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Report Of GFC Benefits Subcommittee Meeting 1. Anne Fish reported that we will not know the rate increases in the health plan premiums till the May-June time frame. 2. The question arose whether a single instance of very high health insurance claims in a given year, say $300,000, would cause the premiums to go up in the following year. Pam Beemer replied that the answer was yes, but the University has stop-loss insurance which limits the impact of high cost claims. The charge for the stop-loss insurance would go up, but that has much lower cost impact. 3. Re health plan options for retirees, Anne Fish reported that NU is in dicsussions with BCBS and Aetna, and is looking at various plans, e.g., Aetna’s Medicare Advantage, which is similar to but not precisely the same as a Medicare Supplement plan. 4. There was discussion of how the health plans would be affected by the new health care legislation. While many of the provisions and their implementation are as yet unknown, our best information on some of the changes along with the dates they go into effect is as follows: (a) Over the counter medicines not payable from Flex Accounts (1/1/11); (b) Non-health-related withdrawals from Health Savings Accounts taxed at 20% (1/1/11); (c) Dependent children covered on a pre-tax basis till age 26 (1/1/11); (d) Amount placed in Flex Accounts capped at $2500 per year (1/1/13); (e) W-2 forms will show health expense data (date ?). There was some discussion of how best these changes could be communicated to NU personnel. The Benefits Division will be working on this issue. 5. Retirement plan options were discussed very briefly. It was noted that Stanford has recently switched from TIAA-CREF to Vanguard. NU offers TIAA-CREF and Fidelity. While Fidelity does not offer annuities, it was noted that many employees close to retirement roll over funds from Fidelity to TIAA-CREF to avail themselves of the annuities offered by TIAA-CREF. 6. The next meeting of the subcommittee will be on Wednesday, May 19, 4:00 pm. Location to be finalized. Submitted by
Report Of GFC Benefits Subcommittee Meeting Present: Pam Beemer (Assoc VP HR), Robert Chatterton, Robert Coen, Jack Doppelt, Anne Fish (Director, Benefits), Anupam Garg, Malcolm Hast, Joel Shalowitz, Jack Snarr, Robert Ten Eick, Burt Weisbrod 1. Health plans for retirees were discussed. A committee of the NU emeritus faculty organization (NEO) met with Pam Beemer and Anne Fish on Feb. 17, 2010, at which it was agreed by Pam and Anne that a comprehensive redesign of the plans available to retirees would be attempted. This will have to be done quickly, as the president and provost will need to approve any new plan in the July budget planning, and vendor contracts will need to be negotiated before Open Enrollment in November. It remains to be resolved whether retirees who have opted out of NU’s plans in the past will be allowed to rejoin any new plan, and under what conditions. We will report on these matters as they develop. 2. It was discussed whether active NU employees could set aside pre-tax dollars to use for health insurance costs during retirement. The money would also be able to be withdrawn tax-free. Any such plan would differ from the current Health Savings Account in that the latter is linked to the Value PPO. Pam Beemer reported that this arrangement is being explored. This is a bigger issue which we will discuss further at subsequent meetings, but we wish to note that this issue arose during the meeting of the NEO committee with Pam and Anne, so we are indebted to them for bringing it up, as the potential beneficiaries are not just retirees, but active employees too. 3. Jack Doppelt and Babette Sanders of the GFC have agreed to serve on the University-wide committee on wellness initiatives. The other members of the committee are Dan Bulfin, Director Recreational Sports, Anne Fish, Lori Henderson, Director Work/Life Re-sources, and Nancy Tierney, Director Fitness/Welness. It was briefly discussed that employees are largely not availing many wellness benefits currently available to them through their health plans. Better advertising of these during Open Enrollment was discussed. 4. Benefits for same-sex domestic partners were discussed next. The issue is that the university’s contribution to the cost of a same-sex partner’s benefits is treated as taxable income to the employee, whereas it is nontaxable for an opposite-sex spouse. Also, employees may not set aside pre-tax dollars in a flexible spending account to cover expenses for a same-sex partner who is not claimed as an IRS dependent of the employee. Since university contributions to health insurance premiums in particular are quite substantial, the difference in the tax burden is materially significant. However, this differential treatment of benefits is mandated by federal law. A possible remedy suggested is “grossing-up”, wherein the affected employee’s income would be raised by just the amount needed to offset the additional taxes. AVP Beeemer expressed concern about differentiating salaries on this basis. This proposal has additional problems, such as a skewing of the salary distribution in a school, an excess in the summer salary chargeable to federal grants, etc. We will continue to look for a way to resolve this disparity. 