St. Thomas’ 2011 annual benefits enrollment is in its third week and will end at midnight on Friday, Nov. 19. 

Faculty and staff may have read in their 2011 Benefits Guide that our health plan incorporates for the new plan year several important changes. These include:

• Migrating to a new provider network – from the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Aware Network to the BCBS Accord Network.
• Changing our prescription drug formulary from a flexible prescription drug plan (called FlexRx) to one that emphasizes the use of generic drugs (called GenRx).
• Adopting required provisions of the new Health Care Reform Act, which mandates medical coverage for eligible dependents up to age 26.
• Offering a new fitness center rebate for eligible employees who meet certain program requirements.
• Requiring proof of dependent eligibility for all new dependents.

The Human Resources Department has received a number of questions from staff and faculty on all of these topics, and then some. While there are many similarities between the 2011 plan and our current plan, there also are a few significant differences, as illustrated above. 

We encourage all employees who rely on the prescription drug plan, have questions about in-network or out-of-network providers, or who simply want to learn more about the 2011 health plan, to attend one of the remaining informational sessions. Here is the schedule and location of these sessions:

• Wednesday, Nov. 10 – noon-1 p.m., Minneapolis campus, TMH 301
• Monday, Nov. 15 – noon-1 p.m., St. Paul campus, MHC 152
• Thursday, Nov. 18  – noon-1 p.m., St. Paul campus, MHC 152

We hope to see you there!