2024 Open Enrollment FAQs

ALEX is an interactive benefits planning tool that will guide you through the University’s benefit plan selection process, explaining terminology, plan differences, and comparing cost estimates.

When utilizing ALEX, four health care “plans” are displayed during the cost comparative section. The University health care plan offers two options; HSA–Eligible and PPO, and this section of ALEX does an additional comparison of the two plans if only AHP (Tier 1) providers are used. Employees choose a provider each time they seek a service and that provider will fall into one of the three tiers of the plan. For more information about how the three Tiers work, see “What are the “Tiers” of the Health Care Plans and How do I choose one?”

For a full list of FAQs on Navitus visit the Health Care FAQs page.

View the Navitus drug formulary or informative overview slides.

2023 health, dental, vision, legal, identity protection and life insurance elections will automatically roll over to 2024 if you do not take action during open enrollment.

Your HSA and FSA elections are not automatically rolled over into 2024, and therefore employees must take action in order to contribute in 2024. No action will result in not electing a contribution for the upcoming year.

The process to enroll in benefits varies by the benefit type. Review these instructions to find out which benefits require you to take action and where to enroll.

Contact Ask-URHR by email or at (585) 275–8747.

To log in to HRMS from computers not connected to the University network, you must be enrolled in Duo two-factor authentication. Use your NetID and password to enroll in Duo for HRMS. As soon as you’re enrolled, two-factor authentication will be active, and you will have the ability to log in to HRMS from home. Contact the IT Help Desk at 275-2000 with any questions.

After submitting your elections for health care, dental, FSA and HSA via HRMS, you will receive an email. If you did not receive a confirmation email, you may not have clicked the “final submit” button in HRMS. You will also receive a detailed confirmation statement of your 2024 benefits in the mail in December. Employees are encouraged to save both forms of confirmation.

After submitting your Securian Financial election, if you chose to receive information electronically you will receive an immediate email. You will also receive a new or updated Certificate of Coverage in the mail in January if you increased or decreased your coverage.

After submitting your VSP Vision Care, MetLife Legal Plan, and/or Allstate Identity Protection elections via YOURBenefitsExtras.com, you will receive an immediate confirmation email.

The University Health Care Plans offer three tiers (networks) of providers with different levels of coverage. You do not choose a tier when electing a health care plan; the tier you fall into is determined based on the network in which your provider/facility participates:

• Tier 1 – Accountable Health Partners (AHP) Providers: AHP is a panel of University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group providers and carefully selected community partners. When you use an AHP Provider you will have a lower deductible, copay, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximum than when using tier 2 and tier 3 providers. Please note, all AHP Providers are also in the Excellus national network. To find an AHP Provider, go to www.ahpnetwork.com/search-provider/.
• Tier 2 – Third-Party Administrator (TPA) Network: Providers that fall into Tier 2 are providers that are in the Excellus BlueCross national network. Services provided at the tier 2 benefit level will be subject to higher deductibles, coinsurance, copays and out-of-pocket maximums than tier 1 providers.
• Tier 3 – Out-Of-Network: This includes any providers who do not participate in the AHP or the Excellus national network. Services provided at the tier 3 benefit level will be subject to higher deductibles, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximums and will be capped at the reasonable and customary levels; you may be subject to balance billing.

Your 2023 FSA election will not automatically roll over to 2024, so you’ll need to elect your 2024 contribution amount during Open Enrollment. You may not change your annual contribution amount after it has been elected unless you experience a corresponding qualifying event during the year.

If you do not make an active election for Health Care or Limited Purpose FSA, then any unused 2023 funds will be forfeited. You will have until April 29, 2024 to submit remaining claims for qualified services in 2023.

If you are choosing to contribute to a Health Care FSA or Limited Purpose FSA in 2024 (minimum election is $100), you will be eligible to roll over $610 of remaining funds from 2023 to 2024 as long as you enrolled in an FSA account in 2024.

If you enroll in the YOUR HSA-Eligible health care plan and contribute to an HSA, you are also allowed to contribute to a Limited Purpose FSA. This type of FSA can provide reimbursement for qualified dental or vision expenses, but cannot reimburse any out-of-pocket medical expenses until after the Tier 1 deductible has been met. If you meet your HSA-Eligible Plan deductible, you can then use your Limited Purpose FSA to reimburse qualified medical expenses. The minimum annual contribution into a Limited Purpose FSA is $100. The maximum annual contribution for 2024 is $3,050.

No, there is not a rollover for Dependent Care FSA.

You can change your HSA contribution amount at any point throughout the year. However, in order to receive the full University HSA funding, employees must take action during Open Enrollment. Additionally, if you had an HSA in 2023, your elected contribution amount will not roll over to 2024. So, although you can make changes to your contribution amount at any point throughout the year, it’s important to note that action is required during Open Enrollment if you’d like to begin contributing to your HSA at the start of 2024.

Full-time faculty, staff, earning less than $68,900 and residents and fellows (salary band one), who are enrolled in the YOUR HSA-Eligible Health Care Plan are eligible to receive the University HSA funding. Qualified employees enrolling in single coverage will receive $200 into their HSA and those enrolled in any plan that includes dependents will receive $400. To receive your HSA funding, you can either:

• Elect to make voluntary payroll contributions to an HSA.
  OR
• If you do not wish to make voluntary HSA contributions, you MUST complete the HSA Certification after completing your other Open Enrollment elections. To do this, log in to HRMS and follow the path, Main Menu > Self Service > Benefits > 2024 HSA Certification.

Any balance remaining in your HSA is yours to use on qualified medical, dental and vision expenses, even if you switch health care plans. If you enroll in the PPO Plan for the 2024 plan year, you will be eligible to contribute to a Health Care FSA.

