The open enrollment period for benefits effective January 1, 2013, begins Friday, November 9 and ends Friday, November 30. Open enrollment is the period during which benefits eligible employees may add or drop coverage and add or drop eligible dependents. Changes made during this period will be effective beginning Tuesday, January 1, 2013.

2013 Summary

• No Premium Increases
• No Plan Design Changes
  
• Flexible Spending limits reduced.  Flexible Spending elections for medical and dependent care must be re-submitted for 2013 elections. The 2012 Flexible Spending elections will not roll over.

Details of any relevant changes to the plans for the upcoming benefit year and links to forms are included below. If you don’t need to make changes in your medical or dental coverage, there is no action required on your part. Your elections will roll over to 2013 (Flexible Spending must be renewed).

All completed forms must be submitted to the Office of Human Resources by COB on Friday, November 30. If you have any questions regarding open enrollment, please contact Human Resources at 7-3318.

Blue Cross Blue Shield—Medical Insurance

The university offers medical insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. The IIT plan is a self-insured plan; therefore, the premium rates in large part, are determined by the health of the population and the utilization, defined as the “experience.” Because of the university’s good experience in 2012, we are pleased to report that there will be no increases in employee premiums or changes to the plan design for the 2013 plan year. The BCBS plan offers a number of preventive services that are not subject to copays, coinsurance, or deductibles. Some examples include:

• Immunizations
• Routine breast exams
• Mammograms
• Colonoscopy
• Routine physical exams
• Routine prostate exams
• Smoking cessation

All benefit eligible employees are encouraged to take advantage of these services to promote personal wellness.

Click the links below to review the Blue Cross Blue Shield Summary and access the enrollment form to make changes to your coverage.

↓ BCBS Enrollment Form
↓ BCBS Benefit Summary

The January 1, 2013, monthly rates for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Plan are listed in the following table.

Delta Dental—Dental Insurance

Delta Dental offers two options for dental coverage: an HMO and PPO. This is a voluntary benefit that means the employee pays 100 percent of the cost. For 2013, there will be no increase in employee premiums to either option. Click the links below for copies of the summaries of the HMO and PPO plan and the enrollment form.

↓ Dental HMO
↓ Dental PPO
↓ Dental Enrollment Form

The monthly rates effective January 1, 2013, are as follows:

Flexible Spending—Medical

This benefit allows employees to use pre-tax dollars to pay for up to $2,500 in out-of-pocket medical, dental, vision, and hearing care not covered by insurance. Important note: the IRS reduced the 2013 medical flexible spending limit to $2,500 from $6,000. If you participate in this benefit, your maximum election for 2013 will be $2,500.

Flexible Spending—Dependent

The dependent care flexible spending benefit is a valuable benefit for those employees who have expenses related to dependents (e.g., day care expenses for children or eligible adults). The maximum allowed or this benefit is $5,000; however, that is subject to change based on the level of participation.

The flexible spending form is located below.

↓ Flex Enrollment Form

Important note: Participants in Flex for 2012 have until March 30, 2013 to submit claims for services incurred in 2012. Also, participants are allowed to use 2012 funds to pay for services incurred in 2013. You have until March 15, 2013 to use this option.

Retirement

This benefit is not subject to the time restrictions in open enrollment. Once an employee meets the service requirements to participate, enrollment can begin at any time. See the eligibility requirements in the chart below.

The IRS has increase the annual maximum for voluntary employee contributions to 403b and 457b plans from $17,000 to $17,500 in 2013. The catch-up provision for employees 50 and over remains at $5,500. If you want to make a change in your elective deferral, complete a Salary Reduction Agreement found at the link below.

↓ Salary Reduction Agreement

If you have any questions about open enrollment or any of your benefit options, please contact Human Resources at 7-3318.