5. It was again brought up that some employees do not welcome the unsolicited “care enhancement” phone calls from the BCBS PPOs. Anne Fish stated that the simplest solution is to just tell the caller that you do not want this service. Failing that, an email should be sent to Anne, who will contact the responsible company. A blanket prohibition on the phone calls seems inadvisable as the care enhancement program does have educational and preventive value. 6. Previously issued Payflex debit cards are good for 2010 also, except for employees who had an FSA account in 2009 but do not have one in 2010. These employees must submit any claims for 2009 in paper before the deadline for such claims. 7. The next meeting of the subcommittee will be on Tuesday, March 30, 4:00 pm, in Tech F235. Submitted by Anupam Garg
Report Of GFC Benefits Subcommittee Meeting - Wednesday December 16, 2009,4:00 pm - Tech F235 Present: Pam Beemer (Assoc VP HR), Robert Chatterton, Robert Coen, Bernard Dobroski, Anne Fish (Director, Benefits), Michael Fishman, Anupam Garg, Malcolm Hast, Leon Keer, Joel Shalowitz, Jack Snarr. 1. Open Enrollment for 2010 was discussed. Some Mac users reported difficulty, but generally the process went very smoothly, including the last minute switch from Unicare to Aetna, which affected approximately 1000 members. Members of all plans may now print summaries of their selections directly from the web, so separate letters are not sent. 2. A University-wide committee on Wellness is still being formed. The GFC will try and nominate faculty representatives for this committee. 3. There was extensive discussion of the health plan for retirees. The issue in brief is that under the PPO, coverage for a retiree and his/her spouse comes to about $9200 per year, but yet the plan picks up very little of the 20% of medical costs not covered by Medicare. 4. The next meeting of the subcommittee will be on Fehruary 23 at 4:00 pm in Tech F235. An agenda will be sent out approximately one week in advance of the meeting. Submitted by Anupam Garg Summary of Meeting
of the GFC Benefits Subcommittee Attendance: Abe Haddad, Leon Keer, Anupam Garg, Ed Rossow, Patricia Rodriquez, 1. This year FSA account deductions generally increased, with some opting to increase to the new maximum of $10,000. 2. Retired employees again requested a direct withdrawal system to allow for payment of insurance premiums without the inconvenience of writing monthly checks. 3. Northwestern's "Wellness" initiative has begun with a smoking cessation program. 4. The May Fitness Month email to employees with an offer for "Free Fridays" at SPAC was sent 5. Our final meeting of the academic year will be in either July or August. Donna Jurdy Summary of Meeting of the GFC Benefits Subcommittee Attendance: Abe Haddad, Leon Keer, Anupam Garg, Bernard Dobroski, Ed Rossow, Terry Horton, Martin Block, Robert Chatterton, Malcolm Hast, Robert Ten Eick, Donna Jurdy; from HR: Pamela Beemer, Maureen O'Toole, Anne Fish 1. Pamela Beemer introduced Anne Fish, just appointed Director of Benefits, most recently at Mercer. 2. Maureen O'Toole reviewed the results of the past Open Enrollment. The enrollment process went smoothly this year. There was only a slight shift at about the ~5%~ level between the medical plans offered. Deductions generally increased for FSA accounts, with some opting to increase to the new maximum of $10,000. Payflex's handling of employee accounts continues to work out very well. Current cards will continue to be used in 2009; newly-issued cards expressly show Northwestern on them, and mailings have a Northwestern return address. 3. Northwestern's change for employee retirement benefits was discussed. These were in response to the anticipated-change in IRS regulations for 403B accounts. Numerous staff members took advantage of the option of better coverage, with 64% selecting the 5% deduction for Northwestern's 10% matching contribution. Selected emailing to the remaining 36% will be undertaken pointing out the financial advantages also noting that employees can change their retirement choices at any time without waiting for an open enrollment. The 5% deduction was selected by almost all faculty. The improved retirement plan for employees have resulted in increased benefit costs for Northwestern. 4. Northwestern's "Wellness" initiative begins with a smoking cessation program. Initiating a webpage on Wellness will call options to the attention of employees. It was suggested that YMCA's family plan rates for Northwestern employees should be publicized, comparing costs and benefits to those offered at SPAC. Fitness programs for Northwestern employees remain for further discussion. We pledge to continue working in this area. In grim financial conditions an improvement in health and wellness of Northwestern employees could only help to slow the increase in benefit costs. Survey of the wellness programs at other universities could provide models for Northwestern's planning. 