Effective January 1, 2010, we will have a change of providers for the college's group dental and life plans. All employees will be required to fill out new life insurance forms. Those employees who either want to continue dental coverage or enroll for the first time must also complete forms. We are also pleased to offer a new voluntary vision plan. We want to provide everyone with as much information as possible. Insurance information and forms are linked within the text on this page or in the Office of Human Resources. Open enrollment will be October 12 through October 30, 2009.

DENTAL INSURANCE
The College will be changing its dental provider to MetLife effective January 1, 2010. Our new provider will have two separate plans, a Dental Preferred Provider Organization "DPPO" and a Dental Health Maintenance Organization "DHMO". Studies show that dental wellness is linked to medical wellness; therefore the College is encouraging employees to participate by paying the entire employee premium under the DHMO plan. Because there will be two separate plans and a four tier rate system most employees should see cost savings on dental premiums from what they are currently paying. We encourage employees to evaluate the documents that provide an overview of the structure of the new dental plans. There are significant differences between the new plans. Some of those differences are:

DPPO Plan - The employee payment is based on a "percentage" for covered services; the maximum the plan will pay for services in the calendar year is $1,000. An annual deductible is applied to services beyond preventative care and there is no orthodontic benefit. The DPPO has an in-network and out-of-network price structure.

DHMO - Almost all services require a copayment even though some are very inexpensive. There is no cap on services provided for the year and there is an orthodontic benefit. A dentist must be selected from the Safeguard network (plan SGX-290). For orthodontics a primary dentist must be selected from the list and referral to orthodontic specialist. However, if your child has orthodontia in progress beyond banding please call HR for takeover forms by the new plan.

In order to enroll, you will need to complete either a SafeGuard enrollment form for the DHMO or a MetLife enrollment form for the DPPO. These forms will also be available at the benefit fairs or in the Office of Human Resources. Unlike the current dental plan, changing between the DHMO and DPPO plans willnot be allowed until the open enrollment for 2011. However, you may change dentists within the plan you choose. To search the list of dental providers under both plans please click here. When searching for a dentist under the DHMO select plan SGX-290.

		PBCC's Contribution	Employee Monthly Cost
DHMO	Employee Only	$9.26	$0.00
	Employee + Spouse	$9.26	$6.94
	Employee + Child(ren)	$9.26	$10.18
	Family	$9.26	$18.05
DPPO	Employee Only	$9.26	$7.10
	Employee + Spouse	$9.26	$24.92
	Employee + Child(ren)	$9.26	$25.25
	Family	$9.26	$47.97

HEALTH INSURANCE
Unfortunately, with health care costs still rising and high utilization by our members, the health plans will see an average increase of 5.75% for the calendar year 2010. As part of the effort to keep rates lower, the college participates in the health care consortium. The wellness benefit of the PPO and HRA has increased from $250 to $500 per year; the HMO services remain unchanged. Documents and links to narrated presentations outlining the plans in more detail can be found below. The monthly rates for the HMO and PPO for 2010 are as follows.

	Coverage Selected	PBCC's Contribution	Employee Monthly Cost
HMO	Employee Only	$423.00	$0.00
	Employee + Spouse	$423.00	$430.00
	Employee + Child(ren)	$423.00	$274.00
	Family	$423.00	$595.00
PPO	Employee Only	$423.00	$69.00
	Employee + Spouse	$423.00	$531.00
	Employee + Child(ren)	$423.00	$389.00
	Family	$423.00	$784.00

HRA
The Health Reimbursement Plan has been in place for three years. It is a PPO based on a coinsurance system instead of copays with an additional spending account provided by the college to assist with qualified out-of-pocket medical costs. If the employee doesn't utilize the entire amount of the spending account, the balance can be rolled over for utilization to the next year. The rates for the 2010 year are as follows.

Coverage Selected	College Monthly Payment	Employee Monthly Payment	Health Spending Account (12 months)
Employee	$475	$0	$500
Employee + one dependent	$475	$392	$1000
Employee + two or more dependents	$475	$582	$1500

Pharmacy Reminder (all plans)
The structure for pharmacy (30 day supply) will remain: Generic $15 / Brand $40. If a bioequivalent generic prescription with the same active ingredients is available, the member will not pay a copay but will be responsible for the actual cost difference between the generic and brand prescriptions. The exception will be if the physician has indicated and documented that the brand prescription is medically necessary. Only then will the member pay the brand copay of $40. Non-preferred prescriptions (those that are not on the preferred brand or generic list) will be $60 for a 30 day supply.

