Open enrollment starts Oct. 1,  and employees eligible for health care benefits are encouraged to learn more about insurance and their benefit options in preparation for taking required action by the Oct. 31 deadline.

A good starting point is the Get Savvy About Health Insurance webpage, which is maintained by the benefits office in the Office of Human Resources. It provides a preview of 2020 medical and dental plans and other information to help employees better understand their health insurance.

“We want to empower employees to take charge of their open enrollment process,” said Cindi Peterson, associate director of benefits. “Knowing your options, comparing coverages and learning commonly used terms makes the open enrollment experience less confusing.”

Benefit-eligible employees are invited to attend the Benefits Fair on Oct. 3 at the Erb Memorial Union in the Crater Lake Rooms from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Representatives from each medical plan will be available to answer questions.

Kaiser Permanente is hosting an information session Oct. 8 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the EMU Diamond Lake Room. Arwen Mohr is the featured speaker and will share information about Kaiser’s integrated care model and review this year’s plan details.

Both events are open to all benefit-eligible employees with no registration required.

“This is a time for employees to review plan changes and explore all options, not just reenroll in the same plans,” Peterson said.

Open enrollment happens each year and gives benefit-eligible employees the opportunity to review benefit offerings and keep or change their elections for the following year. Participating in open enrollment is mandatory; all benefit-eligible employees are required to take action even if no changes to current elections are made.

The deadline for completing open enrollment is Oct. 31. Failure to take action results in higher deductible and surcharges.

A health engagement model will be a part of the open enrollment process again this year. Employees who plan to participate in the model can complete the health assessment questionnaire now, but no later than Oct. 31. Visit the HR website for more information about the model.

The benefits office and Public Employees’ Benefit Board will share additional information in the weeks ahead as the open enrollment period gets underway. Benefits-eligible employees should watch for emails and direct mail delivered to their home address. The open enrollment webpage is a valuable source of information to keep  employees up to date on processes, updates and deadlines throughout the open enrollment period.