Open enrollment requires action by all

Open enrollment, the one time each year when University of Colorado faculty and staff may make changes to benefits plans, begins at 8 a.m. April 30 and ends at 5 p.m. May 25.

The 2012–13 OE is a positive enrollment for all medical and dental benefits-eligible employees, meaning employees must take action for medical and dental benefits, even if benefits were waived for FY 2011-12. The only exceptions are for Medicare-eligible retirees and surviving spouses/same gender domestic partners.

The change to a positive enrollment format came after a competitive process that included evaluators from all four campuses and system administration. The University of Colorado Health and Welfare Trust awarded Cigna and Kaiser Permanente the administrative services contracts for its group medical plans effective July 1, 2012. With the transition, it is important for all employees to educate themselves about plan updates and reaffirm their selections. Also, federal health care law now requires that employers ask employees who have waived coverage the reasons why they elect to do so.

Payroll & Benefit Services is finishing plan details and will be updating the OE website. www.cu.edu/openenrollment,  with details on plan changes, plan comparisons, rates, instructions on how to enroll, and what will happen if employees choose not to take action during open enrollment.

On May 10, an open enrollment information session is scheduled for University Center 309. Sessions for faculty, officers and professional exempt staff are scheduled for 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.. Sessions for classified staff members are scheduled for 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.. A session for retirees, surviving spouses and same gender domestic partners is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

PBS will make additional announcements beginning in April via the OE website, by email and in CU Connections.

This article originally appeared in the April 12 edition of CU Connections.