VOLUNTARY VISION COVERAGE
Even though the Blue Cross plans utilize a discount vision program, the college realizes that this benefit is not enough for some employees; therefore we will be offering a voluntary vision benefit through SafeGuard (a subsidiary of MetLife). Employees may choose from providers in or out of the network which can be found online. Within the plan there is a $10 copay for an exam every 12 months, $10 copay for lenses every 12 months, $85 frame allowance every 24 months. For more detailed information please refer to the plan summary. A listing of the in-network providers can be found on the Safeguard website (please choose Vision PPO). In order to enroll you will need to complete the SafeGuard enrollment form which are also available in the Office of Human Resources. The costs for the plan are as follows:

	Employee Monthly Cost
Employee Only	$5.86
Employee + Spouse	$11.73
Employee + Child(ren)	$12.08
Family	$16.72

LIFE AND ACCIDENTAL DEATH AND DISMEMBERMENT "AD&D" INSURANCE
The college provides term life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance for full-time employees at one times salary (for each coverage) with a minimum of $20,000 and a maximum of $50,000. Due to the rate increases over the past few years the College will be changing carriers from Standard Insurance to Florida Combined Life. All employees will be required to complete a life enrollment form in order to designate beneficiaries.

VOLUNTARY LIFE AND AD&D INSURANCE
Because the college is changing its group term life from Standard Insurance to Florida Combined Life, all voluntary plans with Standard will end December 31, 2009. Florida Combined Life is offering supplemental life and AD&D at this open enrollment with a guaranteed issue of one times salary which means no medical questionnaire regarding insurability is required. The maximum an employee can request for supplemental is three times annual salary but a questionnaire is required for amounts above one times annual salary. The amount for voluntary/supplemental life is indicated by writing "1x" for one times salary, "2x" for two times salary, and "3x" for three times salary in the boxes on the right side of the enrollment form. The monthly rate per $1,000 of this group term life coverage is $.25 with AD&D at an additional $.027 per thousand. To compute an estimate for voluntary life coverage you can utilize the Excel "Voluntary Calculator".

Voluntary dependent term life coverage is also available for $1.58 per month for each dependent covered. Coverage amounts are as follows: Spouse $10,000, child 14 days - 6 months $500, and child 6 months - 25 years is $5,000.

Please use the same form for voluntary life as for the college paid life insurance "Group Insurance Enrollment Application".

SHORT TERM DISABILITY
Our voluntary short term disability carrier is currently American United Life. The cost is $.33 per hundred dollars of the employee's monthly salary. The policy has a 30 day elimination period and can continue for up to 90 days (the employee cannot collect for 30 days after the disability begins). The policy also has a pre-existing condition clause. American United Life has agreed to allow an open enrollment period for those who did not select short term disability previously, but a medical questionnaire will be required. You can download an enrollment form here.

SICK LEAVE POOL
The College's open enrollment is the timeframe in which eligible full-time employees may apply for the sick leave pool. Please see the website http://www.pbcc.edu/x5900.xml for details and the applicable donation request form.

FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT
Our third party administrator, Custom Benefits Services, will be present at the benefit fairs in order for enroll new participants and to re-enroll current participants. Employees need to select their deduction amount each year. Forms are available in the Office of Human Resources.

Long Term Care Insurance
John Hancock is currently providing open enrollment for Long Term Care. To obtain further information regarding plans and rates for employees and dependents, please contact the College's John Hancock representative, Ellen Gallagher, at 840-8440.

EFFECTIVE DATES
Benefit changes are effective January 1, 2010. The last paycheck of the year, December 18, 2009, will reflect any benefit premiums and/or changes for January 2010.

If you have questions or need clarification regarding benefits, please feel free to contact Cheryl Hare 868-3153 or Donna Agard-Harvey 868-3133 or the Human Resource Office.