Open enrollment for 2017 benefit plans begins next week

Open enrollment provides an annual opportunity for faculty and staff to review benefit offerings and make choices for the upcoming year. This year's open enrollment begins Oct. 24 and ends at 6 p.m. EST Nov. 11. Benefit selections made during this period go into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

Purdue trustees recently approved the 2017 medical plans for the University. Purdue faculty and staff will see a slight increase of 4 percent in medical plan premiums in 2017, and University costs under the plans also will increase by 4 percent. The trustees also approved a move for the dental plans from Delta Dental to Anthem, which brings cost savings to participants who choose one of the "buy-up" coverage options. Plan coverage for the dental plans will remain consistent.

Open enrollment guides will be delivered through campus mail beginning Oct. 24.

The same three medical plan options with Anthem will be offered again in 2017.

Changes to the plans for 2017 include:

Medical

* Exclusion removed related to gender reassignment surgery, as required under the Affordable Care Act. Medical necessity must be met for coverage to apply.

* Expanded health service options through Anthem's Live Health Online: This allows some forms of medical treatment to be provided via computer and/or mobile device with internet access.

Prescription

* Changes will be made to the list of covered preventive medications to align with a more standardized list of preventive drugs. This will ensure the University's ongoing legal compliance with regard to preventive medications. Individuals who are affected by the change will be notified directly by Express Scripts.

Dental

* Dental coverage for faculty and staff (excluding graduate students) will be administered by Anthem beginning in 2017. The University will continue to cover the cost of preventive dental but new dental elections -- including preventive -- will be required during open enrollment.

* Reduced premiums for the two buy-up plans for participants and for the University.

* Enrollment for the dental plans will be handled as an election separately from the medical plans. This will allow a more simplified enrollment process for employees to choose who to cover on their dental plans.

* Addition of full-mouth panoramic X-rays every five years as part of preventive coverage.

* Anthem Dental Complete network will be the network of participating dental providers.

* Anthem is currently working hard to recruit additional dental providers to support the plan for Purdue faculty and staff. Several dentists have expressed interest in joining the Anthem network, and employees are asked to help the efforts by nominating dentists who are not currently participating in the Anthem Dental Complete network.

First, check to see if a dentist is already participating in the Anthem network: Log on to www.anthem.com and choose "Find a Doctor" to see if a dentist is already in network. If a dentist is already participating, there is no need to nominate him or her.

Second, if a dentist is not currently participating an employee can nominate his or her dentist to Anthem, and an Anthem representative will reach out to the provider. Complete the Provider Nomination Form, then email or fax the form to Anthem as directed on the form.

Questions should be directed to Human Resources - Benefits for West Lafayette at hr@purdue.edu or 765-49-42222 or by contacting the Human Resources department at your specific campus.