5. Our next meeting will be in Spring Quarter, April 2009. We can begin to think about desired changes for the next enrollment for 2010. Alternating days, our next meeting will be on a Tuesday afternoon in April at 4PM. Date to be determined. Donna Jurdy Summary of Meeting of the GFC Benefits Subcommittee Attendance: Abe Haddad, Martin Block, Anupam Garg, David Dana, Joel Shalowitz, Ed Rossow, 1. Pamela Beemer introduced Maureen O'Toole, currently serving as Acting Director of 2. The subcommittee discussed the past Open Enrollment with HR representatives. 3. Northwestern's change for employee retirement benefits was discussed. These 4. Insurance options for retirees need to be reconsidered. The high cost of the 5. Northwestern's "Wellness" initiative begins with a smoking cessation program. 6. Our next meeting will be late January 2009. By then the statistics for the 2009 The next meeting will be on a Wednesday afternoon at 4PM. Date to be determined. Donna Jurdy Summary of Meeting of the GFC Benefits Subcommittee Attendance: Abe Haddad, David Dana, Burt Weisbrod, Dauphine Gregory, Leon Kerr,
Bernard Dobroski, Robert Chatterton, Malcolm Hast, Natasha Dennison, The upcoming 2009 Open Enrollment was discussed with planned plan changes: Generally, vendors will be the same, PPO health plans will add infertility coverage. There will be an increase in the PPO salary brackets for premiums. The level for annual deductibles remains the same. Dental plan will now cover implants, also orthodontia increased to $3000; yearly maximum benefit increases from $2500 to $3000. Premiums will increase slightly. Basic life insurance maximum coverage will increase to $250,000. Supplemental term life insurance will be covered by a new company (ING). The FSA health account annual contribution limit will be increased: $8,000 to $10,000.
PayFlex will continue to administer these accounts; the IRS "Grace Period"
will be adopted which allows an extension of claim service dates through through March 15th. Also, the claim filing deadline will be extended from the end of February to the end of March for the past year's account. Mailings by PayFlex will be made immediately identifiable with Northwestern. Northwestern will embark on its "Wellness" effort with a "Lifestyles for Healthy Behavior", this year with a smoking cessation program. Educational Assistance annual maximum benefits for an employee taking classes at Northwestern will increase to $10,000. The Reduced and Portable tuition benefit percentage will increase to 40%. Health Fairs: Chicago Campus, Tuesday, Oct. 14th; Open Enrollment: starts Mon, Oct. 27 and ends at 5PM on Fri, Nov 14. Finally, turning forward to next year's agenda, the GFC Benefits Subcommittee will pursue additional "Wellness" initiatives; expenditures there have been shown to hold down increases in health insurance premiums. Surely the new smoking cessation program represents an important first step for Northwestern. Donna Jurdy
Previous Meetings: Summary of Meeting of the GFC Benefits Subcommittee Attendance: Abe Haddad, Bob Ten Eick, David Dana, Edwin Rossow, Burt Weisbrod, 1. The upcoming 2009 Open Enrollment was discussed; possible plan changes 2. The staff request for using Northwestern's beach was brought before the committee. Currently usage requires SPAC membership, beyond the financial means of much of the staff. 3. Northwestern's publicity for the May Fitness Month effort to promote physical activity for faculty and staff needs to be considerably improved. 4. The next meeting will be in early July, before the 15th, to allow final benefits decisions before Open Enrollment materials go into print. Donna Jurdy The Benefits Subcommittee of GFC will hold its second meeting of Winter Quarter on Wednesday, Feb. 27th at 4PM in the Locy Hall conference room, #301. Agenda for meeting: The Benefits Subcommittee of GFC will hold its first meeting of the Winter Quarter on Tuesday, Jan. 29th at 4PM in the Locy Hall conference room, #301. FY 2004 Annual Report The
GFC Benefits Subcommittee addressed several issues involving
benefits in three broad categories: Health, Voluntary Insurance
Programs, and Tuition Benefits.Most
of the work involved the health insurance plans. The Committee
stressed the need for: An HMO plan that both utilizes physicians
from the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation and is
available to retirees; dental plans premiums for couples
without children; expanded mental health coverage in one
of the health plans; finely graduated premium for the PPO
plan, rather the current premiums that increase in discrete
steps; the possibility of offering a Health Savings Account
(HSA) plan. HR is also considering a menu-type of offerings
that would allow the selection of various options in some
health plans.The
Subcommittee studied several options involving voluntary
insurance programs, including Auto, Home, Legal, and Vision.
