Open Enrollment 2020

Open Enrollment, the period when faculty and staff members have an opportunity to review their health plans and make choices regarding their 2021 benefits, begins Thursday, Oct. 29, and continues through Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Booklets were mailed to employees’ home addresses Oct. 23.

The Open Enrollment website features a plethora of information, planning tools and lists of resources. This year, all UC faculty and staff will enroll for benefits via UCPath. Open Enrollment webinars hosted by UCPath provide access to details regarding choices and changes for 2021.

In addition, UC’s systemwide Benefits Fair is available 24/7 throughout the Open Enrollment period.

“This year has been like no other, with many challenges,” said Cheryl Lloyd, interim vice president of systemwide human resources. “Much has changes, but our commitment to providing you with comprehensive benefits remains as strong as ever.”

UC is offering the same health plans as last year, with minimal increases in premiums — ranging from $0 to $12 per month. A few important changes include increases to some medical pan cost-sharing amounts, a new administrator for Flexible Spending Accounts and enhancements to legal insurance benefits.

Medical Plans

Cost-sharing changes for Kaiser, UC Blue & Gold HMO and UC Care:

For Kaiser and UC Blue & Gold HMO, emergency room copayments are increasing room $75 to $125 if the patient is not admitted to the hospital.

For UC Care, there are changes to member cost-sharing amounts. The calendar year deductible remains $0 when seeing UC Select providers. For other providers, deductibles are increasing to $500 (preferred)/$750 (non-preferred) for individuals and $1,000 (preferred)/$1,750 (non-preferred) for families.

In addition, the copayment for urgent care has decreased from $30 to $20 and the copayment for emergency care has increased to $300 if the patient is not admitted to the hospital.

Coinsurance for preferred providers has increased from 20% to 30%, and the out-of-pocket maximum has increased to $6,100 (UC Select)/$7,600 (preferred)/$9,600 (non-preferred for individuals and $9,700 (UC Select)/$14,200 (preferred)/$20,200 (non-preferred) for family coverage.

New administrator for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

Discovery Benefits is the new FSA administrator, offering one account, one card and one mobile app for Health and DepCare FSA.

Legal Plan

New Diversity and Inclusion services are being added to further support the needs of UC’s diverse population, including domestic partnership agreements, funeral directives, hospital visitation authorizations and gender identifier changes on government-issued documents.

Questions about Open Enrollment may be directed to ucpath@universityofcalifornia.edu.