A chart comparing both options can be found on the Total Rewards Website under Dental Plans.

Your deductible is the amount of out-of-pocket expense that you must pay for health services before the plan begins to pay benefits for covered services. The PPO Plan includes a deductible for inpatient, outpatient, urgent care, emergency room visits and out-of-network care. Other services on the PPO Plan are covered by a copay, which is a fixed dollar amount you must pay a provider at the time services are received.

The HSA-Eligible Plan includes a deductible for all covered services. Once your deductible is met, the services you receive will move to the coinsurance phase, which is the percentage of the fee that the plan pays for covered services.

Lastly, your out-of-pocket max is the maximum amount you pay each plan year to receive covered services after you meet your deductible. Once you meet this max, the plan pays 100% of covered services you receive. In-network (Tier 1 and 2) and out of network (Tier 3) are subject to separate out-of-pocket maximums.

For more information on these terms and how they apply to the UR Health Care Plans, use the Health Plan Comparison Chart  and the Health Program Guide.

If you are still actively working and you or your spouse turn 65 and become Medicare-eligible, your Health Plan through the University would continue paying primary.  If you or your spouse enroll in any parts of Medicare, Medicare would act as secondary coverage.  If you have an HSA account, you can continue to contribute as long as you are not enrolled in any parts of Medicare. If you enroll in any parts of Medicare (including Part A, B, C or D), you can no longer contribute pre-tax dollars to the HSA account. (If you would like to contribute to an HSA, you should not enroll in any part of Medicare coverage. If you are collecting Social Security benefits, you cannot waive Medicare Part A coverage.)

Visit the VSP website or call VSP directly at 800-877-7195

• Monday – Saturday: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Note: The VSP Vision plan does offer out-of-network coverage. Visit the VSP website for details on the differences between in-network and out-of-network coverage.

Allstate Identity Protection provides identity monitoring of credit cards, loans, financial accounts, real-time alerts, identity restoration and more for only $6.50/month (single coverage) or $12.50/month (family coverage). For more information and/or to enroll, visit www.YOURBenefitsExtras.com. You can enroll, make changes or cancel coverage at any time.

If you’d like to keep your same plan coverage(s) as you had in 2023, no action is needed. Your coverage will roll over to 2024. If you would like to cancel your VSP Vision Care or MetLife Legal coverage, you must take action during Open Enrollment. You can enroll, make changes or cancel Allstate Identity Protection coverage at any time.  You may enroll or cancel your coverage on YOURBenefitsExtras.com.

Many legal services are covered under the MetLife Legal Plan, including estate planning documents, real estate matters, family law and elder care issues. For more information, visit info.legalplans.com. You can enroll on YOURBenefitsExtras.com.

Use Securian’s online life insurance decision tool, Benefit Scout™, to help you and your family determine how much life insurance you need and what it will cost, so that you can make your insurance elections with confidence. Log on to HRMS with your NetID and click on “Securian Financial”. Then, click on “Get started” and “Visit Benefit Scout™.”

Never provide personal information, such as your Social Security number, over the phone. If a representative from the Office of Total Rewards is calling you, we will always:

• Identify ourselves as being from the “Office of Total Rewards” (not UR Insurance, etc.)
• Ask for your Employee ID number before verifying other personal information

We encourage you to always ask the caller to identify themselves and if you feel that you may be receiving a spam call, hang up and call us back at (585) 275-2084 or email Total Rewards.

If you are eligible, you may also make voluntary contributions to your Dependent Care FSA during Open Enrollment. Please keep in mind that the total of your subsidy award plus your voluntary contribution cannot exceed the maximum annual total of $5,000 per family (or $2,500, if you’re married and file taxes separately).

No action will be required from those who do not wish to make a change. Your non-Medicare eligible health plans, dental, VSP Vision Care, MetLife Legal and Allstate Identity Protection coverage will continue uninterrupted.

The plan options will remain the same as last year. There are two health care plans available to you: YOUR HSA-Eligible Plan and YOUR PPO Plan.

Retirees and their dependents have the option to remain covered through the University. You or your dependent, whomever is Medicare eligible, are eligible to enroll in a Medicare supplemental plan offered through Via Benefits, while the other participant will select a non-Medicare eligible plan through the University of Rochester. Please email the Retiree Benefits team with any questions.

To calculate your total monthly rate, divide the University’s annual contribution amount by twelve months and then subtract that amount from the total monthly health plan premium.

For example:
Your annual contribution is $120. Your monthly UR plan premium is $100.
$120 annual contribution / 12 months = $10 a month contribution
$100 monthly premium – $10 monthly contribution = $90 monthly rate

You are eligible to enroll in a Medicare plan offered through Via Benefits. Please visit the Medicare eligible Retiree page for more details and contact information.

There are two dental plans available to eligible retirees (both Medicare & non-Medicare eligible): Traditional Dental Plan and Medallion Dental Plan.

You can email retireebenefits@ur.rochester.edu or call the Office of Total Rewards at (585) 275-2084. Please indicate your name, six-digit employee ID number and a brief message about your request.

In order for your plan change to be processed for 2024, all forms must be received by close of business, November 15, 2023. For faster processing, forms can be returned via email to retireebenefits@ur.rochester.edu. Please note: we are not able to accept changes to enrollment after November 15.

You can enroll, make changes, or cancel VSP Vision Care, MetLife Legal Plan, or Allstate Identity Protection coverage for 2024 on www.YOURBenefitsExtras.com or call Corestream at 1-888-935-9595 by November 15, 2023.

Your new elections will be effective January 1, 2024. You will receive a bill from the University for non-Medicare eligible health care plan elections in March 2024 and dental from Lifetime Benefit Solutions (LBS) in December 2023.