University of Rochester

Health Care Changes for 2010

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Health care edition of Currents (.pdf)


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What’s New?

prescription bottles

Excellus is new pharmacy benefit manager

Effective April 1, Excellus will be the Pharmacy Beneft Manager for all prescription drug coverage.

You will continue to receive prescription drug coverage when you choose a University health care plan, and the plan design will remain the same as 2010. The only change is that prescription drug benefits will be managed by Excellus regardless of whether your health plan is administered by Aetna or Excellus. The Excellus drug formulary will be used to determine the copay you pay for your medication. The Aetna drug formulary will no longer be used. You will receive a new pharmacy benefits card by April 1.

If you are currently enrolled with Aetna, you will be transitioned to the new pharmacy benefit manager with no gap in care. Details on the transition and how it may affect you will be sent to you soon.

“The pharmacy plan is a separate plan that will provide better service at a substantial savings for the University,” says Chuck Murphy, associate vice president for human resources.

Employee pharmacy offers new delivery service

Beginning in January, those who work outside the Medical Center campus will be eligible to receive free prescription delivery services from the Employee Pharmacy in the Medical Center. Employees at the River Campus, Clinton Crossings, Corporate Woods, Eastman School, Brooks Landing, and Red Creek will be able to order their prescriptions from the pharmacy and have them delivered to their workplace by University courier service.

Employees enrolled in one of the University’s health care plans receive a 25 percent discount off their copays if filling their prescriptions through the
Employee Pharmacy. Those not enrolled in one of the University’s health care
plans can still use the delivery service but will not receive the discount. Payment for prescriptions will be limited to credit cards, and payments will be processed online. More information will follow.

Changes to HSA

If you are enrolled in the University’s HSA-Eligible Plan, you can elect to participate in a 2011 Health Savings Account. It’s like a personal, tax-free savings account for health care expenses that earns interest. For 2011, you can contribute up to $3,050 for just yourself or up to $6,150 for your family. Any unused money can be rolled over from year to year.

There are several changes in store for HSAs under the federal Health Care Reform legislation passed in March 2010:

For more information, consult the 2011 edition Health Program Decision Guide at www.rochester.edu/benefits/health or call the Benefits Office at ASK-URHR (275-8747).

Changes to FSA

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) offer another way to save on eligible health care or dependent care expenses. You can choose how much to contribute for the plan year, and your contributions are automatically deducted from your paycheck in equal amounts—before taxes—and deposited into your FSA. For 2011, you can contribute up to $6,500 to a Health Care FSA and up to $5,000 to a Dependent Care FSA.

You are reimbursed from the account for eligible expenses. The accounts give you an opportunity to set aside and use tax-free dollars for eligible expenses while reducing your taxable income and increasing your take-home pay.

As of Jan. 1, 2011, you will need a doctor’s prescription when you use your Health Care FSA dollars to pay for certain over-the-counter medicines.
Other health care products, such as contact lens solutions or bandages, can be purchased with FSA money without a prescription.

Details are available at the IRS Web site.

To use your FSA:

For more information, visit www.aetnafsa.com or www.excellusbcbs.com, consult the 2010 Health Program Decision Guide at www.rochester.edu/benefits/health, or call ASK-URHR (275-8747).

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