Q&A: Open Enrollment

2009 Open Enrollment Questions

Q: If I want to keep the same plans I have now, do I need to anything?

A: It depends. A flow chart was included in the information mailed to your home which walks you through the decision process to determine whether you need to log in or not. The highlights are: Medical, vision and dental elections will all roll over into the new year without logging in. However, all voluntary life insurance plans will end September 30, 2009 and new plan options are available to all benefits-eligible employees AND RETIREES. If you wish to have any supplemental life insurance (for yourself, your spouse/partner or your children) you will need to log in to the MyOEBB Member Module and select the plans and coverage levels you wish to have effective October 1, 2009.

Q: OEBB didn't mail the step-by-step instructions for their web site like they did last year. Are those available somewhere?

A: In an effort to save paper and postage, OEBB has made those instructions available online rather than mailing them. Click here for a pdf of the instructions.

Q: How much life insurance does the district provide as the "basic" coverage?

A: Effective October 1, 2009 the "basic life insurance" plan paid for by the district will be $50,000 for each benefits-eligible active employee in the Administrative, Classified and Licensed employee groups. Any optional life insurance purchased would be in addition to this.

Q: I received an envelope from 4J with Open Enrollment information, then I also received an envelope from OEBB. I saw the flow chart in the 4J package, but do I need to do anything with the OEBB mailing?

A: The OEBB mailing contains a statement of your current enrollments, so you should review that to make sure everything is correct. For instance, make sure all the family members you want covered are listed and enrolled, the plans shown are what you want, etc. This is an important opportunity to discover any errors and make corrections you may not be allowed to make outside the Open Enrollment period.

Q: Even though the health plans offered by 4J aren't changing, are there any subtle coverage changes within those plans I should know about?

A: On September 4, 2009, OEBB published the following information about changes that affect 4J plans in their newsletter:

In addition to the new tobacco cessation program under all OEBB medical plans, the following changes and enhancements have been made to the OEBB benefits for the 2009-10 plan year.

ODS Medical: Preauthorization on imaging is now required.

ODS Pharmacy: The difference paid between brand name and generic (when a generic is available) will no longer count toward the pharmacy out of pocket maximum; Coordination of pharmacy benefits will be paid up to the OEBB benefit amount rather that up to 100 percent of member’s out of pocket cost previously paid; Over the counter products (with the exception of covered diabetic supplies) and medications used to treat sexual dysfunction will be excluded. Members currently taking covered over the counter products will be grandfathered in to allow for coverage for one year.

Q: When I reviewed the plan comparison chart OEBB mailed out, it showed an office visit copay of $20/40% under plans 7 & 8, but last year it was 20%/40%. Is that a typo?

A: Yes, it should say 20%/40% just like last year. On September 4, 2009, OEBB published the correction in their newsletter. To read more, refer to the last article on the last page.

General Questions

Q: What is the 4J Open Enrollment Period?

A: Open Enrollment is the one time each year when employees can make changes to their benefit elections without having a QSC event. The dates are August 15 - September 15 every year.

Q: How do I make changes during the Open Enrollment period?

A: Log on to the MyOEBB member web site and make your elections electronically online. Step-by-step instructions will be available during the Open Enrollment period to help you navigate the site.

Troubleshooting the MyOEBB Site

Q: My spouse is also a school district employee. When I try to add my spouse's information as a dependent on my plan, the system won't let me. What's wrong?

A: First, make sure your computer allows pop-up windows when you're on the MyOEBB site. Error messages and instructions are delivered to you via pop-up windows. Once pop-ups are allowed, you should see a message indicating that your spouse's information is recognized as a benefits eligible school district employee. This pop-up window should give you the option to select your spouse and acknowledge that your spouse truly is a school district employee and that you have not made a typo in your spouse's idenitifying information.

Second, another option to avoid this conflict is when you enter your spouse's information in the dependent screen, simply leave the social security number blank. It is not a required field.

Q: My spouse is also a school district employee. According to the question above, the system should not have allowed me to manually enter my spouse's information, but it did. Is that okay, or is something wrong?

A: If the system allowed you to enter a dependent into the system who is also eligible for OEBB benefits in their own name, something is wrong. Some possible scenarios where this would happen are :

the social security number (SSN) you entered for your spouse doesn't match the one on their OEBB employment record
the birth date you entered for them doesn't match the birth date on their OEBB employment record
the name you entered for them doesn't match the name on their OEBB employment record (e.g., their pay check is written to "William Smith" and you entered them as your spouse named "Bill Smith")

The bottom line is that each individual person, whether they are a benefits-eligible employee, retiree or dependent, should only have one unique OEBB Identification Number (also called an "E-Number"). If your spouse is a school district employee who is eligible for OEBB benefits under their own name as well as being eligible to be a dependent on your plan, the system should recognize that and ask you to verify that this is true (by confirming that the matching information it found really is the same person and not a typo).

If your spouse is eligible for OEBB coverage under their own name and the MyOEBB system doesn't prompt you that it recognizes this when you enter their information, first verify that you didn't make an error in their information. If everything you entered is correct, there may be an error in your spouse's employment record. Please contact the benefits office of your spouse's employer and let them know so they can investigate and get the records to match. (If your spouse also works for 4J, please call the 4J Employee Benefits Manager at 541-790-7675.)

New Employees

Submit a completed OEBB Enrollment Change Form to Human Resources within 31 days of employment to select a plan that will cover you from your first day in your benefits-eligible position through September 30th. This same form should also be submitted if you wish to waive coverage, with that election indicated.
If you would like to change plans effective October 1, you can log in to the MyOEBB Member Web Site between August 15 - Sept 15 and make your election online. If your information is not yet in the MyOEBB system, contact the Employee Benefits Manager at (541) 790-7675.