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N E W S from the Employee & Retiree Service Center

¡ Montgomery County Public Schools ¡ Rockville, Maryland ¡

VOLUME 21NUMBER 1AUTUMN

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BENEFIT OPEN ENROLLMENT: October 14–November 8, 2013IN THIS ISSUE

1 Benefit Open Enrollment: October 14–November 8, 2013

1 New for 2014: Cigna to Replace UnitedHealthcare

1 How Can We Help You?

2 Frequently Asked Questions About Open Enrollment

2 Be Prepared for Open Enrollment

2 Open Enrollment Benefit Fairs

3 Making Changes to Your Benefits

4 Save Money with a Flexible Spending Account

5 Now Available: 2013 MCPS Retirement Benefit Statement

5 Thinking of Retiring?

6 Enroll in Your 2014 FSA Now!

6 Well Aware Website: Keeping You Aware of Wellness News

NEW FOR 2014: Cigna to Replace UnitedHealthcare Effective January 1, 2014, Cigna

will offer both point-of-service (POS) and health maintenance organization (HMO) coverage to eligible MCPS employees. Your copays and deductibles will remain the same, and 98 percent of claims covered as in-network by UHC will be considered in-network and cov-ered by Cigna. The change saves money and allows MCPS to continue offering high-quality health-care coverage.

If you are currently enrolled with UHC, your enrollment will default to Cigna unless you select another health plan during the fall Open Enrollment. Unsure about which plan is right for you? Keep reading to find out about oppor-tunities to learn more about your Open Enrollment options.

For additional information related to this change, refer to the 2014 Employee Benefit Summary. n

How Can We Help You?The Employee and Retiree Service

Center (ERSC) strives to keep you informed about your benefits, pay, retirement, and leave. Our website was designed to make it easy for you to find everything you need. Visit our website today.

Still have questions?We are here to help. Contact ERSC—¡¡ In person (Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.) at 45 W. Gude Drive, Suite 1200, Rockville, MD 20850¡¡ By e-mail

¡¡ By phone (Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:15 p.m.) at 301-517-8100 n

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will hold its annual Open Enroll-ment for employee benefits this year from October 14–November 8. If you wish to make changes to your benefits during Open Enrollment, you must submit MCPS Form 455-20: Employee Benefit Plan Enrollment to the Employee and Retiree Service Center (ERSC) no later than November 8, 2013. Any changes made to

your benefits will be effective January 1, 2014.

If you choose to make changes to your benefits, you will receive a benefit confirmation statement in your MCPS e-mail account. If you are not making changes to your benefits, no action is required and you will not receive a confirmation.

You may enroll in the full employee benefit plan or choose only the individual components (medical, dental, vision, or prescription drug) that meet your needs. For example, you may select medical and prescrip-

tion drug coverage but decline vision and dental coverage. However, all family members must have the same coverage.

Open Enrollment is also your time to enroll in a flexible spending account (FSA) for 2014. You must reenroll in an FSA each year. If you decide to enroll in a medical FSA, MCPS will match the first $100 of contributions to your medical FSA. Read on for more information about the benefits of enrolling in an FSA for medical or dependent care expenses and how to sign up for 2014.

Studies show that an educated health-care consumer is able to navigate the confusing world of health insurance and make better decisions. The change in health insurance providers—from UnitedHealthcare to Cigna—is a major change to benefits for 2014, so be sure to pay close attention to Open Enrollment materi-als to ensure that you make the choices that are best for you and your family. n

¡¡ During Open Enrollment, eligible employees can—¡¡ enroll in benefits,¡¡ change health insurance carriers*,¡¡ make changes to coverage levels,¡¡ add or drop dependents**, and¡¡ enroll in a flexible spending account (FSA) for 2014.

* Current UnitedHealthcare members will default to Cigna unless they choose another health plan. See “Cigna to Replace UnitedHealthcare” below for more information.

