Endowed health-care rate goes up, but less than national average

In early November, Cornell faculty and staff will receive their annual benefits Open Enrollment materials at their home addresses. Both endowed and contract college faculty and staff will be pleasantly surprised to see that, due to a recent IRS ruling, there are even more tax advantages to enrolling in a Select Benefits Medical Reimbursement Care account than in the past.

News on other health care costs is mixed, however. Endowed staff and faculty will experience an average rate of increase in their health care premiums by approximately 10 percent; however, that increase is still less than the national average increase, projected to be on average between 13 and 15 percent.

"Our health care costs continue to rise," said Mary George Opperman, vice president for human resources, in a recent interview, "but we were able to hold the increase down a bit for 2004, in part due to cost savings associated with our new pharmacy plan."

For 2004, Cornell will continue to offer the same three health care plans to endowed participants as it has in the past -- HealthNow, Aetna Open Choice and the 80/20 Plan. Deductibles for all three plans will rise by $50 and other out-of-pocket payments have been adjusted. There will be some savings for Aetna Open Choice PPO participants. Out-of-network costs are currently covered through a 70/30 split for participants in the Aetna Open Choice PPO (the plan covers 70 percent of reasonable and customary charges; the individual pays 30 percent). In 2004, the split will be 80/20, with the plan covering 80 percent of charges and the individual paying 20 percent of out-of-network reasonable and customary charges. The accompanying chart (below) shows the premium rates, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for all three plans.

Premiums for the endowed dental plan remain the same for the third year in a row. This is now a very stable program with a strong core of support among endowed employees who have dental expenses they choose to handle through insurance. First Ameritas, the dental plan insurer, has introduced a vision care product rebate for endowed dental plan participants. When health plan participants purchase lenses, frames or contact lenses, they can use the vision care discount from their health plan, and dental plan participants can use the First Ameritas rebate in addition.

Contract college and endowed participants in Select Benefits can also realize greater tax savings in 2004 than in the past. The IRS has recently broadened the scope of drugs eligible for Select Benefits Medical Care Reimbursement to include many over-the-counter drugs. This means that those with a Select Benefits Medical Care Reimbursement Account can estimate and factor in their usual annual costs for many over-the-counter medications when deciding on the amount to contribute from each paycheck to their Select Benefits Medical Care Reimbursement Account on a pre-tax basis. There are significant tax savings to using Select Benefits in this way, though, as always, participants must use care when estimating the amount they wish to put into Select Benefits because of the IRS "use it or lose it" provision. Details on Select Benefits and on the recent IRS ruling are included in the Open Enrollment mailing. Also, as always, participants must enroll for Select Benefits each plan year.

Endowed and contract college staff and faculty have from Nov. 10 through Dec. 31, 2003, to enroll in a Select Benefits Medical Care Reimbursement account. Endowed and contract college staff and faculty have from Nov. 10 through Dec. 5 to enroll in a Select Benefits Dependent Care Reimbursement account.

The enrollment period for endowed faculty and staff for endowed health and dental insurance also runs from Nov. 10 through Dec. 5. Contract college faculty and staff will receive another mailing, once New York state announces the new health care plan rates for state employees, which usually happens around Thanksgiving. Faculty and staff will have 30 days from that announcement to enroll in or change their health plans.

Questions and concerns can be addressed to vendors and staff at the Open Enrollment BeneFair, held this year on Nov. 12 in G10 Biotechnology Building, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., or by contacting Benefit Services at 255-3936, or benefits@cornell.edu to reach a Cornell benefits counselor.