Author: sai.prabhu

Annual Benefits Notice

2024 Plan Year

Open Enrollment

1

2023/2024 EMPLOYEE GROUP INSURANCE BENEFIT PLANS UPDATE

The purpose of this is to educate you about your benefits package and to provide yearly required legal notices. Included is an overview of benefits and benefit changes:

Online Benefit Platform – Enroll, make changes, or decline benefits to fit your unique needs. You may enroll by phone 417-836-3000/ 877-282-0808 or utilize the online enrollment platform on the benefit card my.missouristate.edu Platform houses benefit information as well as your personalized enrollment elections. Even if you do not make changes, please review elections for accuracy.

Virtual Benefit Fair: Explore plan benefits by participating in the virtual benefit fair available November 1, 2023, through December 1, 2023: https://app.airbo.com/ard/missouri-state-university-2023-virtual-benefits-fair

Open Enrollment for benefits - Open enrollment for benefit eligible employees is November 1, 2023, through December 1, 2023. During open enrollment you can elect/decline/or make changes to your medical/dental/vision and Cafeteria plan benefits for the upcoming calendar year. After Open enrollment, changes can only be made within 31 days of a qualified event. Additionally, voluntary benefit carriers may also choose to allow special enrollments during this period. Visit the Human Resources website at www.missouristate.edu/human/open-enrollment for additional information.

Change of personal information - Contact the Office of Human Resources within 31 days of a change in personal information such as address or telephone number, birth of a child, marriage, or divorce. Open Enrollment gives you the opportunity to elect/change beneficiary and the opportunity to review this information and to confirm its validity.

Required Notices - Several required notices on a variety of topics are also available on the Open Enrollment page at www.missouristate.edu/human/open-enrollment..

Disclaimer- Information provided in this memo is for informational purposes; Please review all plan documents available on the human resources benefits page under the corresponding plan information. www.missouristate.edu/Human/benefits Plan documents supersede any discrepant information.

Open Enrollment

2

Medical and Prescription

Medical and Prescription Drugs – Choose between two (base and buy-up) plan options. Both plans feature 100% coverage on preventive care and reduced cost with utilization of Magers Health and Wellness Center. Please review the medical plan options and a summary of benefits and coverage included. MSU will continue to pay a significant portion of employee premiums for Health Insurance. Employee’s may also participate in the annual wellness incentive to receive $30 per month savings. Submit your Flu vaccination records to Magers Health and Wellness by Dec 1. and complete the educational questionnaire through my learning connection to secure your discount. Accommodation requests must be received by Deputy Compliance Officer, Juliaholmes@missouristate.edu prior to Nov. 1.
Employees who receive a bona fide accommodation must complete biometric screening to receive wellness incentive discount

Visit the Human Resources website at www.missouristate.edu/Human/wellness-incentive for more information about the Wellness incentive.
New Rates

Prescription drug coverage – Prescription drug coverage is included as part of the base and buy-up medical plans; refer to the summary of benefits and coverage included. Magers Health and Wellness Center Pharmacy is an Elixir preferred provider. Save an additional 10% by utilizing the Magers pharmacy over other In-network pharmacies. Both base and buy-up plans participate in the following RX programs:
Generic Incentive – Covered expenses are limited to the cost of a generic drug if an equivalent generic drug is available when a multi-source brand name drug is dispensed. In addition to the coinsurance, the covered person must pay the difference between the cost of the generic drug and the multi-source brand name drug. This is a significant increase in the incentive to use generic drugs when available and has been necessary to reduce unnecessary pharmaceutical costs to the health plan.
Step Therapy - This program requires you to try a particular drug that is cheaper before you can move to a more expensive choice. However, if you have already tried the cheaper drug without benefit, you will not have to try it again if you obtain documentation from your doctor.
Declination of Medical coverage: Employees may decline the MSU medical plan. Under ACA, Employees may choose to purchase plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace also known as the Health Insurance Exchange. Re-enrollment is allowed only during open enrollment or within 31 days of a qualifying life event.

Open Enrollment

3

Dental, Vision, Flex Spending, ID Protection, Critical illness

Dental Plan- Plan includes 100% preventative service coverage and $3000 per person calendar year benefit maximum.

Vision Insurance – Employees have the choice of two (Base and Premium) VSP Vision plans. Both plans offer $10 copay for well-vision exam with a VSP provider as well as additional savings like discounts on Laser vision correction. We encourage you to review the plan options.

