Open Enrollment for 2016 benefits ends Friday, Oct. 30, at 11:59 p.m. Enroll now at hr.vanderbilt.edu/oe.
Still unsure about your elections?
If you haven’t enrolled yet or are reconsidering your elections, check out these videos to help you make your choices. Topics include why you should enroll, when your elections take effect, and much more.
Need help enrolling?
Visit HR Express between 7:30 a.m.–5 p.m. at 2525 West End Ave. on the second floor. You will need your active VUnetID and password.
If you don’t enroll, your insurance elections, except for flexible spending accounts, will remain the same, but skipping Open Enrollment could cost you. Here’s how:
Tobacco-free status
Continue saving $20 per month on your health plan premiums if you and your covered family members are committed to being tobacco-free. Just indicate your tobacco usage status when completing enrollment in My VU Benefits. 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, 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.
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 and their children access to Vanderbilt benefit programs, including insurance plans and tuition assistance, in 2016. However, only spouses and natural, step- or adopted children will be eligible starting in 2017.
Check out the two videos related to spouse/partner enrollment and couples working at Vanderbilt on our videos page for more information.
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, 2017, to use funds deposited in your FSA during 2016. Unused funds will be forfeited, so choose your amounts wisely. For more information about how FSAs work, watch the Health Care FSA and Dependent Day Care FSA videos.
Update beneficiaries
Review or update life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance beneficiaries as well as retirement 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 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 more information.