Election of State Employee Representatives to the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System
A memo to non-faculty employees of the University of Tennessee participating in TCRS.
Author: nsimson
Direct Deposit Change Requirement
The UT System is constantly working to further improve the security of direct deposit and combat the ever-increasing number of fraudulent attempts to bank accounts.
2022 Annual Enrollment begins Oct. 1
Each year, annual enrollment is your chance to choose benefits or make benefit changes that will be effective Jan. 1. The annual enrollment period for calendar year 2022 coverage is from Oct. 1 – Oct. 15.
Health Insurance Premium-Free Holiday
The State Insurance Committee approved a medical premium holiday for June 2021. The medical portion of your group insurance premium will not be deducted from the first biweekly payroll on May 18 and the May monthly payroll (meaning, you will not be required to pay the May premium for that month).
Enroll in the 2020 – 2021 Flexible Benefits Program
The enrollment period for the University of Tennessee’s Flexible Benefits program is from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31. For calendar year 2021, Optum Bank will manage the medical, limited purpose and dependent care programs.
Temporary benefit changes responding to COVID-19
From March 17 – May 31, 2020, Tennessee state and higher education health plan members won’t pay for Telehealth visits when they use carrier-sponsored Telehealth programs, even if the visit if for something other than COVID-19.
Updated: Coronavirus COVID-19 Benefits (Insurance and Pharmacy)
On March 17, The State Group Insurance Program received approval from the State, Local Education and Local Government Insurance Committees to waive member cost-sharing for in-network COVID-19 testing and in-network outpatient visits associated with this test.
Calendar Year 2018 Wellness Program Update
The prolonged litigation affecting the State of Tennessee wellness program has ended. However, because of the time it takes to complete the contract award process and implement the contract, we will be unable to operate a wellness program in 2018. What that means for insurance members is that we will not have any wellness services in 2018. This includes the cash incentive that state and higher education members could earn for completing wellness activities. As soon as we have a target start date for the 2019 program, we will share that information. Please not that this will not affect 2018 premiums because the wellness program and the plan selection are unrelated.
Review Tax Withholding Amounts to Avoid Surprises Next Tax Season
Following passage of federal tax reform legislation in December 2017, all employees are encouraged to review their tax withholding amounts to avoid having too much or too little taken from their paychecks based on the new rates and tax brackets.
UT Medical Center and State Insurance Plans
Regardless of which insurance plan or insurance carrier (Cigna or BlueCross) you selected for 2016, UT Medical Center and affiliated physicians will be in-network for UT employees and all other state of Tennessee plan members.