Cafeteria and flexible spending plan- Flexible spending accounts are tax-advantaged accounts that let you use pre-tax dollars to pay for eligible medical or dependent care expenses. Flex accounts require annual enrollment and cannot be “carried forward” from the prior plan year. Additionally, eligible premiums will be deducted pre-tax; employees who do not want premiums deducted pre-tax must “opt-out” each year. The Flexible Spending Account (FSA) limit is $3,050 for medical and $5000 for dependent care expenses. Debit cards are available to participants of the plan.
Complete Flex Enrollment: https://asiflex.com/MissouriState/Enrollment.aspx
***Voluntary benefit premiums cannot be deducted on a pre-tax basis. This applies to Critical Illness Insurance, Accident Insurance, Voluntary Life Insurance, Short-Term disability, and Identity Protection.
Identity protection- Allstate’s Identity protection select provides comprehensive financial and identity monitoring to help protect against the impact of identity theft. Should Fraud occur, protection offers full-service remediation, up to $1 million in identity theft reimbursement, and up to $500,000 in stolen funds reimbursement.
Critical Illness insurance- Plan provides a lump-sum benefit to covered individuals diagnosed with qualifying critically ill medical condition. Benefits are paid directly to the member and can be utilized at your discretion.
Plan options include $100 per year wellness benefit for completing wellness/preventative screening.

Open Enrollment

4

Accident, EAP, Short & Long Term Disability, Universal Life

Accident insurance- Plan pays benefits for accident-related services based on a set schedule. Covered spouses receive 50% and Covered children receive 25% of the amount shown in the injury benefit schedule. Plan has two coverage levels available. Benefits are paid directly to the insured and used at your discretion.
Plan options include outpatient physician treatment benefit ($50/$75) Payable on non-accident related services.

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP) – EAP offers free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow up services to employees who have personal and/or work-related problems. The EAP can address issues affecting mental and emotional well-being and provide an array of services including mental health, financial wellness, legal resources and more.
Mercy EAP - Services offered for full and part-time employees
Mercy EAP toll free phone number 800-413-8008 (option 2)
https://helpwhereyouare.com/CompanyLogin/1515/mercy
UNUM EAP - Services offered in conjunction with group life insurance coverage, and available to full time employees only
UNUM EAP toll free phone number 800-854-1446
https://www.unum.com/employees/services/life-balance

Short Term disability- Provided by Hartford. Benefit is designed to protect employee income when an employee is unable to work related to an off-the-job illness or injury. STD benefit allows employees to choose base amount of coverage (not to exceed 60% of base salary rate) Payment, based on medical necessity, up to employee’s ability to return to work or when long-term disability eligible. Pre-existing conditions have minimum allowable of 4 weeks. Pre-existing limitation does not apply after coverage in force for 1 year. Guaranteed issue during open enrollment means no medical questions. Benefits will not offset sick or vacation time. Two plan levels to best fit your individual needs.
Long Term disability – MSU provides long-term disability insurance coverage for full time benefit eligible employees with no employee cost. LTD coverage pays 60% of salary, less other income for employees who are unable to work due to an illness/injury that results in the employee being unable to work for 6 months or longer.

Group Universal Life Insurance – Permanent life insurance policy provides a lump-sum cash benefit upon death. Policy has life event riders that let you draw upon the death benefits to help pay for long-term care or to help provide income if you are terminally ill. Benefit is offered at guaranteed issue for employees, spouses working outside the home, and children under age 25. Premiums are based on age and coverage level. Policy is portable and rates/coverage are locked at the time of purchase. Premiums paid post-tax through payroll deduction monthly.

Open Enrollment

5

Employee and Dependent Supplemental Term Life

Term Life Insurance – Basic term life and AD&D coverage is provided to full-time employees. Supplemental term life coverage for employees and dependents may be purchased. Employee rates shown below. Premiums are age rated and increase as corresponding age is obtained. Supplement term life insurance is purchased based on annual salary. Coverage and Premiums auto increase/decrease with pay changes. Premiums are monthly post-tax payroll deduction.
During open enrollment, employees with current supplemental term life insurance may increase coverage 1 benefit level without medical questions, provided increase does not exceed $300,000. Benefit level equals salary multiplier; example: movement of 1x salary option to 2x salary option constitutes 1 benefit level.
Requests to increase coverage more than 1 benefit level, increases exceeding $300,000 or requests to enroll in supplemental term life insurance when not currently participating, require medical approval by UNUM.

Dependent term Life insurance - Elect supplemental dependent coverage with choice of five levels of coverage. See chart below for coverage & premiums; monthly rate is a unit price. Pay amount shown in the table regardless if you cover a spouse/domestic partner, child(ren), or a family with spouse and child(ren). Premiums are monthly post-tax payroll deduction.
During open enrollment employees with current supplemental dependent policies may increase coverage one benefit level without medical questions, provided the benefit level increase is not in excessive of option 3, during open enrollment.
Requests to increase coverage more than 1 benefit level, increases exceeding option 3, or requests to enroll in dependent term life insurance when not previously participating, require spouse/domestic partner medical approval before coverage will be in force. *Children not required to answer medical questions.

