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WHAT, WHEN AND HOW

Open enrollment — the time each year set aside for enrollment in medical plans and certain other benefits — is scheduled from 8 a.m. Oct. 30 to 5 p.m. Nov. 25 (two days before Thanksgiving). Complete information is due to be available on Monday (Oct. 27) on UC’s ; information packets should arrive by U.S. mail on or about the same date at employees’ homes.

During open enrollment, employees can switch health plans (medical and dental), set up flexible spending accounts (for dependent care and-or health care expenses), and sign up for the ARAG Legal plan.

For most people, open enrollment is an online process, at .

If you need assistance or don’t have access to a computer, contact your benefits office:

• Davis campus — Human Resources Administration Building, Orchard Road (west of La Rue Road). Benefits office customer service walk-in hours, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Note: The HR building is closed during the noon hour.) Benefits Office telephone hours, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Telephone: (530) 752-1774.
• Sacramento campus — Ticon III, 2730 Stockton Blvd., Suite 2300. Benefits office hours, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Telephone: (916) 734-8099.

Beyond medical plans

Here’s what else employees have to consider during open enrollment (links go to information for 2014):

• — You can switch from Delta Dental PPO to DeltaCare USA, or vice versa. With Delta Dental, your share of cost depends on whether you use a dentist in the PPO network or an out-of-network dentist. DeltaCare USA is an HMO: You select a network dentist to provide all your basic dental services and to refer you to specialists when necessary. No plan changes for 2015.
• (for dependent care and/or health care expenses) — If you have one or both kinds this year, remember that they do not renew automatically — you must sign up every year. With FSAs, you choose how much you want to have deducted from your pay, pretax, for dependent care and-or health care expenses. For 2015, UC is changing the carryover feature for the health FSA: If, during the 2015 calendar year, you do not spend all of the money in your account, you can carry over $500 for 12 months (compared with the existing policy under which you can carry over your full balance for 2 1/2 months). Note: Blue Shield Health Savings Plan members may not enroll in health FSA.
• — This applies only to employees who are already signed up: If you have a seven- or 30-day waiting period (before the benefit begins), your monthly premium is going up. Because of this, you have the opportunity during this open enrollment to choose a longer waiting period — as a way to reduce your premium.
• — In some years, only new employees are allowed to enroll. But this year, everyone can sign up. And all enrollees in 2015 will receive an enhanced benefit for identity theft. No rate changes for 2015.

PRESENTATIONS AND HELP DESKS

General overview of open enrollment, not including medical coverage (one hour; first-come, first-seated):

• Friday, Oct. 31 — 11 a.m. and noon, Ballroom B, (Davis campus)
• Wednesday, Nov. 12 — 11 a.m. and noon, Ballroom B, ARC

Medical coverage overview (90 minutes; first-come, first-seated):

• Friday, Oct. 31 — 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., Ballroom B, ARC
• Monday, Nov. 3 — 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., auditorium, (Sacramento campus)
• Friday, Nov. 7 — 8 a.m., auditorium, Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Wednesday, Nov. 12 — 8 a.m., Ballroom B, ARC

Can’t attend the medical coverage overview? Look for a narrated, streaming PowerPoint shortly after this year's first presentations, on the .

Help desks for individual counseling on medical coverage (no appointments, first-come, first-served):

• Friday, Oct. 31 — 9:30-11 a.m. and 2:30-3:30 p.m., Ballroom B, ARC
• Monday, Nov. 3 — 9:30-11 a.m., auditorium, Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Friday, Nov. 7 — 9:30-11 a.m., auditorium, Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Wednesday, Nov. 12 — 9:30-11 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m., Ballroom B, ARC

Sacramento campus HR announced that it will hold an Open Enrollment Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, in the ballroom at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, 4422 Y St.

ONLINE RESOURCES

(website launches Oct. 27)

Open enrollment preview: and

New, short videos: To help employees and their families understand their benefits and use them wisely. The videos address some of the complexities of using health insurance and answer basic questions such as what’s the difference between an HMO and a PPO. Look for the videos on the starting Oct. 27. Watch them on your desktop, laptop or mobile device.

In a preview of open enrollment, UCnet last week cited “stability” as the watchword for medical coverage next year: The list of plans is the same and some benefits are being added (chiropractic and acupuncture services, for example), but, overall, there are no major, systemwide changes.

