The Fall 2013 Open Enrollment (OE) period for all Maryland state insurance benefits will take place from Tuesday, October 1 to Wednesday, October 16. It’s important to note that since the State of Maryland has converted their plan year to a calendar year basis beginning January 2014, changes and enrollments made during this OE period will be effective January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014.
OE offers eligible faculty, staff and retirees (including eligible direct- pay employees: contingent staff, lecturers and part-time faculty) the opportunity to evaluate and compare their current benefits coverage to the coverage and costs for the plan period January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014. Changes can usually be made during OE without any special enrollment restrictions.
This year’s OE will be voluntary; therefore, individuals who have no changes or corrections to their plans do not need to take any action. However, regular employees who would like to have flexible spending accounts (FSA) between January 1 and December 31, 2014 must re-enroll during this upcoming OE. Remember that OE does not affect or involve either of the USM benefit plans (Unum Group Life and Long Term Disability insurance).
For more details and direct updates from the State of Maryland go to www.dbm.maryland.gov/benefits . A link to that site is also on the TU OHR home page as well.
Benefits Festival and Health Fair
Faculty and staff employees and retirees should plan on attending the Benefits Festival being held from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, October 4 in the University Union Chesapeake rooms. All of the Maryland state benefits providers will be available at the festival so take advantage of this opportunity to meet with them and find out about the variety of benefit options available for 2014. There will also be special presentations by representatives of the Maryland Health Care Exchange to explain the details regarding the individual mandate provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Special flyers with more details about this exciting and important event will soon be delivered to all campus departments for internal distribution.
T3 is utilized as the primary means to share additional information about OE to faculty and staff members so be sure to check it often for updates and reminders!
Questions should be directed to Dave Curtis, x4-6018, email: dcurtis@towson.edu or GailPrice, x4-6017, email: gprice@towson.edu.
