Don’t forget to enroll in 2015 benefits

Open Enrollment for 2015 benefits is happening now. Enroll at hr.vanderbilt.edu/oe.

Remember that Open Enrollment is your annual opportunity to reflect on your and your family’s needs and to fine tune your benefits package to match. If you don’t enroll, your health, dental, vision, accidental death and dismemberment and short-term disability insurance selections will default to your current coverage levels. And skipping Open Enrollment could cost you — here’s how:

Tobacco-free status

Elect or re-elect your tobacco usage status when completing enrollment in My VU Benefits to continue saving $20 per month on your health plan premiums if you and your covered family members are committed to being tobacco-free. If you pledged to quit last year but are still using tobacco, you will not receive the credit in 2015.

Spouse/partner coverage

If you elect or keep spouse/same-sex domestic partner coverage, 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 premiums. The fee will be applied if you don’t complete Open Enrollment.

FSAs

If you fund flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for health care or dependent day care expenses, you must re-enroll every year. You will have until March 15, 2016, to use funds deposited in your FSA during 2015. 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.

Need help? Sign up for a webinar or attend an enrollment lab.

  • Oct. 27, 4 p.m., webinar*
  • Oct. 28, 2–5:30 p.m., enrollment lab, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, B319
  • Oct. 29, 7:30–11 a.m., enrollment lab, Rand/Sarratt Function Room 325-327

*Visit the Open Enrollment calendar online for webinar instructions and registration.

Open Enrollment is happening now and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 31. Selections are effective Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2015, unless you have a qualifying event such as marriage, divorce or the birth of a child.

Visit Vanderbilt Human Resources online for more information.