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Public Employees' Benefit Board

2013 Benefits

 

FAQ - Frequently asked questions
   
Click here for answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) about benefits for 2013, including HEM, the enrollment process and benefit statements.   
 
Log in
  • To enroll during Open Enrollment Oct. 1-31
  • To update your contact information
  • To view and print your benefit statement
  • To enroll as a newly eligible employee

Click here if you forgot your user name or password

 

Click here for payroll and benefit contacts

 
Core (medical and dental) Benefits
Medical Coverage
       ●   Premium Rates 
       ●   Plan Comparisons 
       ●   Covered Service Areas by Plan 
       ●   Opt Out of PEBB Medical or Decline Benfits
       ●   VSP Vision Services Plan 
 
Dental Coverage
     ●   Plan Comparisons ​
Basic Life Insurance
 
Heath Engagement Model (HEM) Program

The goal of the HEM program is to engage as many people as possible in improving their health, which can help to contain health care costs over time.

To participate in the 2013 HEM: 

  • Complete your health plan's confidential online health assessment between now and Oct. 31 (even if you completed a health assessment for the 2012 HEM)
  • Sign up for HEM during Open Enrollment Oct. 1-31.
  • Take and track two health actions before the next Open Enrollment.

If you cover a spouse or domestic partner in your benefits, both members of you must participate -- not one or the other.

HEM Participants enrolled for employee-only or employee and children coverage receive a $17.50 taxable health incentive in their monthly pay.

HEM Participants enrolled for spouse or domestic partner coverage or family coverage receive a $35 taxable health incentive in their monthly pay.

HEM Non-Participants have a $100-per-person additional deductible added to the standard deductible in their choice of medical plan. The additional per-person deductible applies to a maximum of three members in a family, no matter the number of covered dependents. The additional deductible applies to the plan's in-network and out-of-network deductible amount.

Click here to learn more about the 2013 HEM program. 

 
Deduction for Tobacco Use
Using tobacco brings known risk to the health of the user and the PEBB group as a whole. Tobacco users have a monthly deduction to offset the additional risk to the plan. When you enroll, you select your tobacco-use status.
  • If you or your spouse or domestic partner currently use tobacco, you will have $25 deducted from your monthly pay for health care benefits.
  • If you and your spouse or domestic partner currently use tobacco, you will have $50 deducted from your monthly pay for health care benefits.

The plans continue to offer full coverage for participation in the Quit for Life tobacco cessation support program.

Click here to learn about the  Quit for life Tobacco Cessation Program.

If you or your spouse or domestic partner quits using tobacco during the plan year, you can end the associated deduction. 

Click here to access the Tobacco-use Midyear Change form.

 
Deduction When Spouse/Partner Waives Other Coverage
When a spouse or domestic partner waives coverage through another employer's group health plan, it concentrates risks and costs in PEBB instead of spreading them more broadly.
 
If your spouse or partner waives this coverage you have $50 per month deducted from your pay for spouse or domestic coverage in PEBB.
 
If your spouse or domestic partner takes the other coverage or loses access to it during the plan year, you can change your status and end the deduction as a Midyear Change.
 
You do this by filling out a Midyear Change form and submitting it within 30 days of the change to PEBB (fax and address information is on the form). Click here to access the Midyear Change form.
 
Estimate Core Benefit Costs
Here are PDF forms you can use to estimate your monthly payroll deductions for core benefits in 2013. (These forms allow you to enter data but they do not calculate for you.)
NOTE: Percentage of employee premium share for core benefits and any subsidies are determined by the employer or a collective bargaining agreement - not by PEBB.
  • Collective bargaining agreements for employees represented by SEIU and for some AFSCME groups have set the employee premium share at five percent for 2011-2013.
  • Premium share for unrepresented, management service and executive service employees in the executive and legislative branches are set at five percent for 2011-2013.

For information about your premium share percentage or if you will receive a subsidy, please contact your agency or university payroll, HR or benefit office.

Click here for payroll and benefits office contacts.

 
Optional Insurance Benefits
Optional Life Insurance
Beginning Plan Year 2013, premium rates for optional life insurance are based on the individual's age and use of tobacco products in the 12 months prior to Open Enrollment. The enrollment process asks about tobacco use in the prior 12 months for all coverage amounts for both employee and spouse or domestic partner coverage.​
       ●   Employee Life Insurance 
       ●   Spouse or Domestic Partner Life Insurance 
       ●   Dependent Life Insurance 
       ●   Retiree Life Insurance 
Short-term Disability Insurance 
Long-term Disability Insurance 
Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance
Long Term Care Insurance
​
 
Flexible Spending Accounts

 
Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) help you save on income tax, so they adhere to IRS code.  FSAs allow you to use pre-tax dollars to reimburse yourself for IRS-qualified expenses.

  • Use a Health Care FSA for IRS-qualified medical and dental expenses not covered in your plan. 
  • Use a Dependent Care FSA for IRS-qualified day care expenses that allow you to work.

FSAs are annual accounts. If you want an FSA for the coming plan year, you must enroll during Open Enrollment. You can't revoke your participation in an FSA after it goes into effect. 

You choose an annual amount to contribute to your account, and your payroll deducts your salary contribution (which must be at least $20) before calculating your taxes. Paying for eligible expenses with these pre-tax dollars saves on your taxes. 
 
Here are things to know about these accounts.
  • FSAs operate according to IRS code.
  • The annual employee contribution limit for an individual health care FSA in 2013 is $2,500, down from $5,000 in 2012.
  • The annual employee contribution limit for an individual depedendent care FSA in 2013 continues to be $5,000.
  • When you enroll, you enroll for the entire plan year; plan accordingly.
  • The minimum monthly contribution amount is $20.
  • You forfeit any funds that you don’t use and claim for valid expenses by the deadline.
  • Your payroll will deduct even portions (which must be at least $20) of your annual total election amount from each paycheck over the course of the year. For academic-year employees, this may be nine or 10 months.
 
See PEBB’s Summary Plan Desription for details about eligiblity and enrollment in the FSA program.  These are individual tax-favored accounts; PEBB does not provide tax advice. Please seek tax advice from a qualified tax advisor. 
 
PEBB contracts with ASIFlex to administer the FSA program under PEBB administrative rules and in keeping with IRS code. For more information visit ASIFlex online at http://orpebb.asiflex.com.


Click here for ASIFlex's website for PEBB FSA enrollees.

 
Resources

Public Employees' Benefit Board   
1225 Ferry St SE Salem, OR 97301  
E-mail: Eligibility and Enrollment   
(503) 373-1102, fax (503) 373-1654  
Medical Plans Dental Plans
       ●   Kaiser Permanente         ●    Kaiser Permanente 
       ●   Providence Choice          ●    ODS 
       ●   PEBB Statewide Plan          ●    Willamette Dental 
       ●   VSP (Vision Service Plan)    
Mail-order Prescriptions Optional Plans
     ●    Kaiser Permanente         ●    The Standard 
       ●    PPS         ●    UnumProvident 
       ●    Walgreens  Other Benefits
       ●    Wellpartner        ●    Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) 
         ●    Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
              800-433-2320
 
Glossary
Click here for a glossary of terms related to insurance and benefits.
 
Link to 2012 Benefits

Click here for information on 2012 benefits.