Long before Coronavirus changed our daily lives, the University of Rochester began exploring options to redesign and enhance our active employee and retiree health care benefits to align with our commitment to providing high-quality and affordable health care to our community. To that end, we want to share some key changes for the upcoming plan year, which begins January 1, 2021.
Calendar Year Premium Increases Delayed
At this time, due to the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on our faculty and staff, the University will delay any premium increases that would normally go into effect January 1, 2021 for six months until July 1, 2021.
Single Administrator for Health Care Plans
Effective January 1, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield will be the sole administrator of the University of Rochester health care plans. For many years, the University has offered two options for health plan administration – Excellus and Aetna – that employees could choose between. These providers, also known as “Third Party Administrators (TPAs),” are responsible for processing medical insurance claims from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies, in addition to helping your health plan stay in compliance with federal regulations. Currently, 80 percent of our faculty and staff enrolled in University health care plans use Excellus. This change will allow the University to continue to offer first-rate healthcare with the least amount of disruption to employees. Managing two TPAs places a substantial administrative and financial burden on the University. Consolidation to one TPA will result in cost reductions that will help dampen increases in healthcare costs for both the University and employees. This year’s cost reduction has already been factored into premium calculations scheduled for July 1, 2021.
For employees who are current Aetna members, we have created a website to answer your questions. The site includes a timeline, checklist, and frequently asked questions to help ease the transition. Open enrollment – the period each year when we select our health care benefits for the upcoming calendar year – will take place this fall for employees who wish to make changes to their health care plan.
Retiree Benefit Program
Effective January 1, 2021, the University is introducing a University-sponsored Medicare Marketplace for retirees through Via Benefits (a Willis Towers Watson Company). Via Benefits offers a greater number of medical and prescription drug plans from multiple insurance companies in the geographic areas of our retirees. This approach comes with several advantages including a Health Reimbursement Arrangement fund, more individualized coverage, expert advice, and year-round customer service.
Eligibility for Retiree Benefit
The University is also changing how we evaluate eligibility for retirement. Under the new program, employees who were hired on or after January 1, 1996 will receive the full University contribution at 15 years of service, instead of 25. We will offer a three-year grace period (until 12/31/23) for employees who are approaching retirement to retire under the previous eligibility requirements. The new 15-year service requirement may be met by employment at the University as well as at other higher education institutions, as long as there is continuous employment at the University for the immediate 5 years prior to retirement.
To learn more about the changes to retirement eligibility and retiree healthcare, visit the Retiree website.