The University's Human Resources department introduced changes in employee benefits yesterday, including a new online system for employees to manage their own benefits plans. The changes come at the start of the annual open enrollment period, during which employees can make adjustments to their benefits packages.
Effective 2011, the University will provide benefits through new third-party administrators. Aetna will become the medical provider, and Catalyst Rx will be the pharmacy provider. The switch in health care providers resulted from a "formal procurement" of health care coverage, said Anne Broccoli, director of faculty and staff benefits.
"We went out and asked companies to come forward and provide us an offer," she said.
These plans offer a trade-off of high monthly rates in exchange for fewer out-of-pocket expenses for medical services. Employees enrolled in the high-premium plan will see a rate increase of 3 percent. The University will not raise rates for its alternative low premium plans, however, which have remained fixed for several years, Broccoli said.
The plans also have been adjusted to accommodate the Health Care Reform Bill passed by Congress earlier this year. Beneficiaries will be able to sponsor their children up to age 26, unless those children have access to other group health insurance. The University will remove its current $2 million cap on lifetime employee benefits, as well.
Employees have the opportunity to review all of these new implementations using Benefits@UVA, a new online system intended to allow greater access to individual employee plans. The new system will specifically allow employees to "review current elections, add or remove dependents for medical and/or vision coverage and update any benefit elections," according to an employee-wide letter from Susan Carkeek, University vice president and chief human resources officer.
Broccoli expects the changes to have far-reaching effects, as the University extends benefits to most of its salaried employees.
"98 percent of eligible employees are enrolled in our health plan," Broccoli said. "You can see clearly that it will impact most all of our employees."
The open enrollment period extends until Nov. 19, allowing all eligible employees to review and adjust their policies.
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