FY03-RETIREES' OPEN ENROLLMENT BROCHURE

HEALTH INSURANCE
OPEN ENROLLMENT
EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2002


Welcome to Washington University’s health care benefits open enrollment. The open enrollment period is scheduled from July 15 to August 15, 2002 and all health care benefits changes are effective September 1, 2002. Any additions, changes or terminations to your health or dental only coverage must be made by 5 p.m. on August 15, 2002.


NEW HEALTH PLANS

Faced with significan medical inflation, very high claims experience in all plans, and reluctant to change health insurance carriers again, we explored a number of alternatives and aggressively negotiated with our current carriers. The result of these negotiations include the following key plan changes:

Medicare Eligible:

Not On Medicare:
ACTION NOT REQUIRED

Medicare Eligible:

Not On Medicare:

All Retirees/Spouses:

ACTION REQUIRED


Due to the addition of the UnitedHealthcare (UHC) Choice HMO plan option and the change to the BlueCross BlueShield Choice network of providers:

Medicare Eligible:
You will need to complete an application if you want to change:

Not On Medicare:
You will need to complete an application if you want to change:

All Retirees/Spouses:
If you elect to make a change to a different health plan during this Open Enrollment, the applications are enclosed with this brochure. Please complete the appropriate application and return it to the Employee Benefits department by August 15, 2002.
RETIREE PREMIUMS


Our health benefits philosophy for retirees is to provide you with the choice of several quality medical plans with medical, prescription drugs and dental coverage and a dental only plan.

The new monthly health premiums effective September 1, 2002 for Retirees are as follows: (Please note that the premiums for the health plans include, medical, dental and prescription drug coverage.)
Plan
Retiree Over 65
Retiree + Spouse Over 65
Retiree + Spouse 1 Over 65 & 1 Under 65
Retirees over 65
Current
9/1/02
Current
9/1/02
Current
9/1/02
BC Medicare Supplement PPO
180.69
239.70
384.77
510.01
UHC Choice (Med. Supp.) HMO
N/A
239.70
N/A
510.01
1 BC Med Supp & 1 BC Excel
417.19
542.20
1 BC Med Supp & 1 BC Basic
333.24
428.50
1 UHC Med Supp & 1 UHC HMO
N/A
551.14
BJC Dental Only
17.62
18.41
38.86
40.61
58.69
61.33
Retirees under 65
Retiree Under 65
Retiree + Spouse Under 65
Retiree + Family Under 65
Current
9/1/02
Current
9/1/02
Current
9/1/02
BC Choice Excel PPO
236.50
298.73
475.61
601.23
693.13
874.23
BC Choice Basic PPO
152.55
185.05
308.68
373.85
449.45
544.54
UHC Choice HMO
N/A
255.50
N/A
566.94
N/A
789.19
BJC Dental Only
17.62
18.41
38.86
40.61
58.69
61.33



PLAN DESIGN CHANGES


BLUE CROSS EXCEL (CHOICE) CALENDAR DEDUCTIBLES AND OUT-OF-POCKET MAXIMUMS:

Design Changes Current 1/1/03

Medicare Eligible: No Change No Change

Not Medicare Eligible: Current 1/1/03
Individual calendar deductible $200.00 $ 300.00
Individual calendar out-of-pocket max $500.00 1,000.00

To help you better understand, here are a couple of examples. If your'e currently enrolled in the Alliance Excel plan, your current calendar deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums will apply through December 31, 2002 and the new calendar deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums will start on January 1, 2003. If you're enrolling in the Choice Excel plan for the first time on September 1, 2002 the current calendar deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums will apply September through December 2002 and the new calendar deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums will start on January 1, 2003.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG CO-PAYMENTS - BlueCross BlueShield & UnitedHealthcare Plans

Medicare Eligible
You and your spouse would still have to meet the $300 calendar deductible each calendar year but instead of covering medications at 80% after the deductible is met, medications would be subject to the co--pays listed below:

Current 9/1/02
Generic drugs (30 day supply) 80% $10.00
Preferred brand drugs (30 day supply) 80% $25.00
Non-preferred brand drugs (30 day supply) 80% $50.00

Not Medicare Eligible
As of January 1, 2003, you and your spouse will have to meet the $300 calendar deductible on your Prescription Drug coverage. Once you have met this deductible each calendar year, medications will be subject to the co-pays listed below:

Current 9/1/02
Generic drugs (30 day supply) $ 7.00 $10.00
Preferred brand drugs (30 day supply) $20.00 $25.00
Non-preferred brand drugs (30 day supply) $35.00 $50.00


BJC DENTAL BENEFITS
Design Changes

All Retirees/Spouses:
Effective September 1, 2002, the Out of Network reimbursement will change from a fee schedule to reimbursement at 80% of Usual, Customary & Reasonable charges. In other words, if your dentist is not in the BJC Dental Network, a greater portion of your bills for services rendered after September 1, 2002 should be covered by BJC Dental.

As of September 1, 2002, one annual routine periodontal exam will be added to the preventive services coverage.

PLAN BENEFITS COMPARISON
Due to the changes in plan offerings and benefits design, we have included an expanded comparison of plan benefits at the end of this brochure. Please take the necessary time to review this information.

Medicare Eligible Participants, please refer to the “Health Care Benefits For Retirees and Dependents On Medicare Supplement” comparison.

Retirees not eligible for Medicare, please refer to the “Health Care Benefits For Retirees and Dependents Not On Medicare” comparison.


FOR MORE INFORMATION


To assist you with your enrollment questions and to help you make the appropriate health plan decision, the Human Resources Department is providing the following sources of information:


HEALTH AND DENTAL CARRIER WEB SITES
You may access the homepage of Blue Cross, UnitedHealthcare and BJC Dental to view and print provider directories. The Blue Cross site is www.bcbs.com, the UnitedHealthcare site is www.uhc.com and the BJC Dental site is www.bjcdentalplan.com.

BENEFITS DEPARTMENTS
After using the above sources of information, if you still have questions regarding open enrollment, please send an email or call the Hilltop Benefits Department at the email addresses or phone numbers listed below. Due to the tremendous volume of incoming calls, we ask you to leave a message and our staff will return your call as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience during this busy time.
SERVICE AND CLAIMS

The quality of customer service and claims processing is as important as the actual level of health benefits. We include the following phone numbers for your convenience:

CARRIERPHONE NUMBERTIMES AVAILABLE
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD (PPO)1-800-392-80808:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Central time)
UNITEDHEALTHCARE1-877-392-80807:00 a.m - 6:30 p.m.
BJC DENTAL 1-800-790-0202 or 314-505-60008:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Central time)

TRANSITION ISSUES
SELECTING A NEW HEALTH/DENTAL PLAN


PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
During open enrollment, you may select one of the health plans without pre-existing condition limitations.



PROVIDER NOTIFICATION
Please notify your physician, dentist and pharmacy during your first visit after September 1, 2002 to update your records according to your new identification card and plan benefits.


RETIREES COMPARISON OF BENEFITS