Offering such plans depends on faculty interest. The Subcommittee
suggested that HR attempt to offer a vision plan, if possible,
for 2005.The
Subcommittee was informed by HR that NU plans to eventually
increase the portable tuition benefits to 50% in the next
10 to 15 years. The Subcommittee also recommended that the
survey comparing NU benefits to peer institutions be updated.The
Subcommittee has one more meeting with HR on August 16,
2004 to finalize the plans for 2005. Present
and Future Goals: Proposal on Eligibility for Retiree Insurance: The GFC recommends that the University Administration proceed with their proposal to reduce the age for eligibility for retiree insurance from 60 to 55 (under certain conditions) using the following text which is to appear in the Faculty Handbook and with the change of the words "faculty member" to "employee"-in other documents. This change is to be effective 1/1/01: Provided that they do not take other employment where they would be eligible for such coverage, faculty members with at least ten years of continuous full time service who participate in a University health or dental plan as of the date of retirement are eligible to continue such coverage through Northwestern retiree health and/or dental insurance programs -including family coverage- beginning at age 55. Faculty members with fewer than ten years of full-time service may qualify according to a schedule available on the Benefits Division website. Participants in retiree health and/or dental plans must pay the full premium for Northwestern coverage, without any University contribution. Should a retired faculty member's Northwestern retiree health or dental insurance coverage be discontinued for any reason as permitted by the Plan, such coverage may not be reinstated. Persons may not be added to the retiree's coverage following enrollment in the retiree health or dental insurance plan. Should a faculty member die while actively employed by the University, his or her surviving spouse may continue health and/or dental coverage under the retiree plan even if the individual did not qualify for retiree coverage at the time of death (in terms of age or service). Proposal on Vanguard Group of Mutual Funds Background
The Retirement & Benefits Subcommittee (R&B) of the GFC is currently composed of 3 members of the GFC parent committee (Burt Weisbrod, Bob Decker, and Bob Ten Eick [chairman]) and a number of others selected from the faculties of the various schools of the University by the R&B chairman so as to have a reasonably wide cross-section of the University represented (Tom Geraghty, Rae Moses, Marcus Alexis, Lawrence Lichty, Ed Rossow and Al Telser). Most committee members serve (and have served) for 2 or more years in order to maintain a modicum of continuity in the process of pursuing the committee's and University's ideas and initiatives. The work of the committee is to review, monitor and upgrade the quality and/or quantity of the benefits provided by the University to the faculty including those related to health and dental care plans, tuition reduction plans, retirement plans, the wide range of services provided to the University faculty community by the Human Resources Department, faculty-related parking issues, benefits and issues concerning emeriti faculty and retirees and the like to mention a few. In the Fall of 1997, the faculty's satisfaction with services in the purview of the Human Resources Department (HR) was less than desirable. To counter this sentiment, the R&B Com, then under the leadership of Prof. Ed Rossow, began a dialogue with the VP for HR, Guy Miller and his senior staff. The committee met with Mr. Miller at regular intervals throughout the school year. During the past 2 years under the leadership of Prof. Bob Ten Eick the dialogue has been continued and expanded from 4 to 6 (or more as needed) meetings per year. These regular meetings between the committee and Mr. Miller and his staff have fostered a spirit of cooperation in our joint attempts to solve many of the University's HR-related problems and has allowed us to evolve from being a group whose main focus was to forward faculty complaints to one of being a partner with the administration in the development of new initiatives in upgrading the quality and quantity of the benefits provide to faculty and staff by the University. As a result of this partnership the GFC and the University administration can point with some small amount of pride to the following list of accomplishments of the past year and a half. 1. HR now consults with the R&B Com of GFC in the early Fall of each year to solicit our advice with regard to the changes or additions and deletions from the health, drug and dental care plans offered to faculty and staff that are proposed by the University (with 3/4s of the premium costs covered by the University.) There is never much leeway for additional coverages owing to the expensive nature of the current plans, but at least the HR administration receives the benefit from our judgements concerning what we think is or is not important to the greatest number of faculty. 