December

Employees to receive premium holiday in December

Human Resources Director Josh Mackey has details on the benefit.

December 12, 2017

Hello faculty and administrators participating in the MSU Denver Benefits Plan.

I am happy to inform you that the Board of Trustees for our health insurance program, Colorado Higher Education Insurance Benefits Alliance (CHEIBA), approved a 50-percent premium holiday for both medical and dental insurance for the first month of the 2018 plan year. MSU Denver will contribute the remaining 50 percent of premiums, and therefore employees will not have any medical or dental premiums deducted from Dec. 31 paychecks. Please note that vision, life insurance and other premiums will still be deducted.

As I mentioned with this notice last year, this is something that is evaluated each year based on activity within the plan and financial status of the Trust — it is not automatic. We have been fortunate that the CHEIBA Board has been able to grant a premium holiday for several years, but each year there is discussion about the plan’s ability to support any type of premium holiday. I know that many employees have become accustomed to this premium holiday in December, but I want to remind us that we should not rely on this in the future.

The good news is that our benefits plan is financially sound and able to support the premium holiday again this year. The additional good news is that the ability to provide a premium holiday is partly in control of the employees and their dependents on the plan. The CHEIBA trustees consider the plan funding and the claims experience to determine whether funding is available for a full or partial premium holiday. If plan participants are thoughtful about how they use the plan and claims costs are low, it is more likely the trustees will be able to approve a premium holiday and keep co-pays and other fees down.

If you have any questions regarding your benefits, please contact Benefits Manager Amanda Berry at 303-605-5321 or aberry11@msudenver.edu.

Thank you and have a great winter break.

Josh