The annual open enrollment period in November is an opportunity to change your medical plan.
The four traditional health plans – Uniform Medical Plan (UMP) Classic, Group Health Classic and Value, and Kaiser Permanente Classic – all remain available in 2014.
The three Consumer-Directed Health Plans (CDHPs) which include a Health Savings Account (HSA) – UMP CDHP, Group Health CDHP, and Kaiser Permanente CDHP – also all remain available in 2014. There are three significant elements to the CDHP/HSA option:
- 1) Lower premiums
- 2) Higher personal financial responsibility
- 3) Employer contributions to your HSA
The lower premiums may be an attractive option to some employees. If considering this plan, understand there will be a higher personal financial responsibility, which comes in the form of higher annual deductibles for individuals and families enrolled in the CDHP. The deductible for a family must be met before any benefits are paid for individuals however, you can offset some of those costs by using HSA funds.
If you don’t wish to change plans for 2014, you won’t need to take any action.
For more information about the CDHP’s and HSA visit https://hrs.wsu.edu/Medical+Insurance and https://hrs.wsu.edu/Health+Savings+Account.
