Professional and Scientific Council

Health Insurance Rate Increases

P&S Staff,
 
HR recently made an announcement that open enrollment has begun for Health, Dental, and Voluntary Life insurance. You have until May 29th to make changes to your plan(s). Changes, including the new rates, take effect on August 1st, but are deducted from your July 31st paycheck.
 
The purpose of this message is to emphasize the importance of reviewing your coverage given the significant rate increases on the health insurance plans. We implore you to take the time to make sure your chosen coverage is financially beneficial for you.
 
UNI Health plan
Total premiums (those paid by UNI and the employee) on this plan have increased by 18%. This means the employee portion of family coverage on the UNI Health plan is increasing by $1713.60 to $5673.60/year. Single coverage is increasing by $564 to $936/year. That is $472.80 or $78 a month respectively. For family - 2 UNI employees coverage, the employee rate will be $4138.80/year which is $344.90/month. Reminder, this plan is only available to only those employees employed before July 1, 2011. It is also not available to those on the PPO or Blue Advantage plans. As such, if you move off this plan, you can never go back to it. Since the amount UNI will pay towards this plan is capped by the PPO rate, the employee portion is increasing significantly.
 
 
UNI PPO plan
Total premiums (those paid by UNI and the employee) on this plan have increased by 9%. This means the employee portion of family coverage on UNI PPO plan has an increase of $249.60 to $3069.60/year which is $255.80/month. For family - 2 UNI employees coverage, the employee rate will be $1534.80/year which is $127.90/month. Single coverage on the UNI PPO plan remains paid in full by UNI.
 
 
UNI Blue Advantage plan
Total premiums (those paid by UNI and the employee) on this plan have increased by 15%. This means the employee portion of family coverage on the UNI Blue Advantage plan has risen by $888.60 to $2316.60/year which is $192.80/month. For family - 2 UNI employees coverage, the employee rate will be $778.80/year which is $64.90/month. Single coverage on the UNI Blue Advantage plan remains paid in full by UNI. Because this plan had a larger percentage increase on premiums than the PPO plan, the employee portion of family coverage is increasing significantly. Per the Affordable Care Act, this plan will cover some additional services beginning on August 1st, which may account for some of the increase.
 
 
The amount UNI is paying for all plans is also increasing. The increase in rates you may be paying are due to increases in insurance rates and are not a reduction in in the amount UNI is paying towards your insurance. UNI pays 80% of the PPO rate for families with the staff member picking up the remainder of the premium of their plan. On the UNI health plan for single coverage, UNI pays 100% of the PPO premium with the staff member picking up the difference. For family - 2 UNI employees coverage, UNI pays 90% of the PPO rate.
 
The rate PDF can be found at:
 
There are two information drop-in sessions hosted by HR regarding health and dental insurance. HR will be available to answer questions and assist in completing forms. The sessions are:
  • Tuesday, May 7, from 11:00-12:30pm in Gilchrist 025
  • Monday, May 13, from 1:00-2:30pm in Gilchrist 025
More information is at:
 
Feel free to contact committee chair Eric Lukens (eric.lukens@uni.edu) with comments, concerns, or questions. Please contact hrs-benefits@uni.edu if you need assistance in making changes to your plan or have questions about how a particular plan works.
 
Sincerely,
The Salary and Fringe Benefits Committee of the P&S Council