PERSONNEL/BENEFITS OFFICE
March 30, 1993
PLEASE POST PLEASE POST
SPECIAL INSURANCE ENROLLMENT PERIOD FOR FAMILY MEMBERS
A special enrollment period will be conducted in April 1993, in which UC
will REQUIRE re-enrollment of all family members currently covered by
the UC-sponsored medical, dental, optical and legal insurance plans.
Family members who are not re-enrolled will lose coverage.
This special enrollment period is part of a system-wide effort to
computerize information on the family members covered under UC's group
insurance plans. In a time of soaring insurance costs, ready access to
this information will allow the University to realize significant savings
by eliminating coverage of ineligible dependents and by reducing the
amount of time spent manually verifying the eligibility of covered family
members.
In mid-April, UC Benefits will send an information packet to all
employees who have medical, dental, optical, and/or legal insurance.
Upon receipt of the packet, employees must complete and return the
enrollment form to ensure continued coverage for their family members.
Family members who are eligible but are not currently covered may also be
added.
All employees with two-party or family coverage must complete and return
the form promptly. Coverage will be cancelled for family members who are
not enrolled during the special enrollment period.
1993 INSURANCE COMPANY CONTRACT RATE
A contract rate of 7.18% of the Insurance Company Contract (ICC) Fund for
all 1993 deposits has been negotiated with Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company. The 1993 contract expires January 5, 2000, and carries
staggered maturities occurring in 1998 and 1999.
Contributions invested in the ICC Fund during 1993 will be pooled with
existing money in the Fund to produce a blended rate of return that
reflects the average yield of all the contracts currently in force.
Assuming that deposits during 1993 follow anticipated contribution
trends, the University Treasurer estimates that the Fund will produce and
average an annualized yield of 8.21% in 1993.
Contract negotiations for the ICC Fund this year also included a
separate, new contract to cover approximately $17.4 million deposited in
the Fund under the 1988 contract with Confederated Life Insurance
Company, which expired on December 31, 1992. The issuer of the new
contract, Principal Mutual Life Insurance Company, has guaranteed a rate
of 7.15% for these maturing proceeds and the contract exprires April 1,
2002.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is the 2nd largest insurance company
in the United States, with assets of more than $150 billion as of
December 31, 1992. Principal Mutual Life Insurance Company, which also
maintains a very strong financial position and reputation within the
insurance industry, is the issuer of four of the other current ICC Fund
contracts. Both companies are rated A++ by Best & Company.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT LOWERS RATE ON U.S. SAVINGS BONDS
The U.S. Treasury Department announced on February 27, that the
guaranteed minimum rate on U.S. Series EE Savings Bonds would decrease
from 6% to 4% on bonds issued after March 1, 1993. Savings bonds
purchased before March 1, 1993, will continue to earn interest at the
previously guaranteed minimum rate until redemption or maturity.
According to the Treasury Department, the rate reduction is in response
to substantial declines in market interest rates over the past few
months.
Savings bonds that are held for more than five years continue to earn
interest at the higher of the guaranteed minimum rate in effect when the
bonds were purchased or market-based rates, which change every May and
November. The current market rate is 5.04%.