Employee Open Enrollment for 2021 Benefits

View HealthPartners Medical Open Enrollment presentation

Ramsey County will continue to offer HealthPartners Distinctions to employees and their families. The premiums for HealthPartners Distinctions are increasing in 2021 by 6.7 percent.

Providers are ranked as Benefit Level 1 or Benefit Level 2 based on cost and quality. A listing of the Distinctions Tiers is available here 2021 Distinctions Tiering.

Healthy Benefits

This year, the county again participated in the HealthPartners Healthy Benefits program. Employees and spouses covered under the county’s HealthPartners Distinctions Plan were invited to take the HealthPartners Health Assessment and then were asked to enroll in and complete one of the designated wellness programs by September 30.

If you successfully completed the Healthy Benefits program, you will pay $20 less for office visit co-pays in 2021 than those who did not complete the program. If you have family coverage and your spouse is covered under your policy, your spouse must also have completed the Healthy Benefits program for you and your family to qualify for the lower co-pay plan in 2021.    

Plan changes

Ramsey County made no plan design changes to the Distinctions plan for 2021. A chart summarizing coverage in the HealthPartners Distinctions plan is in your Employee Benefits Plan Reference Guide on pages 6 and 7.

Summary of Benefits Coverage

Use the links below to review the Summary of Benefits Coverage (SBC) document for 2021,

• SBC for Healthy Benefits program participants
• SBC for those that did not complete the Healthy Benefits program

If you require a paper copy of these documents, contact your Department Benefit Representative.

View HealthPartners Dental Open Enrollment presentation

Ramsey County’s dental program is provided by HealthPartners Dental. Employees can enroll in one of two HealthPartners Dental plans.  Information about the differences in those plans is in the Employee Benefits Plan Reference Guide and in the presentation above.  There will be no plan design changes in 2021.  Monthly dental premiums will increase by 2% in 2021. If you wish to continue with your current dental plan you will not need to make an election. 

Remember that if you drop dental insurance, or reduce from family to single coverage, you will not be eligible to re-enroll until the first open enrollment after three years.  Read more about this restriction in the Employee Insurance Benefit Plan Reference Guide on Page 8.

• Search for Providers in Ramsey County Tiered Network
• Search for Providers in Ramsey County Narrow Network

View Life Insurance open enrollment presentation       View Lifestyle Benefits presentation

Minnesota Life, with Ochs, Inc. as the plan administrator, will continue as the county’s life insurance provider in 2021. The rates for employee-paid optional coverage for employees and spouses will remain the same.  There are no plan design changes for 2021.

Extra features

Minnesota Life continues to offer several attractive features as enhancements to the county’s life insurance plan.  These Lifestyle benefits include, beneficiary financial counseling, will preparation, and travel assistance.  They are available at no additional cost to covered employees and their families. You can read more about these features in your Reference Guide on page 13.

Adjusting coverage amounts

If you are requesting additional amounts of optional life insurance you will need to print the Group Life Evidence of Insurability form, complete it, and fax or mail it to Minnesota Life for approval.

Madison National Life, with National Insurance Services as the plan administrator, will continue in 2021 as the long-term disability (LTD) and short-term disability (STD) insurance provider. There will be no plan design changes in 2021 and premiums will not increase.  

Extra features

Identity theft protection is available at no additional cost through Madison National. You can read more about this in your Reference Guide on page 16. 

Reviewing your plan

It's a good idea to review your Optional Long Term Disability and Short Term Disability election each year to see that you have adequate income protection. It's also good to review that the Short Term Disability you have selected has an appropriate elimination period based on the size of your sick leave bank.

Pre-tax plans allow you to pay eligible Health Care and Dependent Care expenses with dollars deducted from your salary before taxes are taken out (pre-tax dollars). Currently, the maximum annual election for the HCRP is $2,750.  The maximum annual contribution per household for the DCRP is $5,000.

Carry over feature

In 2017, Ramsey County has amended its Cafeteria Plan document to allow for the carryover of a limited amount of unused funds from one plan year to the next. This carryover feature is only available for the Health Care Reimbursement Program.  The carryover will be the unused benefit balance at the end of the run out period up to a maximum of $500. This allows for a carryover of 2020 funds into 2021, subject to the $500 carryover limit. 

Enrollment

Remember, if you want to participate or continue participation in the Pre-Tax Health Care or Dependent Care Reimbursement Programs, you must make a new election each year.   Your participation in these programs will terminate if you don't make an election.