September 2006

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Philodemic Room

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Attendees:  Elliott Crooke, William McElroy, Jean Daly, William  Droms, Mary Anne Mahin, Eileen Fenrich, Dick Bates, Susan Buckingham, Harvey Iglarsh, Vivian Murphy, Charles DeSantis, Rosemary Kilkenny, Rachel Bridges

 

Membership Update

Elliott Crooke updated the committee that Dorothy Boothby has now been officially replaced by Karen Pierce.  Karen is the director of the Center for Wellness Promotion at the Law Center.  Gene Ford has stepped down from the committee, effective immediately.  There are now three vacant Medical Center seats:  staff, AAP, and faculty.

August Minutes

The minutes from the August 21, 2006 meeting were unanimously approved.

2007 Open Enrollment Update

 

Overview

 

The President’s Executive Committee expressed its gratitude to the BAC for its thorough and thoughtful benefits recommendations for Plan Year 2007.  The Executive Committee supported the concept of revisiting the indices by which the fixed dollar contribution toward medical premiums is calculated for 2008 and beyond.

 

Communications

  • A series of articles relating to benefits changes and increased open enrollment outreach will appear throughout the month of October. 
  • An extra Benefits Fair and 12 informational outreach sessions will provide Georgetown faculty and staff with multiple opportunities to gather the information they need to make informed open enrollment decisions.  Representatives from the Office of Faculty and Staff Benefits will also be available to attend individual departmental staff meetings. 
  • One of the outreach sessions and one of the Fairs have been tailored to accommodate night-shift and Spanish-speaking Facilities employees. 
  • An Enrollment Lab will be held at the end of October to assist people in enrolling online through Employee Access +, or others who may require last minute assistance with open enrollment questions. 
  • Retiree outreach includes two teleconferences, in addition to the Benefits Fairs and Enrollment Lab.  Retirees will receive a newsletter and guide specific to their Open Enrollment options.
  • Active employees will receive an open enrollment newsletter, guide and a personal benefits summary in October.
  • The Benefits website is being redesigned and updated: benefits.georgetown.edu.  At present, this address holds a place holder with links to recent Blue & Gray articles, insurance premiums and other open enrollment related information.
  • The 2007 Medical Plan Chooser is in development and will be available through the website on November 1, 2006.

New for 2007 OE

Flexible Spending Accounts

There will be debit cards issued to all FSA participants.  These cards will allow participants immediate access to available funds in their Health Care and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts. 

There was discussion of the extension of the FSA enrollment period.  Charles stated that he would allow enrollment in, or changes to FSA elections through mid-December Faculty and staff would just need to call the Office of Faculty and Staff Benefits.

Age Limit for Qualifying Dependent Children

It was proposed that the age limit for all qualified dependent children be consistent across plans – 19 and 26.  Currently some plans specify 26 as the cut off for dependent children who are students, some plans specify 30.  It was proposed that the University could grandfather those individuals enrolled in plans who are already 26 or older.  There was concern that this change would be perceived as a diminished benefit. 

After further discussion, it was determined that the University would not pursue making any changes to the current age limits.

Two Year Election for Dental Benefits

Charles DeSantis spoke with the BAC about his intention to implement a two year election for dental benefits.  This means that open enrollment for dental plans would happen only once every two years – whatever an employee elects for 2007 (Aetna, CareFirst, or No Coverage) would remain in effect until 2009.  New employees, hired between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008, would maintain the dental plan elected at time of hire until the 2009 Open Enrollment period.

The rationale for implementing this change is that it would decrease adverse selection (for example, individuals opting into the CareFirst Enhanced plan for the one year in which they anticipate needing orthodontia, then jumping back to Standard), which will ultimately drive rates up.  Having the two year election dissuades people from using ‘care as needed.’

Faculty and staff would still have the opportunity to change dental plans outside of Open Enrollment when they experience a qualifying family or employment status change.

Georgetown Financial Education Conference (FEC)

The FED was a success, doubling attendance over last year’s Retirement Day event, and reaching a wide cross-section of the Georgetown community.  Plans are underway to provide a month-long expanded program in the spring across all three campuses.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.