**Documentation may be required.

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 2

Frequently Asked Questions About OPEN ENROLLMENTWhen is Open Enrollment?October 14–November 8, 2013

When do the changes I make during Open Enrollment take effect?January 1, 2014

What if I am happy with my current benefits?If you are currently enrolled in a CareFirst or Kaiser Permanente health plan, take no action*—your current benefits will continue for the 2014 plan year. If you currently are enrolled with UnitedHealth-care, you will want to review the Open Enrollment materials carefully to compare health benefit options. Remember: Your enrollment will default to Cigna unless you select another health plan during the fall Open Enrollment.

* If you wish to continue in a flexible spending account (FSA), however, you must reenroll annually. Enrollment in your 2014 FSA plans is offered online only. To learn more, visit our website, where you will find resources to help you with online enrollment.

How will I know if the Employee and Retiree Service Center (ERSC) has received my enrollment forms? You will receive a confirmation in your MCPS e-mail of any changes made to your benefits once ERSC has finished processing those changes. If you make no changes to your benefits, you will not receive a confirmation. If you only update your annual FSA elections, you only will receive confirmation of your FSA elections.

How can I learn more about my MCPS employee benefits?¡¡ Open Enrollment Benefit Fairs Speak with staff from ERSC and representatives from the health insurance carriers. See the dates and locations of this year’s Open Enroll-ment Benefit Fairs in this issue of For Your Benefit.

¡¡ For Your Benefit This issue contains important information about making changes to your benefits, flexible spending accounts, and more.

¡¡ ERSC website The ERSC website is always your best resource for employee benefit information. On our website, you will find— – important Open Enrollment

updates, including Open Enroll-ment dates, benefit fairs, benefits information, and more;

– the 2014 Employee Benefit Sum-mary, including information and cost comparisons of all of your employee benefits; and

– enrollment forms to enroll in benefits or make changes to your existing benefits n

Open Enrollment BENEFIT FAIRS

Benefits-eligible Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) employees will have an opportunity to meet with benefit program vendors and to discuss Open Enrollment options with ERSC staff during this year’s Open Enroll-ment Benefit Fairs. Additional benefit enrollment information will be available at all of the benefit fairs, as well as in the ERSC office lobby.

¡¡ Benefit fairs will be held—Tuesday, October 8, 2013Tuesday, October 15, 2013Tuesday, October 22, 2013Tuesday, October 29, 2013

This year, all benefit fairs will be held from 3:00–5:30 p.m. at Julius West Middle School, located at 651 Great Falls Road, Rockville, MD 20850. n

Be Prepared for Open Enrollment¡¡ Take these simple steps to make sure you are ready for this year’s Open Enrollment:¡¡ Check your MCPS Outlook e-mail for the Open Enrollment announcement from the Employee and Retiree Service Center (ERSC). This important e-mail contains a link to the Open Enrollment memorandum with details regarding MCPS employee benefit highlights, information about how to enroll in benefits during Open Enrollment, and more.

¡¡ Need help accessing your MCPS e-mail? myid assists with forgotten passwords; the MCPS Help Desk helps with forgotten usernames.

¡¡ Read the Open Enrollment memorandum, available on the ERSC website or in your Open Enrollment announcement e-mail.

¡¡ Read the 2014 Employee Benefit Summary for details about MCPS employee ben-efits. You also will find 2014 benefit rates and information about how to access your enrollment forms.

¡¡ Come see us at an Open Enrollment Benefit Fair! ERSC benefit fairs are held at various locations throughout the county during Open Enrollment. Read on for dates and locations of this year’s benefit fairs.

n Stay in touch with ERSC for Open Enrollment news, detailed information, and enrollment forms. Follow us on Twitter and visit us online.

n Submit your forms to make changes or enroll in benefits by November 8, 2013.

n Read on for more information about how to make changes or enroll in benefits.

If you choose to fax or e-mail your Open Enrollment forms, save your fax confirmation or a copy of your sent e-mail. You will receive a confirmation e-mail from ERSC when your benefit changes have been processed. Save this confirmation for your records. n

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 3

Making Changes to name to go directly to the form. You can type directly on the form. Do not forget to save a copy for your records.MCPS Form 455-20: Employee Benefit Plan EnrollmentUse this form to enroll in benefits, add or drop dependents, or change your health plan vendor. You also can use this form to update the beneficiaries on your basic employee term life insurance. If you do not remember who you have named, this is a great time to update your choices.

