Open Enrollment, your opportunity to enroll in the right benefits for you, started on Oct. 26 and extends through Nov. 17, 2023, at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
Health care costs — and medical plan premiums — are increasing nationwide, including for UC. These increases make it more important than ever to consider your options this year.
“As someone who takes UC's commitment to high-quality and affordable health benefits very seriously, the premium increases for 2024 are painful,” said Cheryl Lloyd, vice president of Systemwide Human Resources. “UC contributed $93 million in additional subsidies to lower premiums for employees and retirees, but these increases will still make a bigger dent in paychecks that have already been stretched by other rising costs.”
Monthly premium costs for employees are increasing:
- For UC Blue & Gold HMO, by around 15% for coverage that includes a spouse or spouse and children, and up to 18% for employee-only coverage
- For Kaiser, by around 26% for self-coverage or coverage for the employee and children, up to 74% for coverage of the employee and spouse
- For UC Care, by around 22% for coverage of employee and spouse, up to 26% for employee-only coverage
- For UC Health Savings Plan, by around 156% for coverage of employee and child(ren), up to 193% for employee and spouse coverage
The CORE medical plan remains available at $0 monthly premium for eligible employees and their families.
Please see Frequently asked questions about rising medical plan premiums for more information about the factors leading to these increases and UC's response.
If you're an employee, ALEX can help you understand your options. Answer a few questions and ALEX will provide rates specific to you (customized by your salary, location and bargaining unit, if you're a represented employee), as well as estimates of out-of-pocket costs for care and side-by-side plan comparisons. The Open Enrollment website is another great resource to learn more about this year's choices, changes, and costs.
Please note: You may have heard about provider agreement negotiations between Anthem Blue Cross and UC Health. Rest assured that UC's existing health plan agreement with Anthem — in place until 2025 — will continue to ensure access to UC Health physicians and facilities through the UC plans that Anthem administers (CORE, UC Care, UC Health Savings Plan, UC High Option, UC Medicare PPO and UC Medicare PPO without prescription drugs).
When you're ready, log in to UCPath (employees) or UCRAYS (retirees) to submit your open enrollment choices for 2024. Be sure to complete your elections by hitting the “Submit” button by Nov. 17, 2023, at 5 p.m.
RELATED LINKS