There are, however, a couple of enhancements specific to Davis and the wider region that employees may want to consider when reviewing their medical coverage and choosing a plan for next year.

• The �ٺ���Ƶ Medical Group's Davis clinic is growing, with recent and planned increases in primary care and specialty care services, and soon will have more space. The is a provider option in all but one of the medical plans offered to �ٺ���Ƶ employees (the exception is Kaiser Permanente).

The clinic's additional space is expected to be ready by early next year in a building next door to the existing clinic at 2660 W. Covell Blvd., west of Highway 113.

The expansion coincides with last summer’s addition of two primary care doctors and new specialties, including obstetrics-gynecology and dermatology, and the planned November launch of orthopedic hand service.

The expanded clinic will have the equivalent of 12 full-time primary care doctors in internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics, and will offer appointments with physicians in 12 other specialties. It will continue to offer dietary and lactation consultations and an onsite pharmacy (where you can pick up mail-order-quantity prescriptions at mail-order prices).

The expansion project will include space for pre- and post-op visits with �ٺ���Ƶ Medical Center orthopedic surgeons who, through a new affiliation, began performing a range of outpatient procedures at the Davis Surgery Center this summer.

The Davis clinic and most other �ٺ���Ƶ Medical Group primary care clinics will be accepting new patients during open enrollment. �ٺ���Ƶ employees who are �ٺ���Ƶ Medical Group patients may request an additional layer of privacy on their electronic medical records; the safeguard, called "Break the Glass," requires health care staff to record explicit reasons for accessing your records. To set up "Break the Glass," contact the privacy and security team by phone, (916) 734-4357, or email.

• UC Care is adding (El Dorado County) and (San Joaquin County) to the plan’s UC Select option, as providers of primary care and specialty services, for the convenience of employees and their families who live in those areas.

Established by UC for UC employees only, UC Care is a preferred provider organization, or PPO, that offers two options for in-network care: UC Select (set co-payments and no deductible) or Blue Shield Preferred providers. Members also have coverage for non-network providers.

In 2014, UC Care’s first year, UC Select's provider list comprises only UC physicians and medical centers.

All medical plan choices

Here are all of your medical plan choices, including UC Care (links go to information for 2014):

• , a high-deductible PPO (preferred provider organization) with a UC-funded health savings account that you use to help pay your out-of-pocket costs. You can authorize pre-tax payroll deductions to add to your account.
• , an HMO (health maintenance organization) with a network designed just for UC.
• , an HMO with a closed network of doctors and hospitals.
• , a PPO created just for UC, with access to UC doctors and medical centers, as well as the entire Blue Shield PPO network. New in 2015: Primary care and specialty services through Marshall Medical Center and Lodi Health are included in this plan's UC Select option (with set co-payments and no deductible).
• , a regional HMO (Sacramento, Yolo, Solano, El Dorado, Placer, Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties).
• , a high-deductible, catastrophic plan.

Other enhancements in 2015

• Chiropractic and acupuncture services — This coverage is being added in response to employee requests. All plans will cover these services for up to 24 visits combined. Your cost depends on your medical plan.
• Doctors on the phone — Blue Shield Health Savings Plan, Core and UC Care are adding the program, under which members can speak with U.S. board-certified doctors on the phone or via videoconference, 24 hours a day. The cost varies, depending on your plan. Teladoc and similar programs — Health Net Blue & Gold offers — can help when you have nonemergency medical issues, when your doctor isn’t available, or if you live in an area with limited access to urgent or emergency care.

UC pays most of the cost

Over the past 20 years, increases in medical insurance costs have become a fact of life across the United States. Nevertheless, UC continues to pay the larger share of the cost for faculty, staff and retirees — more than $1.6 billion total. On average, UC pays 86.6 percent of the cost for each employee and retiree.

For 2015, UC is capping rate increases at $25 for all employees in the largest plan, Health Net Blue & Gold, a health maintenance organization with the broadest access and availability at all UC locations. This reflects the university’s continued commitment to provide choice, access and affordability in its medical benefits offerings. It also factors in the strong employee preference for, and satisfaction with, HMO plans.