MCPS Form 450-1: Optional Employee Term Life Insurance Enrollment/ Cancellation FormUse this form to enroll in optional employee term life insurance. Please note that you also must be enrolled in basic employee term life insurance. You also must provide evidence of insur-ability and be approved for coverage by the insurer. ERSC will contact you regarding the evidence of insurability process after receiving this form.

MCPS Form 450-2: Optional Dependent Term Life Insurance Enrollment/ Cancellation FormUse this form to enroll your depen-dents in optional term life insurance.

Please note that you also must be enrolled in basic employee term life insurance. If you are enrolling a spouse in this optional coverage, he or she must also undergo the evidence of insurability process, which will be initiated by ERSC upon receipt of this form.

2. SIGN YOUR FORMSYou can choose to electronically

sign your forms using an electronic signature provider, or you can print and sign your forms.

3. SUBMIT YOUR FORMS TO ERSCYou may submit your signed benefit

forms in any one of the following ways:

¡¡ Fax your forms to ERSC at 301-279-3642 or 301-279-3651. Remember: Our fax machines are very busy during the last 48 hours of Open Enrollment. Please plan accordingly.

¡¡ E-mail scanned copies or elec-tronically signed forms to ERSC@mcpsmd.org.

¡¡ Pony your forms to ERSC at 45 W. Gude Drive, Suite 1200.

¡¡ Mail or bring your forms to ERSC at 45 W. Gude Drive, Suite 1200, Rockville, MD 20850. n

¡¡ Still Paying for Optional Dependent Life Insurance When Your Dependents Are No Longer Eligible?If you elected to enroll your dependent child(ren) in Optional Dependent Life Insurance, coverage continues until September 30th following their 23rd birthday. As long as your spouse is NOT enrolled in the plan, you should notify ERSC once your youngest child has reached age 23 to drop the coverage. That way, your deductions for life insurance can be reduced accordingly. Optional Dependent Life Insurance costs the same regardless of the number of depen-dents enrolled, so if your spouse is also enrolled, cancelling coverage for your child(ren) will not decrease the cost. n

¡¡ SOME TIPS on submitting changes:

PLEASE DO PLEASE DO NOT

Keep your sent e-mail or fax confirmation and verify that your materials were transmitted successfully. This is your receipt that ERSC has received your forms.

Call or e-mail ERSC for confirmation of receipt of your forms.

Plan ahead when faxing your benefit enrollment forms. Fax your forms during the final 48 hours of Open Enrollment, when fax traffic is heaviest.

Sign both pages of each benefit enrollment form. Forget to sign both pages of your enrollment form. Forms without signatures will be returned, and it will be up to you to resubmit your signed form before the Open Enrollment deadline of November 8, 2013.

Submit all pages of your enrollment forms and supporting documentation in one fax or e-mail.

Send multiple e-mails or faxes. ERSC receives many forms during Open Enrollment; if your forms are separated, ERSC staff will be unable to attribute your changes to you.

Check your benefits confirmation to ensure that your changes have been made correctly. After ERSC has processed your changes, you will receive an e-mail confirmation in your MCPS Outlook e-mail.

Submit your form in more than one way (e.g., do not mail your form after you have faxed or e-mailed it). Doing so will delay the processing of your changes.

Enroll in your FSA account quickly and easily online. Attempt to send a paper FSA enrollment form. FSA enrollments are conducted online only and paper submissions will not be accepted.

Keep a copy of your forms for your records. Forget to keep a copy of your forms. n

Your BenefitsOpen Enrollment is the time to enroll

or make changes to your employee benefits. Follow these three easy steps:

1. FIND YOUR FORMS ONLINE Offering forms online allows MCPS

to reduce our environmental footprint while giving you 24-hour access to your benefit forms. Click on each form

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 4

SAVE MONEY with a Flexible Spending Account MCPS flexible spending accounts

(FSAs) allow you to set aside a speci-fied dollar amount from your gross pay—“pretax”— to pay for qualifying out-of-pocket medical and dependent care expenses. This amount reduces gross pay and is sheltered from taxes.