2. About a year ago the University agreed to permit surviving spouses and the immediate family of faculty who die prior to retirement to continue their health and dental benefits under the University plan at their own expense (i.e., with no University contribution) for as long as they wish. Prior to this change, they were eligible only for coverage through the COBRA option and eligibility expired after 3 years. This provides for a significant increase in family security for faculty and their families. 3. Faculty who choose to retire as early as age 60 (and soon, at age 55) also can continue to have their health and dental care be covered by the University's plans at their own expense for as long as they maintain continuous coverage and do not leave the plan for any reason. 4. After many years of discussion, the University has begun to phase in paying retirement contributions to faculty on salary earned during the summer/research quarter from sources such as grants and contracts. The phase-in is now in the second of a 4 year plan to reach the full contribution level. President Bienen deserves the credit for this significant benefit because he listened to and accepted the arguments made by GFC and the faculty-at-large in support of this change. 5. Perhaps the most significant of the recent changes in the benefits package for faculty and staff is the new tuition reduction plan for spouses and dependent children. Again, President Bienen deserves most of the credit for the initiative. As result, the University's tuition contribution to the dependent children of faculty and staff who attend institutions other than NU is now much more generous than before. This was accomplished by reducing the tuition contribution made to dependents attending NU and making the contribution the same for all rather than unfairly favoring the children of faculty who attended NU. 6. Most recently, as result of a suggestion by VP for Finance Gene Sunshine, the R&B Com began an initiative to determine if the retirement plan should be broadened to allow for more opportunity for investment beyond that offered by TIAA/CREF and the Fidelity family of mutual funds. As result of our research on the matter, we are recommending to the University Administration that the Vanguard Group of Mutual Funds be added to the retirement plan. This group of funds will fill a gap in the range of investment opportunities that was previously unavailable to us, namely a wide range of index funds. 7. At the present moment, we are exploring the idea that faculty and staff could and would make good use of an investment advisory service to maximize the performance of their retirement monies and reduce their investment risk. We are assessing on-line internet based financial advisory services such as mPower and Financial Engines. Such financial advisory services, if brought in, would be strictly on a fee-for-service basis, paid for by the individual subscribers and at no cost to the University other than collecting a payroll deduction to pay for the individual's internet access to the service. If we conclude that this might be a good thing for faculty, we would ask the University to invite the selected service to test the market at NU and make a proposal for a fee schedule, etc. 8. Another new, on-going initiative of the R&B is to explore mechanisms to improve the benefits provided by the University to emeriti and other retirees. We would like to improve the lot of the retired person who chooses to remain a part of the University family and perhaps even desires to continue to serve in some mutually agreeable capacity. The Provost has also begun to address this situation by creating a blue ribbon committee of emeriti elders to study the area and we will begin to collaborate with that group to develop a plan that will make the prospect of retirement more attractive to the person who really wants to remain connected to the University in significant ways. 9. Finally, it has occurred to the GFC that the level of life insurance coverage provided by the University's group plan to the younger faculty (who are at or near the average starting assistant professor salary level) will not provide significant security to a surviving spouse and young family in the event of the death of the faculty person. To rectify this, we are exploring ideas and mechanisms to increase the level of coverage for the younger faculty and yet not increase the total cost of the group coverage to the University. This may involve a slight reduction in the level of coverage provided for the older (>58 y.o.a.) faculty for whom the cost to University for coverage is higher than it is for younger persons. Alternatively, the present tapering in the level of coverage could begin at a slightly earlier age than at present or it could become steeper. The underlying rationale being that by the time a person is nearing 60 y.o.a., the value of the death benefit in the retirement plan is quite substantial. This report is submitted to the University Senate, May 18th, 2000 by the R&B Committee of the GFC. Robert Ten Eick, chairman.
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