Annual Open Enrollment for medical, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, and VADD insurance will begin on Monday, November 2, 2009, and end on Monday, November 30, 2009, for all benefit eligible employees of UAHuntsville.  All elections made during open enrollment will be effective January 1, 2010.  

It is not necessary to respond, unless you are making  changes to your existing plans, such as:    

• changing your level of coverage as it relates to a single or family plan  
• adding or deleting dependents
• changing from basic to comprehensive level of coverage or vice versa with the dental plan
• enrolling or dropping existing medical, dental, and/or vision coverage
• enrolling in the FSA program for 2010 
  • You must re-enroll under the FSA if you want to stay in the program for the calendar year 2010.  If you do not take any action, your FSA deductions and participation will end December 31, 2009

For more information on all of these important changes, please refer to the information linked below.

What's New for 2010

Dependent Eligibility Audit Coming Soon

As part of our commitment to control health care costs, UAHuntsville is taking steps to ensure that only eligible dependents are covered under our medical, dental and vision plans. A Dependent Eligibility Audit will be conducted in spring of 2010. This audit is to ensure that each dependent currently enrolled in the health, dental and vision is accurately listed and eligible for coverage. Please review the list of your benefit-eligible dependents and remove any ineligible ones during this open enrollment. You will be asked to provide documentation during the verification process in 2010.

New Benefit Eligibility Class Added:

Sponsored Adult Dependent and Child Dependent

Effective January 1, 2010, a new benefit eligible category will be added. Faculty and Staff can enroll sponsored dependents in medical, dental(pending regulatory approval) and vision plans. To learn more about eligibility requirements and how to enroll your sponsored dependents, click here.

UAH Communication Materials

2010 Open Enrollment Newsletter

2010 Open Enrollment Form

2010 Flexible Spending Accounts Online Enrollment Instructions

2010 Premium Rates

Medical Plan Links and Summary Booklets

UAHuntsville is pleased to continue offering eligible employees medical coverage through Blue Cross/Blue Shield.  Premiums for health insurance are pretax deductions from your paycheck.  With the Blue Card PPO program providers are accessible nationwide.  To maximize your benefits, always visit a Blue Card PPO physician. 

Blue Cross/Blue Shield 800.292.8868

Summary of Benefits Plan Year 2010

Summary Plan Description 2009

UAH HIPAA Privacy Statement
Blue Cross/Blue Shield HIPAA Privacy Notice

Smoking Cessation: Quiting tobacco isn't easy, but this time you have help!

Smoking accounts for an estimated 440,000 premature deaths each year. That’s why we’ve teamed up with the American Cancer Society through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama to offer you the Quitline — a tested and proven, telephone-based counseling program that will help you stay focused on your personal reasons for quitting.

Research indicates that smokers are more successful at quitting tobacco if they have help from a  combination of methods, including nicotine replacement therapies (NRT), telephone counseling,  self-help materials and support groups.

Each phone call you make to Quitline is confidential. On your first call, a Quitline counselor will work with you to assess the level of your tobacco addiction. This will help the counselor enroll you into a  tobacco cessation program designed just for you. You will also learn about support programs available in your community; find out which medications can help you quit; and receive materials to help you  prepare for your attempt to quit and stay quit for good.

It’s your turn to join the millions of Americans who have successfully quit using tobacco. Effective January 1, 2010, call  888.768.7848 and double your chances of quitting for good.

Dental Plan Links and Summary Booklets

UAH is pleased to continue offering eligible employees a choice of two stand-alone dental plans (Basic or Comprehensive coverage) provided by MetLife.  Employees who choose a dental plan are not required to choose additional health care or vision coverage. Premiums for dental insurance are pretax deductions from your paycheck.

MetLife dental plans are accepted nationwide, which means you can go to the dentist of your choice.  In order to save more money on out-of-pocket expenses, MetLife does offer a Preferred Dental Provider (PDP) network.  If you utilize a dentist who participates in the PDP network, you are guaranteed not to be charged more than the scheduled fees MetLife has agreed to pay to participating providers.  These fees are typically 10% to 35% below average fees of dentists in your area.  

 MetLife 800.GET.MET8

Dental Plan Overview

The provider directory is available online at www.metlife.com/mybenefits.  Note the dental plan is a UA System wide plan.  When accessing the website,  enter "UAH" for employer and then choose "University of Alabama System."

 Vision Plan (VSP) Links and Summary

UAH is pleased to continue offering eligible employees a voluntary vision program through Vision Service Plan (VSP).  Premiums for vision insurance are pretax deductions from your paycheck.  To maximize benefits, always visit a participating provider.  

Vision Service Plan 800.877.7195

Summary of VSP Vision Benefits for 2010

VSP Provider Directory

 Flexible Spending Accounts Links

FSA Online Enrollment - Click here for step-by-step instructions

UAH employees can take advantage of flexible spending accounts (FSAs), which are pretax reimbursement accounts administered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBS) for eligible medical and dependent care expenses.

Employees must re-enroll in the FSA program during annual open enrollment for the 2010 calendar year.  With an FSA, you can set aside pretax money via payroll deductions to pay for health care and dependent care expenses not covered by your benefit plan. Money set aside in these accounts will reduce your taxable income, providing you with more value for the dollar.  You can use the Tax Savings Calculator in order to help estimate your expenses for 2010.

Flexible Spending Accounts Limits

Health care account: $3,900 per year

Dependent care accounts: $5,000 or $2,500 for married taxpayers filing separate returns per year

UAH will again offer – at no cost to employees – the popular preferred flex debit card that provides employees instant point of purchase access to the pre-tax funds available in their health care FSAs. Employees will still need to keep their receipts because the IRS requires substantiation of all reimbursements, including flex debit card transactions. In most cases, Blue Cross Blue Shield will use claims data to accommodate this requirement for health care claims. If they do not have the claims data or if the transaction cannot be validated, you will be required to provide documentation with receipts. Failure to submit the documentation/ receipts can result in the expense being labeled as “ineligible.” In such cases, you would be obligated to repay the amount to the plan. Failure to submit documentation/ receipts can also result in deactivation of your card.  Please refer to the documents below for more information on this important program.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield FSA Administrator 800.213.7930

Preferred Flex Card (debit card) Brochure

Health Care Booklet

Dependent Care Booklet

Frequently Asked Questions

Voluntary Accidental Death & Dismemberment (VADD)