Annual Benefits Open Enrollment ends this week

By ESO on July 8, 2020

The Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS), which administers health and other insurance benefits for State of Texas employees, announced this year’s annual enrollment period for Plan Year 2020‐2021 runs from June 29 to July 11, 2020.

You have until this Saturday to make changes!

During this time, employees can make changes to their benefits portfolios without a qualifying life event. This is your opportunity to add or drop health insurance, add or drop dependent insurance, increase life insurance coverage, add or drop disability insurance, or make other changes to your insurance coverage as needed. During summer annual enrollment, you may also enroll in a health care and/or dependent care spending account or cancel an existing one. If you don’t want to change your benefits portfolio, don’t do anything. Your current benefits will remain the same for the upcoming academic year (9/1/2020 to 8/31/2021).

For your convenience, you may make changes to your benefits portfolio during the annual enrollment period of June 29 to July 11, 2020, in one of three ways:

Online 24/7 directly with ERS at www.ers.state.tx.us
By calling ERS during normal business hours at (866) 399‐6908
Through Employment Services and Operations (ESO) by scheduling a Zoom appointment with a benefits representative at benefits@uhd.edu.

If you make summer annual enrollment changes, ERS sends you a confirmation statement listing all the changes you made (through email or USPS mail). Please review the Summer Enrollment Confirmation Statement carefully, and confirm it accurately reflects the benefit changes you made. Correspondence from ERS, whether by email or letter, is sent to the address(es) you have on file with ERS.

For more information about specific benefits available to you, visit ERS’ Benefits Webinar Calendar. There you will find several upcoming webinars covering such topics as Summer Enrollment, Delta Dental, Texa$aver, State of Texas Vision, HealthSelect of Texas Q&A and many more. Check them out today!

If you have any questions, you may visit our Benefits website or contact the Benefits Team at Benefits@uhd.edu.

It pays to stay in the network! All health plans are network-based, which means participants will pay less if they see an in-network provider. Participants should make sure a provider is in their plan network before scheduling visits or procedures. Even if a hospital is in the network, doctors and other providers who practice at that hospital may not be in the network.

Medical Insurance

Starting September 1, 2020, health plan participants who use electronic cigarettes or vaping products will be considered tobacco users and must certify as such. If you or your covered dependents use these products and are currently certified as tobacco non-users, you will need to change your status to tobacco user and begin paying the tobacco user premium effective September 1.

HealthSelect^SM of Texas

Administrator remains Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX)
Premium rates will decrease slightly
Participants must designate a primary care provider (PCP)
OptumRx will continue to administer the HealthSelect Prescription Drug program

Consumer Directed HealthSelect^SM

Administrator remains BCBSTX
Premium rates will decrease slightly
No referrals or PCP determination necessary
This is a high-deductible health insurance plan paired with a health savings account (HSA). The monthly premium is a little lower than HealthSelect of Texas, but participants must pay the full cost of their care (with the exception of preventive care, such as annual checkups and vaccinations) until they meet the annual deductible. (See deductible amounts below.) This includes non-preventive doctor visits, prescriptions, hospital stays and any other type of health service or product that is not preventive.
Participants will need to open a HSA as soon as possible so state contributions and other funds can be deposited into the account.

Plan Year 2020 Deductible*	Individual Coverage	Family Coverage
In-Network	$2,100	$4,200
Out-of-Network	$4,200	$8,400

*Deductibles run on a calendar-year basis and will reset on January 1, 2020.

Health Savings Account (HSA)*

- Optum Bank will continue to administer the HSA
- Participants can use their HSA funds for qualified medical expenses for themselves, their spouses and their eligible dependents. The IRS definition of qualified medical expenses.
- Participants can also make pre-tax contributions to their HSA through payroll deductions. The IRS sets the maximum contribution amount each year. The annual maximum contribution limit for 2020 is $3,550 for individuals and $7,100 for families.
- The HSA balance carries over from one year to the next; there is no “use-it-or-lose-it rule” and account holders can keep the funds if participants change health plans or leave state employment.
- The state’s contribution to every eligible member’s HSA is $540 a year for an individual or $1,080 for a family. For some people, it could be a great way to save money and lower their taxable income. However, participants will be responsible for all of their non-preventive health care costs until they meet the annual deductible.
- Once employees open an account, they will get a debit card from Optum Bank to pay for health expenses. Participants will only have access to the amount of money accumulated in their HSA but not funds pledged for deposit in the future. Employees should review IRS guidelines or consult a tax advisor to ensure they are eligible to participate in a HSA.

