2015 Employee Annual Benefits Enrollment to Be Held Nov. 3-14

The 2015 employee annual benefits enrollment will be conducted Monday, Nov. 3 through Friday, Nov. 14. This is the only time during the year when you can make changes to your benefits without a “qualifying event” (also known as a change in status). Benefit elections made during this enrollment period are effective Jan. 1, 2015.

If you plan to participate in the Health Care or Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and/or the Health Savings Account (HSA) in 2015, you must complete the online enrollment process to confirm your 2015 election(s). All other benefits require re-enrollment only if you wish to change your current enrollment selections.

You must complete the online annual enrollment process to:

• newly elect, change or drop medical, dental and/or vision coverage;
• add or drop family members from your coverage;
• continue or add a Health Care and/or Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account election; or
• continue or elect a Health Savings Account for the first time if enrolling in the $2,600/$5,200 Deductible Plan-HDHP.

You must complete the manual enrollment process only if you choose to:

• enroll in or cancel your MetLaw legal benefit;
• change the taxable status of your Long-Term Disability (LTD) benefit;
• add or change your Voluntary Life Insurance/AD&D coverage amount; or
• purchase additional leave time under the Hourly Employees Purchased Leave Time Program (HEPLT).

Annual enrollment materials will be available Oct. 27 and will provide detailed information on the 2015 benefits as well as include instructions to complete the annual enrollment process. A number of benefits information sessions will be offered to employees on both campuses, as described under “Benefits information sessions.”

What’s changing for 2015?

The university will continue to offer you and your family members the same plans and coverage levels for 2015, with two changes required due to new regulations. These changes are:

• The deductible for the Medical High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) will increase from $2,500 individual/$5,000 family to $2,600 individual/$5,200 family.
• The Health Savings Account annual maximum employee contribution will increase to $3,350 for Employee Only coverage and to $6,650 for Employee + Spouse, Employee + Child(ren) and Family coverage.

Benefits costs

The university expects total medical costs to increase approximately 10 percent in 2015. As in previous years, the university will cover 71 percent of 2015 budgeted medical costs. Employee medical premiums will increase 7.7 percent in the aggregate, and will vary based on the relative risk and benefits associated with the medical plan option elected. To see how your premiums will change, click here.

There are no changes to dental or vision plan rates.

Benefits information sessions 

A number of annual enrollment information sessions have been scheduled to help you learn about your benefits options and answer questions about them. You may sign up to attend these meetings through The Leadership Academy at https://hrcrm.stthomas.edu/public_site.

Annual enrollment benefits information sessions

Health Savings Account (HSA) and High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) information sessions

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact the HR-Benefits team.

Phone: (651) 962-6520
Fax: (651) 962-6524
Benefits@stthomas.edu