Oct. 5, 2011

Effective January 1, 2012, the district will begin participating in the state TRS ActiveCare system for employee health insurance.

For the past five years, the district’s current self-funded plan has experienced significant losses as the amount of claims have outpaced the premiums that fund the plan.  Employees on the district plan have seen this first-hand with the increase in premiums and benefit changes last year.  Additionally, over the past two years, the district has supplemented the fund with $2.5 million from fund balance just to cover payment of claims.

To continue the self-funded health benefit plan would require further benefit changes and premium increases of up to 45 percent over current premiums.  Considering the impact that legislative cuts have had on our employees and their families over the past several years, our district leaders, the Board of Trustees and members of the Employee Benefits Advisory Committee are not willing to pass on significant premium increases for a second consecutive year.  Furthermore, as our district prepares to cut $5.5 million this year and $8.5 million in 2012-2013 due to reductions in state funding by the legislature, we cannot continue to supplement a health plan that is projected to incur further losses.

The benefits offered under the TRS plan are comparable to our current benefits and, in several instances, the premiums are lower. Within the next two weeks, we will begin a series of educational sessions and it is extremely important that you attend one of these sessions to learn about all the options under TRS ActiveCare. Open enrollment begins mid-October and will run through November.

You also will see several new additions to your health benefits next year. The district will be offering a new debit card for accessing funds contributed towards the flexible medical spending account under the Cafeteria Plan. This means you will no longer need to file claims for the reimbursement of medical costs if you participate in the flexible medical spending account.

Also new will be the use of an online enrollment system. Once you are enrolled in your benefit selections you will be able to login to your account at any time to check your benefits. Following the educational sessions beginning in October, each employee will meet with a representative of Financial Benefit Services (FBS). These representatives will assist with the online enrollment and explain the benefit offerings available to you.

In addition to TRS ActiveCare, the following options will be available for the coming year:

• Vision Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Cancer Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Section 125 Cafeteria Plan (to tax shelter child care and medical costs)
• Gap Coverage (to assist with deductible amounts)

The FBS representatives will have information on all of these products to help in your selection.  These representatives are not paid by commission so they will not be pushing any of the products on you. Please note, with the change to TRS for health insurance, EACH and EVERY employee must meet with a representative to participate or decline the insurance. If you are not taking the health insurance, you still must submit a form stating such.

We know you likely will have questions and we strongly encourage you to attend one of the upcoming informational sessions. Dates are being finalized and will be available on the employee section of the website as well as in your campus/department office.  We understand that your benefits are an important feature of your employment package and we are working to bring you an affordable, well-rounded benefit plan that meets your health care needs.

All the BEST,
Robin Ryan