*HSA is only for medical expenses of employees enrolled in Consumer Directed HealthSelect.

Dental Plans

Dentists who participate in the Delta Dental networks should not require ID cards. With this in mind and to keep costs as low as possible, ERS is asking employees who enroll in dental insurance to download a digital card to their smartphones using the Delta Dental app. Participants who want a card can print their dental insurance information from their Delta Dental online account.

When participants or their eligible dependents schedule an appointment, they need to let the office staff know they have coverage through Delta Dental. The office verifies their enrollment in the Delta Dental system. Participants most likely will only need to provide their name and date of birth. However, because eligible dependents will not have their own Delta Dental account and cannot access a digital ID card through the app, they may need to provide the enrollee ID or the policyholder’s name, date of birth and/or social security number.

State of Texas Dental Choice Plan

Administrator remains Delta Dental
There will be no changes to the plan or premiums.

DeltaCare DHMO Plan

Administrator remains DeltaCare USA, an affiliate of Delta Dental
There will be no changes to the plan or premiums.
Employees and covered dependents enrolling in the DHMO must select a primary care dentist (PCD) to receive benefits. There are no out-of-network benefits.

State of Texas Vision Insurance Plan

The State of Texas Vision Plan’s provider network now includes Glasses.com, 1-800 Contacts and ContactsDirect.com. Participants can order eyeglasses or contacts and apply their vision benefits to their purchase instead of submitting a claim later for reimbursement.

Administrator remains Superior Vision
Premium rates will remain the same
In-network allowance increase from $150 to $200 for frames or contacts

Optional Term Life

Administrator remains Securian
There will be no changes to the plan or premiums.
Some employees may see a premium difference if they have a salary or age category change as of September 1, 2020.

Dependent Term Life, Voluntary AD&D

Administrator remains Securian
There will be no changes to the plan or premiums.

Short-Term & Long-Term Disability

Administrator remains Reed Group Management LLC (ReedGroup)
There will be no changes to the plan or premiums.
Some employees may see a change in their premium if they have a salary change as of September 1, 2020.

TexFlex Flexible Spending Accounts (TexFLex)

TexFlex — administered by WageWorks, Inc. — is a flexible spending account (FSA) and a commuter spending account that lets participants set aside money from their paychecks, pre-tax, to use for eligible out-of-pocket expenses.

There are three types of the TexFlex FSAs: health care, dependent day care and the limited flexible spending account (LFSA).

The administrative fee holiday is still in effect for Plan Year 2021. Participants will not have to pay the $12 annual administrative fee for each account.
Annual elections will remain the same in Plan Year 2021 unless the participant makes a change to their elections during Summer Enrollment.

Health Care Account

The maximum annual election increases from $2,700 to $2,750 in Plan Year 2021.
Participants can continue to carryover up to $500 of unused health care account funds into the next year.
If you elected maximum last year, the system will not update automatically to the new maximum. You need to make the changes during summer enrollments.

Dependent Care Account

The maximum annual election remains at $5,000 in Plan Year 2021.
Participants continue to have a Grace Period through November 15, 2020, in which to use their Plan Year 2020 funds.

Limited Flexible Spending Account (LFSA)

The maximum annual election increases from $2,700 to $2750 in Plan Year 2021.
Only employees enrolled in Consumer Directed HealthSelect can enroll in an LFSA.
The TexFlex limited flexible spending account (LFSA) lets participants set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for dental and vision expenses only.
If you elected maximum last year, the system will not update automatically to the new maximum. You need to make the changes during summer enrollments.