Important benefit plan changes: Find the right fit during Open Enrollment from Oct. 31 to Nov. 22, 2024
Open Enrollment for 2025 benefits begins on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 8 a.m., and ends on Friday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m. (PT). With costs rising again and some significant changes, it’s important to review your options to find the benefits that are right for you and your family.
Medical costs and premiums are going up in 2025 — for UC and for employees and employers nationwide. As UC’s employees get older, they’re more likely to have increased health needs that require medical care. Many widely used new drugs and treatments are very expensive, which also leads to rising costs. To help reduce these impacts on faculty and staff, UC is increasing its 2025 contribution to medical premiums by $198M over 2024. However, employee premium contributions, and some cost-sharing amounts, will also need to increase.
The Systemwide Human Resources team is committed to equity and to maintaining its decades-long tradition of providing access to quality benefits. Employee contributions will continue to be based on salary, with higher employee contributions and percentage increases for those who earn more. To share costs fairly, the CORE PPO plan will require a premium contribution in 2025 (starting at $25.91 a month for self-coverage). For other plans, employees with annual salaries up to $140K a year will see 9% increases in their monthly premiums and employees with annual salaries over $140K a year will see 11% increases.
See Frequently asked questions about Open Enrollment for 2025 benefits.
Here’s what else is changing for 2025
Medical plan changes
- To help reduce monthly premium increases, some of the costs for receiving care and filling prescriptions will go up next year. For example, the copay for an outpatient visit will increase from $20 to $30 for members of UC Blue & Gold HMO, Kaiser HMO and UC Care (UC Select/Tier 1) — the first such increase for these plans in over 10 years. Copays for prescription drugs will go up for most of UC’s medical plans, and there will be a new drug tier for specialty drugs that will have 30% coinsurance, up to $150 per prescription, for UC Blue & Gold HMO and Kaiser HMO.
- To enhance the quality of care during pregnancy and the postpartum period, UC Blue & Gold HMO and Kaiser HMO will cover doula services with no copay up to 11 visits.
- The Kaiser HMO network will expand into Monterey County, increasing access for members.
- To comply with regulatory changes, UC Health Savings Plan members will be required to pay $30 per visit for virtual visits through Accolade Care.
Enhanced Accident, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Legal plan benefits
With new benefits available and no cost increases, now is a good time to explore how accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity can help protect you alongside your medical and disability coverage. For example, both the critical illness and hospital indemnity plans will provide cash benefits for getting a mammogram, and the accident plan will include a $1,200 benefit for admission to the intensive care unit.
Beginning Oct. 24, UCnet will provide more details about 2025 non-medical plan updates, including new identity theft protection for senior family members through the voluntary legal plan.
Dental and Vision
While UC’s costs for dental and vision plans will increase in 2025, UC continues to cover the full cost of dental and vision coverage for employees and their eligible dependents, with no changes to benefits.
Learn more
To help you make the best benefit choices for your family, UC offers a full range of tools and resources:
- ALEX will be updated with 2025 information, in both English and Spanish, on Oct. 24. ALEX can help you review all your options and show you premium contributions for your medical plan options — customized to your location, salary and union membership.
- Also launching Thursday, Oct. 24, visit UC’s Open Enrollment website for an overview of choices, changes and costs.
- Check your postal mailbox the week of Oct. 31 for your Open Enrollment packet, including medical plan comparison charts.
- Visit your Human Resources website to learn about resources specific to your location.
Log in to UCPath starting Thursday, Oct. 31, at 8 a.m. to see the medical plan premiums that apply to you and make your benefits elections. Be sure to finalize and submit your choices by Friday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m. And if you’d like to save on your taxes with a health or dependent care flexible spending account, remember that you’ll need to re-enroll.