OFFICE OF THE CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER -
CAMPUS HUMAN RESOURCES
OFFICE OF HEALTH HUMAN RESOURCES
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ALL ACADEMICS AND STAFF AT UC SAN DIEGO
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Coming Soon: Open Enrollment Period and Important Updates to Medical Plan Premiums |
Open Enrollment for 2025 benefits will begin Thursday, Oct. 31, at 8 a.m. PDT, and end on Friday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m PST. Please plan accordingly to ensure you allot enough time to ask questions and make your benefits selections by the deadline.
As recently announced on UCnet and in a campus notice from Systemwide HR Vice President Cheryl Lloyd, the national trends that increased medical costs and medical plan premiums last year have continued. UC’s medical plan costs will rise again this year due to increased health care utilization as our population ages and rates of chronic health conditions rise, enhanced benefits, and the rapidly expanding use of costly new drugs and treatments.
To limit the impact of rising costs on employees and retirees, the decision was made, in consultation with President Drake, EVP-COO Nava and EVP-CFO Brostrom, to increase UC’s 2025 contribution to medical premiums by $198M over 2024. Even with this additional contribution from UC, employee and retiree premium contributions will need to increase.
The most significant updates for premiums in 2025 include:
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- With the exception of those enrolled in CORE medical, employees with annual salaries up to $140K a year will see 9% increases in their medical plan premiums and employees with annual salaries over $140K a year will see 11% increases.
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These increases are consistent with other public employers in California. For example, CalPERS has announced an overall premium increase of 10.79% for 2025.
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To ensure that the costs of medical coverage are shared fairly, the CORE PPO plan will require an employee premium contribution beginning in 2025. Contributions for CORE will be the lowest of the UC medical plan options, but we know this is a big adjustment for UC employees who have appreciated the option of a plan that did not require a premium contribution. We will do all we can to help those employees understand their choices and consider carefully whether CORE is still the best option for them.
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To help minimize premium increases, some of the costs for receiving care and filling prescriptions will go up next year. For example, the copay for an outpatient visit will increase from $20 to $30 for members of UC Blue & Gold HMO, Kaiser HMO, UC Care (UC Select/Tier 1), UC Medicare Choice and Kaiser Senior Advantage — the first such increase for these plans in over 10 years. Copays for prescription drugs will go up for most of UC’s medical plans, and there will be a new drug tier for specialty drugs that will have 30% coinsurance, up to $150 per prescription, for UC Blue & Gold HMO and Kaiser HMO.
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Premium contributions for certain employee groups and locations may vary from the amounts shown on UCnet and in Open Enrollment materials. To see rates specific to your location and bargaining unit (if represented), sign into your UCPath accountbeginning Oct. 31, 2024.
Other important information and reminders:
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- If you do not make changes during Open Enrollment, your existing health coverage in 2025 will continue, but your costs will change
- UC will offer the same medical and non-medical plans in 2025
- You must enroll or re-enroll in your health and/or dependent care flexible spending account (FSA) each year
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We understand you will have a lot of questions, and want to assure you that once Open Enrollment period begins, you will have access to the necessary resources to help you make the best decisions about coverage for you and your family.
UC San Diego will host Open Enrollment presentations and activities (including live and pre-recorded presentations with the vendors, office hours, and more) starting October 31 through the end of Open Enrollment. Be on the lookout for registration details and additional updates available via Blink starting October 31.
If you are a campus employee (academics, faculty, staff), and you have questions about your benefits, contact the Benefits team in Campus Human Resources.
If you are a health system or health sciences employee, and you have questions about your benefits, contact Health HR.
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Terri S. Winbush
Chief Human Resources Officer
Campus Human Resources
Doug Levine
Senior Director, Human Resources
UC San Diego Health
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University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093 |
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