2024 USG Healthcare Plan Premiums for Employees and pre-65 Retirees and 2024 65+ Retiree Health Reimbursement Account Funding 

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

The Board of Regents approved the 2024 University System of Georgia (USG) healthcare plans and premiums for active employees and pre-65 retirees at its August 8 meeting. The Board also approved the USG funding for the Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) for retirees aged 65 and older. 

This year was a particularly challenging year due to a higher-than-normal increase in projected costs from inflationary pressures, higher utilization of healthcare services, and the continuing increases in the cost and use of prescription drugs. To manage overall plan costs, there will be:

1. plan design changes in all the USG healthcare plans,
2. a reduction in the well-being credit from $200 to $100,
3. changes to some of the healthcare programming, and
4. increases to both the employer share and employee share of monthly premiums to cover the rest of these higher-than-normal increases in projected costs.

CHANGES TO THE 2024 USG HEALTHCARE PLANS 

• Increases in deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums, co-insurance, and co-pays for all of the USG-offered plans.  
• Customer service and healthcare support for the Anthem/BCBSGa plans (Consumer Choice HSA, Comprehensive Care, and BlueChoice HMO) will be moved from Accolade to Anthem’s Total Health, Total You program. 
• Weight Loss support will be offered through Weight Watchers for employees enrolled in the USG healthcare plans (Virtual option only for the Anthem plans and virtual and in-person options for the Kaiser HMO plan). 
• A Well-being Credit of up to $100 (previously $200) will be available for healthcare-enrolled employees and their enrolled spouses. The new program year will begin January 1, 2024.
• Activities will now be provided through your healthcare provider (Anthem or Kaiser).  
• The Livongo diabetes management and prevention programs will be sunsetting at the end of the year.
• Programs will be offered through the healthcare providers and/or through institutional-based programming. 
• Employee premiums will increase by 6.9% in the Consumer Choice HSA and Comprehensive Care Plans, 10.9% in the BlueChoice HMO plan, and 10% in the Kaiser Permanente HMO plan. 
• Employer premiums will increase between 9.4% and 10.9% in the Consumer Choice HSA, Comprehensive Care, and BlueChoice HMO plans, and 5.3% in the Kaiser Permanente HMO plan.

A summary of the approved plan design changes, including increases in deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and/or co-pays, as well as the plan premiums, are available on the USG benefits website (PDF). 

There are no changes to the tobacco use or working spouse status certifications. As in the past, tobacco use and working spouse status certification will be required during Open Enrollment. If the certification is not completed during Open Enrollment, the surcharge will apply. Information is available on the USG website at: https://benefits.usg.edu/health-and-well-being/surcharges  

• There will be one surcharge for all dependent children 18 and older who use tobacco. 
• After you complete your enrollment, check your Open Enrollment confirmation statement to make sure you completed the certification. The Tobacco Cessation option will continue to be available during Open Enrollment for employees/dependents who are tobacco users to provide an opportunity to take a Tobacco Cessation program, complete the program and have the tobacco surcharge removed. Information about Tobacco Cessation options is available on the USG Well-being website under Tobacco and Smoke-Free. 
• The Working Spouse Surcharge will apply to employees who cover their working spouse under the USG plan when the spouse has an offer of coverage from their own employer. 
• You may change/update your surcharge status at any time during the year through OneUSG Connect – Benefits. The change will be effective on the first day of the following month. 

OPEN ENROLLMENT

2024 Open Enrollment will be October 23 through November 3, 2023. Active employees will begin receiving Open Enrollment information in late September by mail. Complete your 2024 enrollment elections and certifications through OneUSG Connect – Benefits no later than November 3, 2023. This is also a great time to review and update your personal and emergency contact information, voluntary demographic data, W-2 consent and banking information in OneUSG Connect.

BENEFITS FAIR 

You are invited to attend the University of Georgia benefits fair on October 30 in Mahler Hall at the Georgia Center from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. to learn more about the USG benefits programs. We encourage all employees to attend the fair to learn about the changes to the benefit plans for 2024 and about all the benefits USG and the University of Georgia have to offer.

RETIREE INFORMATION 

Pre-65 retirees and pre-65 dependents will remain on the same plans as active employees. As in the past, there will be separate pre-65 retiree premium rate charts for the 2024 plan year.