OPEN ENROLLMENT, THE period during which faculty and staff members have the opportunity to review their health coverage and make choices regarding their 2011 benefits, continues through 5 p.m. Tuesday, November 23.

Open enrollment packets were sent to staff and faculty members’ homes during the last week of October.

To help employees with the rising cost of health care premiums, UC has developed two new health plans for 2011. They include Health Net Blue & Gold and Anthem Lumenos PPO. Health Net Blue & Gold is offered in addition to the current Health Net plan, and Anthem Lumenos PPO is similar to CIGNA Choice Fund, which it replaces, but at a significantly lower monthly premium. The new value-priced options are offered as a means of offsetting double-digit increases in premiums for most medical plans and UC’s continuing budget challenges.

UC also has expanded on the requirements of national health care reform to allow faculty and staff to enroll their children up to age 26 in all health plans for which children are eligible. In addition to medical insurance, these include coverage for dental, vision, and legal services, and for life and accident insurance.

The Benefits Office will offer a series of workshops during which representatives from Anthem and Health Net will discuss UC medical plans. Workshops focusing on Health Net plans are set for Tuesday, November 2, at 1 and 3 p.m. in the UCen State Street Room. Anthem plans will be discussed on Wednesday, November 3, at 10:30 and 1 p.m., also in the UCen State Street Room. An open-enrollment highlights workshop will take place at noon on Thursday, November 4, in the UCen Flying A Room: and a workshop offering a side-by-side comparison of all medical plans will take place at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, November 16, in the Human Resources Learning Center, SAASB 3101.

Benefits staff members will be answering questions at various locations on campus from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on November 8, 10, and 18. They will have a table set up in the Humanities Courtyard on November 8; in Broida Courtyard on November 10; and at the Human Resources Learning Center, SAASB 3101 on November 18.

Information and details about Open Enrollment, including plan benefits, costs, and family member eligibility, are available at http://atyourservice.ucop.edu.