UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Benefits Open Enrollment period runs Nov. 1 to 18, and Penn State faculty and staff who are unsure of which health plan to choose are encouraged to take the time to access a number of tools available to them that can help in the decision-making process. All of them appear on the Benefits Open Enrollment microsite.
A good place to begin is the microsite’s 2017 Benefits Open Enrollment Guide (Teamsters should view the Teamsters’ Benefit Open Enrollment Guide), which contain several tables and links to interactive tools that assist employees in making an informed decision about which health plan is most suitable for them and their families.
Page 9 of each enrollment guide displays a chart that outlines the cost of coverage, while page 12 contains links to the Basic Health Plan Decision Tool and the Comprehensive Decision Tool.
The Basic Health Plan Decision Tool asks the user to input basic information about medical care utilization and then provides general guidelines for selecting the right plan.
The more robust calculator, the Comprehensive Decision Tool, uses employee salary, prior year’s health claims, and savings account deductions to give the user a comparison of what that person’s overall costs would be for each plan.
Finally, a side-by-side comparison of the two plans can be seen on page 17.
Employees who need help calculating their total out-of-pocket costs are encouraged to contact Highmark at 800-914-4384 or Health Advocate at 866-799-2728.