Open Enrollment is right around the corner. Are you ready? To help you prepare, Vanderbilt’s HR team is sharing the top 10 things you need to know.
Today’s tip is a reminder that all benefits-eligible employees need to complete Open Enrollment, whether you enroll in or waive coverage. In 2016, some part-time and temporary employees and their dependent children will be eligible for Vanderbilt Health Plan coverage. See the Open Enrollment webpage for more details.
While your insurance elections, except for flexible spending accounts, will remain the same, skipping Open Enrollment could cost you. Here’s how:
Tobacco-free status
You must elect or re-elect tobacco-free status for you and your covered dependents to receive the $20 monthly medical premium credit. If you pledged to quit last year but are still using tobacco, you will not receive the credit in 2016.
Spouse/partner coverage
If you elect or keep spouse/same-sex domestic partner coverage, you must indicate whether your spouse or partner has access to insurance through another employer. Spouses or partners who have access to health coverage through an outside employer but prefer the Vanderbilt plan will pay an additional $100 per month in payroll premium. The spouse/same-sex domestic partner fee will be applied if you don’t complete Open Enrollment.
Also, because same-sex marriages are now performed and legal in all U.S. states, married same-sex couples are eligible for the same benefits and tax advantages as other married couples. We will continue to offer unmarried same-sex domestic partners access to Vanderbilt benefit programs, including insurance plans and tuition assistance, in 2016. However, only spouses will be eligible starting in 2017.
FSAs
If you fund flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for health care or dependent day care expenses, you must re-enroll every year. Don’t forget 2016 funds must be used by March 15, 2017, or they will be lost, so choose your amounts wisely.
Update beneficiaries
Review or update life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance beneficiaries, even if you have done so before. You should verify that the names and allocations for each beneficiary of these policies are correct. Beneficiaries are not necessarily the dependents on your health plan and need to be separately named.
Open Enrollment begins at 8 a.m. Oct. 14 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Oct. 30. Elections are effective Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2016, unless you have a qualifying event such as marriage, divorce or the birth of a child.
Visit hr.vanderbilt.edu/oe for additional information, and stay tuned for more tips.