You can choose to open a medical FSA, a dependent care FSA, or both. You must then indicate the amount to be set aside from your gross pay and deposited into your FSA(s). After pay-ing for qualified expenses, you must submit a claim reimbursement form to the FSA plan administrator, ADP (formerly SHPS), a third-party vendor. Contact ADP by telephone at 1-800-678-6684 or via their website.

¡¡ Curious how an FSA can help you save money? Here are some common examples*:

Orthodontics: Brian’s son needs braces next year. The orthodontist says the braces will cost $3,600. Brian sends the treatment plan to Aetna and is informed that they will pay a total benefit of $1,000. Brian plans this procedure for the next calendar year and plans his medical spending FSA for the next calendar year, since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires FSA accounting on a calendar-year basis. Brian decides to contribute the maximum of $2,500 to his medical FSA and receives a $100 contribution from MCPS. The total tax savings is $766.25, as you can see in Chart 1.

CHART 1: Tax savings for Brian

Child care: Angela and Felix both work full time and pay $100 per week for daycare for their 2-year-old daughter. Allowing two weeks for vacation, they expect to pay $5,000 (50 weeks @ $100 per week) for daycare in 2014. Angela and Felix use this figure with the dependent care worksheet in Flexible Spending Accounts: Save Money on Healthcare and Dependent Care! to com-pare their potential tax savings from an FSA to the income tax credit available for dependent care. They determine that the tax savings from an FSA would be greater than the dependent care tax credit available at their level of income, and then decide to make an FSA elec-tion each year until their daughter reaches age 13. By placing $5,000 in a dependent care FSA each year, they expect to realize a total tax savings of $1,532.50 per year, as shown in Chart 2.

* Based on federal tax savings at 15%; state and local tax savings at 8%; and FICA tax savings at 7.65%.

CHART 2: Tax savings for Angela and Felix

Free Money!As an incentive to encourage more

employees to realize the savings of a medical flexible spending account (FSA),

MCPS WILL DEPOSIT AN ADDITIONAL $100 TO YOUR MEDICAL FSA WHEN YOU CONTRIBUTE AT LEAST $100.

¡¡ Helpful FSA Tips“USE IT OR LOSE IT”If you have an FSA for 2013, you should review your account on the ADP website and make plans to use any remaining balances before March 15, 2014. Qualify-ing expenses from your medical or dependent care flexible spending accounts incurred between January 1, 2013, and March 15, 2014, may be reimbursed from your 2013 plan election. Any unspent 2013 balances will be forfeited under the “use it or lose it” rule after March 15, 2014. All 2013 plan-year FSA claims have to be submitted by April 30, 2014.

KEEP YOUR RECEIPTSYou must keep receipts to substanti-ate all claims made with your FSA debit card or paper submissions. You may be required to submit documentation upon request. All expenditures are subject to audit, per IRS regulations.

FLEXIBLE SPENDING DEBIT CARDSWhen you enroll in a medical FSA, you will receive a Visa debit card, good for making eligible medical purchases such as co-payments at your doctor’s office. Your medical FSA debit card is valid for three years. If you currently participate in an FSA and have misplaced your debit card, please contact ADP for a replacement. ADP charges a $5.00 fee to replace a missing debit card.

¡¡ Need more information?For more information about FSAs,

please visit our website. Here you will find links to eligible and ineligible expenses, forms to enroll or file claims, and Flexible Spending Accounts: Save Money on Healthcare and Dependent Care! with worksheets for estimating qualifying expenses.

