Your annual opportunity to enroll in or change your benefits begins at 8 a.m. on Oct. 31 and extends through November 22, 2024, at 5 p.m. Some significant changes — including rising costs — make it important to review your options so you can choose the benefits that are right for you and your family. You can find details about this year’s choices, changes and costs on the Open Enrollment website.
Medical costs and premiums are going up in 2025 — for UC and for employees and employers nationwide. UC is increasing its 2025 contribution to medical premiums by $198M over 2024, but employee premium contributions and some other costs will also need to increase.
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 2025 medical plan costs for employees and for retirees.
“Budgeting for the high costs of food, housing and child care is already a challenge for many in our community, so any increase is painful,” said Cheryl Lloyd, vice president of Systemwide Human Resources, in a letter to the UC community. “To rise to this challenge, we’re focusing on a principle that is central to our mission — the critical importance of health care equity and access.”
Please see Frequently asked questions about rising medical plan premiums for more information about the factors leading to these increases and UC’s response.
Visit the Open Enrollment website to learn more about this year’s choices, changes, and costs. If you’re an employee, ALEX can help you understand your options and provide rates specific to you (customized by your salary, location and bargaining unit, if you’re a represented employee), as well as estimates of out-of-pocket costs for care and side-by-side plan comparisons. Retirees have a new resource this year — the retiree health plan premium estimator, designed to make it easier for retirees to understand the premium costs that apply to them.
When you’re ready, log in to UCPath (employees) or UCRAYS (retirees) to submit your open enrollment choices for 2025. Be sure to complete your elections by hitting the “Submit” button by November 22, 2024, at 5 p.m.