The spring 2006 Open Enrollment period for all Maryland state insurance benefits will continue for another seven days ending on Wednesday, June 14.
OE offers all eligible faculty and staff, including eligible direct pay employees (contingent staff, part-time faculty and lecturers) and retirees, the opportunity to examine and evaluate their current coverage and compare with the coverage and costs for the new plan year July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007. Changes can be made during Open Enrollment usually without any special enrollment restrictions (except for term life and Long Term Care insurance for family members, direct pay employees and retirees) and will be effective on July 1, 2006.
This Open Enrollment is voluntary; therefore no action will be necessary if no changes or corrections are needed unless a regular employee wants to have flexible spending accounts during the new plan year or an employee wants to enroll in the new Long Term Care Insurance plan (refer to the following details).
Long Term Care Insurance: Effective July 1, 2006, the State?s Long Term Care (LTC) insurance plan will be offered by The Prudential Life Insurance Company of America instead of Unum. This new LTC plan is available to all active, regular faculty and staff employees on a guaranteed issue basis. In addition, direct pay employees (contingent staff, part-time faculty and lecturers), retirees and family members may also enroll however their applications will be accepted based on submission of medical evidence of good health. All applications for the new LTC plan should be returned directly to The Prudential and must be postmarked by the OE deadline of June 14, 2006 to be considered.
If you are interested in enrolling in the new LTC plan with The Prudential, you should contact them directly at 1-800-732-0416 or at {http://www.prudential.com/gltc} (group name: Maryland; password: marylandltc) to get details of the plan. LTC enrollment packages may be obtained from the TU OHR and will also be available at the remaining OE Outreach Sessions. To check on details of the new LTC plan access The Prudential Web site from the Open Enrollment State of Maryland Information link on the OHR home page ({http://wwwnew.towson.edu/adminfinance/hr/}) under News and Announcements.
Current enrollees with Unum LTC can choose to either continue their current coverage on a direct pay basis at their current rates or cancel their current coverage. They can also elect to enroll in the new LTC plan with The Prudential and keep their plan with Unum (on a direct pay basis) if they so desire. Letters explaining these options as well as their current premium costs have been mailed to all current Unum LTC participants at their home address. Questions relating to Unum LTC coverage should be directed to their Customer Contact Center at 1-800-227-4165, Monday-Friday between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. eastern time.
Additional information will be included in future Daily Digest updates.
Questions should be directed to Dave Curtis, x4-6018 or {dcurtis@towson.edu}, or Gail Price, x4-6017 or {gprice@towson.edu}, in the TU Benefits Unit.
