Event report
October 2023 - ADOA/ASRS Open Enrollment Seminar
The annual ADOA/ASRS Open Enrollment seminar was held on Thursday, October 19, 2023. Presenters for the seminar included Tracie Carruthers from the Arizona Department of Administration Benefit Services Division, Randi Gray from the Arizona State Retirement System and Joleen McBride from United Healthcare.
Arizona Department of Administration
Tracie was the first presenter. She indicated that the open enrollment period for ADOA occurs from October 30 – November 17 and the benefits effective date is January 1, 2024. The deadline for making any changes is November 17, 2023 at 5:00 pm Arizona time. This year’s enrollment is a passive enrollment which means if you are not making any changes to your coverage, you don’t need to do anything. However, if you are planning on making any benefit changes, you will need enroll. Enrollment this year will be online only. Instructions for how to change your online password and how to enroll online will be included in the Retired Employees Benefits Enrollment Guide 2024. Emails were sent out to all benefits eligible retirees with the link to Guide. You can also find a link to the guide below along with a list of dates for the benefits expos being held.
Tracie mentioned that there were no changes to any of the plans offered and that there would be no increase in premium. She did point out that the vision plan premium will continue to be an annual premium and those participating in plan will be billed accordingly.
Arizona State Retirement System/United Healthcare
Next up was Randi Gray from the ASRS. Randi indicated that the open enrollment period for ASRS occurs from November 1 – 30 and the benefits effective date is January 1, 2024. Randi then reviewed the plans offered starting with the dental plans. The benefit structure for all of the dental plans remains unchanged, but the monthly premiums for Delta Dental plans has increased. Non-Medicare medical plans benefit structures have not changed but there is a change in the monthly premium for most of the plans. The Medicare Advantage HMO plan benefit structure remains unchanged, but there is an increase in premium. The Medicare Advantage PPO plan has a few updates in benefit structure and also an increase in premium. More information on all of the plans and premiums can be found in the Open Enrollment guide which was mailed to all benefits eligible participants. (A link to the guide online can be found below)
The ASRS benefits enrollment is a passive enrollment this year. If you aren’t making any changes to your benefit selections, then there is nothing you need to do to continue getting the coverage you currently have. Only if you are making changes do you need to participate in the open enrollment process.
Randi stressed that if you get nothing else out of the open enrollment guide, you should definitely save the back cover! Inside the back cover has a listing of all the telephone numbers and websites that you will need as a reference for the benefits offered by the ASRS.
Jolene McBride from United Healthcare then spoke, in detail, on the United Healthcare Medicare Advantage plan that has been put together specifically for ASRS participants. Her presentation is included in the seminar recording, but a link to a video of her specific presentation can be found here - United Healthcare Video Link