In addition, plan administrator ADP offers a Learning Center on their website with information to help you

continued on page 6

AMOUNT SHELTERED

FROM TAXES

TAX RATES TAX SAVINGS

$2,500

Federal Tax Rate of 15% $375.00

State and Local Tax

Rate of 8%$200.00

FICA Rate of 7.65% $191.25

TOTAL SAVINGS $766.25

AMOUNT SHELTERED FROM TAXES

TAX RATES TAX SAVINGS

$5,000

Federal Tax Rate of 15% $750.00

State and Local Tax

Rate of 8%$400.00

FICA Rate of 7.65% $382.50

TOTAL SAVINGS $1,532.50

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 5

NOW AVAILABLE—2013 MCPS Retirement Benefit StatementYour MCPS Retirement Benefit Statement now is

available online. Your statement reports the projected future benefit amount, as of June 30, 2013, of your MCPS Core and/or Supplemental Pension Plans. You can access your statement online by logging in to your myMCPS account. Access to your statement is secure and convenient—you can view or save your retirement information any time.

¡¡ On your Retirement Benefit Statement, you will find—¡¡ Plan membership information

¡¡ Eligibility dates for retirement

¡¡ Projected benefit amounts at normal and early retirement dates

¡¡ Eligibility and credited service

¡¡ Purchased, transferred, and military service

¡¡ Projected vested benefits in the event of resignation prior to retirement

¡¡ Access to prior-year statements. n

Thinking of RETIRING?The Employee and Retiree Service Center (ERSC)

sponsors Retirement Information Sessions in the Carver Educational Services Center (CESC) auditorium, located at 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, MD 20850. Topics for each session include a timeline for retirement, eligibility, benefit formulas, leave, postretirement health and life insurance, taxes, and forms. ERSC staff will be available to answer questions and assist members with the retirement planning process.

ERSC also hosts workshops to assist retiring employees with retirement forms. For additional information about infor-mation sessions or forms workshops, visit the ERSC website. n

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U N D E R S T A N D I N G Y O U R

Employee and Retiree Service Center ¡ Montgomery County Public Schools ¡ Rockville, Maryland

Learn More About Retirement¡¡ ¡MCPS Retirement Planning Web Page—includes links to resources such as Understanding Your Retirement, a retirement timeline, forms, and more.

¡¡ MCPS Retirement Informational Sessions—conducted by the Employee and Retiree Service Center (ERSC) for employees considering retirement within the next two years.

¡¡ State Teachers’ Retirement and Pension Plans Pre-Retirement Seminars—conducted by the Maryland State Retirement Agency for members of the State core plan who are within eight years of retirement.

¡¡ This interactive guide is meant to help youunderstand the information on your MCPS Retirement Benefit Statement.

T O U S E T H I S G U I D E , click on any of the blue text for additional information, including:¡¡ Definitions of common terms¡¡ Frequently Asked Questions¡¡ Links to additional resources

For details about your MCPS core and supplemental pension plans, including plan provisions, how benefits are calculated, retirement eligibility, and examples to show how your MCPS pension plan works, visit Understanding Your Retirement.

¡¡ For a printable version of this document, click here.

U N D E R S T A N D I N G Y O U R R E T I R E M E N T S T A T E M E N T

SAMPLE STATEMENT

YOUR STATEMENTEmployee ID: 00000

John Smith

PLAN MEMBERSHIPCore Benefit: MCPS Pension SystemSupplemental Benefit: MCPS Pension SystemPERSONAL DATA AND RETIREMENT CREDIT

Date of Birth

January 1, 1981

Status

Not Vested

TOTAL ELIGIBILITY SERVICE

2.0

CREDITED SERVICEMembership Service (Employment)

2.0

Purchased Service

0.0

Transferred Service

0.0

Military Service

0.0

TOTAL CREDITED SERVICE

2.0

RETIREMENT ELIGIBILITY DATES AND BENEFIT AMOUNTS PER YEAR

Normal Retirement Date

July 1, 2039

Projected Annual Core Plan Benefit at Normal Retirement $35,201.17

Projected Annual Supplemental Plan Benefit at Normal Retirement $3,911.24

Early Retirement Date

February 1, 2036

Projected Annual Core Plan Benefit at Early Retirement $18,034.73

Projected Annual Supplemental Plan Benefit at Early Retirement $2,003.86

VESTED BENEFITSIf you terminate your employment as of

June 30, 2013

Vested Benefit Eligibility Date Projected Annual Core Plan Vested Benefit

$0.00

Projected Annual Supplemental Plan Vested Benefit

$0.00

¡¡ RETIREMENT INFORMATION SESSIONS will be held on the following dates in the CESC auditorium:

¡¡ Wednesday, November 6, 2013 4:30–6:30 p.m.

