containing top news about what's going at UC and links to important parts of the site.

The News section offers visitors stories about the university. It is organized around five categories including administration, employment and people. UCnet's news section offers a much richer selection of news about UC than At Your Service. The section also has a frequently updated “UC in the news” section containing some of the best and most interesting items about UC from news outlets around the world.

The Working at UC section aims to be a window into the diverse and fascinating community of university employees. It provides opportunities to connect with people at other campuses and links to campus websites around the system. The section also contains information about how faculty and staff can develop their careers, wellness, how to manage work-life balance and other career-related resources.

Compensation & Benefits is the section for users who want information about pay, benefits, how to handle a life event and other employment- or retirement-related matters. The section contains comprehensive guides for employees and retirees going through events like having a baby, changing jobs within UC or enrolling in Medicare.

Last, the Tools & Services section is the go-to page when searching for a policy, data tools or information about UC's libraries. The section also contains details on travel services, publishing, research grants and wellness and safety on the job.

 

Statement on executive pension benefits

In light of recent media reports about a letter by 36 University of California executives regarding pension benefits, Board of Regents Chairman Russell Gould and University President Mark Yudof today (Jan. 4, 2011) issued the following statement:

Ten years ago the University of California sought a determination from the IRS that a proposed new method for calculating pension benefits complied with federal tax rules. The new method would have resulted in higher pension payments to certain highly paid University employees. While that determination ultimately was granted, it did not obligate the University in any way to proceed with its proposal. In fact, the initial Regental action required that an implementation plan be developed and submitted by the President of the University and approved by the Chair of the Board and the Chair of the Finance Committee. For reasons of fiscal prudence in a changing economy, this step — necessary for the proposal to become effective — was never taken.

For this reason, and contrary to the arguments presented in the letter, it is our belief that the action taken by the Board 10 years ago was not self-executing and that the pension proposal was never implemented. Months ago, the Board retained counsel to assist the University in the event this position should need to be defended in the courts. While those who signed the letter are without question highly valued employees, we must disagree with them on this particular issue

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