Employees Can Enroll in HR Benefits Starting Monday

New health care options available during open enrollment Oct. 1-22

Employees will have some new health care benefits to choose from when open enrollment begins Monday.

In addition to the four health insurance plans now available, providers Anthem Blue Cross and Kaiser Permanente are each offering a new “high-deductible” health plan. Under these new plans, monthly premiums will cost less, but employees will pay higher deductibles. A video summarizing the new plans is available on the Open Enrollment website.

Employees can use new Health Savings Accounts (HSA) with the high-deductible plans which will allow them put pre-taxable income in an account for health-related expenses. These accounts, which will be provided by Wells Fargo Bank, are similar to the Flexible Spending Accounts that have long been used, but with some additional benefits.

Account balances can roll over from one year to the next rather than clearing at the end of each calendar year. Employees can also earn interest on their account balances and deduct money for medical, dental, vision care and for prescriptions using a debit card.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) will still be available to employees, but with some changes. The IRS is now capping the amount employees can put into their FSA health care account at $2,500 out-of-pocket, which is half of the current $5,000 dollar maximum. Those with excess Flex Credits can contribute up to $5,000 to an FSA, again with a maximum of $2,500 out-of-pocket.  

Charts that compare all of the benefits are available for review here.

A new tool called a Medical Plan Cost Estimator is also available that allows employees to estimate how much they would pay annually under different scenarios.

For more information on open enrollment and the County’s benefits, visit the Open Enrollment website.