From: Kyle Cavanaugh, Duke Vice President for Administration

The enrollment period for 2016 Benefits will be from Oct. 26 to Nov. 6. This annual period is the only time faculty and staff can enroll or make changes to these benefits outside of a qualifying life event such as marriage or the birth of a child.

Health care remains one of our most popular and valued benefits at Duke. More than 90 percent of eligible employees choose health coverage through one of our medical plans.

Providing a competitive health plan and navigating the employer requirements under the Affordable Care Act continues to be a challenge, but we are pleased to continue to offer four health plans to meet the diverse needs of our faculty, staff and family members, with very few changes from last year. Through diligent management of our plans, we have kept premium increases for medical insurance well below the national average, and Duke continues to pay most of the premium cost for individual coverage and about half of the premium for family coverage.

Individual coverage will only increase from $1 to $5 per month, and family coverage will increase from $6 to $24 per month in 2016. There will be slight adjustments to the specialist co-pay for all plans and the deductibles for Duke Options and Duke Basic. There are no changes in cost next year for two of the three dental plans and the vision plan.

This year, we are also asking employees to verify the eligibility of dependents covered by any of Duke’s medical plans. This is part of our efforts to manage the rising cost of health care by ensuring compliance with plan provisions and the appropriate payment of legitimate health claims.

[Open Enrollment Presentation]: http://www.slideshare.net/workingatduke/open-enrollment-for-2016-benefits-53375537