Dear NMC Faculty and Staff,
I would like to update you on the current state of our health insurance benefits decision process, and also inform you of an important change in our Open Enrollment schedule.
We will be postponing Open Enrollment from Monday, November 14, 2016 to Thursday, December 1, 2016.
As many of you are aware, changes in the health insurance environment nationally have contributed to cost increases of health insurance plans for employers, and NMC is no exception. We have attempted to let everyone know about these changes and about the College’s options through Benefits Advisory Committee members, and also in 3 meetings where Hollie DeWalt and I spoke directly to the College community. A key point in these discussions has been that a renewal of our health insurance plans ‘as is’ would cost an additional $413,000.
We presented 2 options for changes in our benefits plans that would reduce the amount of cost increase to both the College and to employees, with what we believe are relatively minor reductions in benefits levels. We asked for everyone’s feedback. The feedback we received overwhelmingly favored Option 1 over Option 2. On Monday, October 31, the BAC met and agreed that their respective groups preferred Option 1 over Option 2.
We also agreed that the HSA seeding in Option 1 would be front loaded at 70/30, rather than 50/50, in order to better help employees manage health care cash flows.
This week, we began discussions with the Faculty and Academic Chair unions regarding the proposed changes. We have additional meetings set up later this week and next week if necessary to continue our conversations. Because of the on-going conversations with the Faculty and Academic Chair unions, we are postponing the Open Enrollment scheduled for November 14, 2016 to Thursday, December 1, 2016.
The HR team and the BAC is appreciative of your involvement in these discussions and in your understanding of our current situation. Check your calendar for updated details in the Open Enrollment schedule. Please feel free to contact me or Hollie DeWalt if you have questions.
We look forward to seeing you all at Open Enrollment on December 1.
Thank you,
Mark Liebling, Executive Director of Human Resources