Dependent Life Insurance Rates
Options	Coverage		Monthly Cost
Option 1	Spouse: $10,000	Child(ren): $5,000	$2.30
Option 2	Spouse: $20,000	Child(ren): $10,000	$4.60
Option 3	Spouse: $30,000	Child(ren): $20,000	$7.80
Option 4	Spouse: $40,000	Child(ren): $20,000	$17.40
Option 5	Spouse: $50,000	Child(ren): $20,000	$27.40

Open Enrollment

6

Retirement, MOST, MOABLE, Fee Waiver, Worker’s Compensation

RETIREMENT PLANS – All fulltime staff and faculty are automatically enrolled in retirement plans: MOSERS (Staff) and CURP (Newer Faculty Members). Refer to www.mosers.org for more information.
CURP enrolled Faculty may transfer to MOSERS after 6 years of employment. This may be financially advantageous to some employees. Those who wish to transfer should discuss with MOSERS representative at 800-827-1063. Be advised that transferring from CURP to MOSERS impacts on the amount of Term life coverage provided by the University.
SECTION 403(b) –- Employees (except student workers), may participate in the 403(b) program. Enrollment in retirement savings can be elected outside of open enrollment. www.myretirementmanager.com
SECTION 457(b) – State of Missouri Deferred Compensation plan – Benefit eligible employees may choose to participate in the 457(b) program. Enrollment in retirement savings can be elected outside of open enrollment. https://www.modeferredcomp.org/
Missouri’s MOST program - Missouri’s 529 Education Plan is a tax-favored program which provides a way to save for educational expenses for you or your family. Missouri taxpayers can contribute up to $8,000 per taxpayer in contributions annually from their Missouri adjusted gross income. Earnings on the contributions are exempt from Missouri and Federal state taxes when used for qualified educational expenses, including K-12 tuition expenses at a public, private, or religious school, post-secondary at qualified public, private colleges and universities, community college, vocational, technical, and trade schools. Qualified higher education expenses include tuition, certain room and board expenses, computer, and peripheral equipment. www.most529.com.
MOABLE -MOABLE is an investment account that allows qualified individuals with disabilities or parents or guardians of individuals with disabilities to save and invest money without losing eligibility for certain public benefit programs, like Medicaid or SSI. MOABLE accounts are similar to 529 college savings account and can work alongside Special Needs Trusts. They can also function like a regular checking account. After account set up, provide payroll with direct deposit information. www.moable.com
Credit Fee Waiver – Full time employees and their eligible dependents are eligible to utilize up to 15 credit hours in an academic year. The fee waiver is non-taxable when used for undergraduate courses. Additionally, it is non-taxable when used by the employee for graduate courses (taxes apply for dependents in graduate courses). Request your fee waiver through the credit fee waiver platform on my.missouristate.edu portal, Search “fee waiver”
Non-Credit Fee Waiver - A $150 non-credit course fee waiver is available to each fiscal year (i.e., July 1 through June 30) to pay course fees related to noncredit courses offered by Missouri State University for the purpose of professional and personal development. Spouses, sponsored dependents/domestic partners, and dependent children are not eligible for this benefit. Utilize the non-credit course fee waiver upon registering for a class in MyLearningConnection.
Worker’s compensation (On-The-Job Injuries) - If you are injured on-the-job you must call 1-800-624-2354 to get approval from the State’s Workers’ Compensation office before seeking medical attention. In the case of a life or limb-threatening injury, immediately seek medical attention from the nearest hospital emergency room or call 911. Failure to obtain approval for treatment when the injury is not life or limb-threatening may result in a denial of workers’ compensation benefits. You must complete and submit the required forms associated with your work-related injury.

VSP Vision	Base (Per Month)	Premium (Per Month)
Employee Only	$7.46	$13.04
Employee + Spouse	$14.75	$25.47
Employee + Child(ren)	$15.83	$27.35
Employee + Family	$23.53	$40.65

Medical Premiums	Base Plan	Buy-Up Plan
*Without wellness incentive applied	(Per Month)	(Per Month)
Employee Only	$42	$93
Employee + Spouse	$399	$511
Employee + Child(ren)	$294	$388
Employee + Family	$457	$577

Employee Supplemental Life Insurance Rates
Age Brackets	Cost per $1,000	Age Brackets	Cost per $1,000
Less than age 30	$0.04	50-54	$0.22
30-34	$0.05	55-59	$0.42
35-39	$0.07	60-64	$0.65
40-44	$0.09	65-69	$1.26
45-49	$0.14	70 and older*	$1.83
*Basic & supplemental coverage reduces to 65% at age 70; to 50% at age 75; and to 30% at age 80.

Dental	(Per Month)
Employee Only	$0
Employee + Spouse	$27
Employee + Child(ren)	$21
Employee + Family	$43

Online Benefit Platform / Virtual Benefit Fair / Open Enrollment for benefits / Change of information/ Required Notices / Medical/Prescription / Dental/ Vision / Cafeteria Plan/ Flexible spending / Identity protection / Critical insurance/ Accident insurance	Employee Assistance Program / Disability: Short-term and Long-term / Universal Life Insurance / Term Life Insurance / Retirement Plans: MOSERS, CURP, 403(b), 457(b) / Missouri MOST Program/ MOABLE / Fee Waiver Program: Credit and Non-Credit / Workers Compensation / Benefits Summary/ Legal notices/ Medicaid notice