Takeaway: Open enrollment for health care benefits starts on October 1 and ends on October 31. Come to a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday, September 28, at 12 p.m. (click here to RSVP) or Thursday, October 12, at 5:30 p.m. (click here to RSVP) to learn more about your health plan options.
Dear colleague,
Open enrollment for health care benefits opens on October 1 and closes on October 31. October is our window to make changes for plan year 2024 (changes become effective January 1, 2024). The Coalition of Rutgers Unions is scheduling two town hall meetings to discuss the cost of the health plans and how they compare to each other:
- Thursday, September 28, 12–1 p.m.: Click here to RSVP for the Zoom link
- Thursday, October 12, 5:30–7:30 p.m.: Click here to RSVP for the Zoom link
The state of New Jersey has imposed a 6 percent increase in costs for the following health plans, effective January 1, 2024: PPO plans Direct 15, Direct 1525, Direct 2030, and Direct 2035, and the two High Deductible plans. The HMO plan premium is set to increase by 6.1 percent.
Members in any of the above plans pay contributions through payroll deductions based on a percentage of this higher premium set by the state. Since those premiums are increasing by 6 percent (6.1 percent for the HMO plan), the amount deducted from your paycheck will also increase by that percentage. So if your current biweekly payroll deduction is $100, that would increase to $106 on January 1 ($106.10 for the HMO plan).
There is good news for those of us in the newer NJ Direct PPO plan (NJ Direct 2019 for more recent hires) or the Omnia tiered-network plan. We do not expect increases in costs for these plans for next year.
You can switch plans through the end of October, but come to one of the town hall meetings to hear about the different features of each plan. All of these plans are designed differently. The PPOs all use the same network of doctors and hospitals and have out-of-network benefits, but co-pays and deductibles may vary. The tiered-network plan (Omnia) is designed for those receiving their care in New Jersey and in-network (there are no out-of-network benefits for this plan).
Once again, here are the dates and times of those town hall meetings so you can ask your questions.
- Thursday, September 28, 12–1 p.m.: Click here to RSVP for the Zoom link
- Thursday, October 12, 5:30–7:30 p.m.: Click here to RSVP for the Zoom link
In the meantime, if you have questions, email aaup@rutgersaaup.org
In solidarity,
Todd, Becky, and Miguel
Todd Wolfson, President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rebecca Givan, General Vice President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Miguel Rodriguez, Secretary-Treasurer, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Rutgers AAUP-AFT Facebook page: https://facebook.com/RUaaup/
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