¡¡ Monday, December 2, 2013 5:00–7:00 p.m.

¡¡ Wednesday, January 8, 2014 4:30–6:30 p.m.

¡¡ Monday, February 3, 2014 4:30–6:30 p.m.

¡¡ Wednesday, March 5, 2014 4:30–6:30 p.m.

¡¡ Tuesday, April 1, 2014 4:30–6:30 p.m.

* Dates and times are subject to change. Visit the ERSC website for the most up-to-date information. n

45

850

E. Gude Drive

Mannakee St.

Crabbs Branch Way

Route 355H

ungerford Drive

W. Gude Drive

CESC

ERSC

CESC AUDITORIUM 850 Hungerford Dr. Rockville, MD 20850

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 6

Flexible Spending continued from page 4

decide whether an FSA is right for you. From the ADP web page, click on “Learn how an FSA can save you money,” which is on the left side of the page under “Learning Center.” This will provide you with information on FSAs, including videos that explain how FSAs work and an interactive contribution calculator. n

Enroll in your 2014 FSA NOW!If you wish to participate in a medical spending and/or a dependent care

FSA for 2014, you must submit your 2014 account elections by November 8, 2013. A new enrollment election must be completed yearly, even if you have participated in an FSA in the past. There is only one way to enroll in an FSA—online.

Enrolling online not only decreases your environmental footprint, it also decreases the amount of time you have to wait for confirmation of your elections. Visit our Open Enrollment web page to learn more about online enrollment. From the FSA section of this page, you can watch a video that walks you through the online enrollment process. When you are ready, you can click on “Enroll Online” and complete your 2014 FSA enrollment. You will receive an e-mail confirmation of your elections within minutes, and another confirmation when your elections have been processed. n

WELL AWARE WEBSITE: Keeping You Aware of Wellness News

Well Aware, the MCPS employee wellness program, has a home online. The website makes it easy for you to find important information to improve your health and gives you quick access to the wellness programs in which you are involved.

¡¡ Here is a quick tour:The site rotates important wellness news and inspiring stories in the top section, so check back often to see what is new.

In the “Resources” section, you can find quick access to current programs and other important resources, including the following:

¡¡ The Just 10 Challenge: move, lose, or maintain!

¡¡ Quit for Good smoking cessation program

In the tabs, you will find other important wellness tools, including the following:

¡¡ Upcoming seminars and events

¡¡ Discounts on services (e.g., gym memberships, diet programs) through your health plan

¡¡ Archive of the Well Aware eNews, the monthly newsletter delivered to your inbox

¡¡ Archive of wellness seminar/webinar videos

Visit the wellness website today to make sure you are taking advantage of everything Well Aware has to offer. n

is published three times a year by Montgomery County Public Schools Employee and Retiree Service Center 45 W. Gude Drive, Suite 1200 Rockville, Maryland 20850

phone: 301-517-8100 e-mail: ERSC@mcpsmd.org

Larry A. BowersChief Operating Officer

Susanne G. DeGrabaChief Financial Officer

Richard C. JohnstoneDirector, Benefits Strategy and Vendor Relations

Marcia J. WelchCommunications Specialist and Editor

0296.14 • EDITORIAL, GRAPHICS & PUBLISHING SERVICES

Qu it for

FOR YOUR BENEFIT Has a New Publication ScheduleYou now will receive For Your Benefit three times a year, rather than four times

a year. We will publish the newsletter in February, June, and October each year, while continuing to provide the information you need most. n