When

Sept. 18th – Oct. 13th, 2023

WHAT IS OPEN ENROLLMENT?

The annual enrollment period when benefit eligible employees can make changes to their health benefits. Eligible employees can enroll in coverage, cancel coverage, change health plans, add eligible dependents or delete dependents.

If you do not have a CalPERS health insurance plan and receive Cash In Lieu, you will receive a separate email in October requesting that you complete the Cash in Lieu affidavit and submit it to the Benefits Office along with a copy of your medical insurance card. The Cash in Lieu affidavit must be completed annually.

Open Enrollment for voluntary insurance products and Flexible Spending Accounts offered through American Fidelity will take place in October/November. We will notify you of those dates soon.

All changes made during open enrollment are effective January 1, 2024.

What if I don’t need to make any changes?

You do not need to do anything if you are not making any changes.   

What’s new for health benefits?

Medical 

• HealthNet SmartCare will no longer be offered. If you are enrolled in HealthNet SmartCare you will need to complete an enrollment change form and submit it to the Benefits Office by October 13th to select a new medical plan. 

• Rates increased across the board for all plans. 

  • Blue Shield Access+ 2.49% increase

  • Blue Shield Trio 6.53% increase

  • Kaiser Permanente 14.68% increase

  • Anthem Select HMO 13.99% increase

  • Anthem Traditional HMO 7.42% increase

  • United HealthCare Alliance HMO 4.55% increase

  • United HealthCare Harmony HMO 2.97% increase

  • PERS Platinum PPO 13.99% increase

  • PERS Gold PPO 15.42% increase

The primary driver of the premium increases is rising costs due to high medical inflation.

CalPERS recognizes that continued rising costs in the Basic PPO plans is unsustainable. They are working on numerous strategies to curb future cost increases that will be reflected in their upcoming PPO solicitation later this year.

Starting in 2024, the Basic HMO and PPO plans will begin a three-year transition into a single risk pool. The change is expected to stabilize enrollment across the HMOs and PPOs by pricing plans based on the value of their benefits and network instead of the mix of healthy or unhealthy members in a plan.

• The monthly cap for medical insurance was increased to $900- for full-time employees on March 1, 2023.

• Part-time employees working four or more hours per day/20 hours per week will receive a prorated share of the cap based on the number of hours served weekly.

VSP Vision Care

There are no changes to our vision plan for 2024. Rates will decrease slightly.

Delta Dental

There are no changes to our dental plan for 2024. Rates will decrease slightly.

How do I make changes?

Health Enrollment Self-Service is available for all eligible active employees through your myCalPERS account at www.calpers.ca.gov. During Open Enrollment you will be able to make the following changes to your medical insurance online:

• Enroll yourself and your eligible dependents into health benefits (If you are adding a spouse and/or dependents you must upload a copy of your marriage certificate and/or copies of dependent(s) birth certificates)

• Add or remove dependents

• Change health plans

• Cancel coverage

For information on signing up for a myCalPERS account and submitting a health enrollment or change request please watch the video on the Health Enrollment Self-Service for Active Members webpage on the CalPERS website.

If you do not wish to use the self-service option on myCalPERS you must complete the CalPERS enrollment/change form found on the Enrollment Forms tab and return it to the Benefits Office by October 13, 2023. If you are adding a spouse and/or dependents you must submit a copy of your marriage certificate and/or copies of dependent(s) birth certificates to the Benefits Office.

You may also add dependents to the dental/vision plan by completing the dental/vision enrollment form found on the Enrollment Forms tab. 

More Information

www.mycalpers.ca.gov

You can access the 2024 Health Benefit Summary on-line or on the Summaries tab.

QUESTIONS

Contact Mindy Bloom at 661-294-5300 ext. 5192 or by email at mbloom@saugususd.org.