Open Enrollment (OE) for 2025 benefits will start on Monday, November 4, and end on November 19, 2024. This is your annual opportunity to review your plan elections, enroll in a flexible spending account (FSA), and make decisions about what might best fit your needs. Elections made during OE will become effective January 1, 2025. 

Your annual Employee Benefits Briefing will be sent electronically to all benefit-eligible employees at their FCPS email addresses. This newsletter contains details about changes or updates occurring to your FCPS benefits as well as how to access additional resources and materials during open enrollment.

Benefit Announcements

• Medical plan benefit changes:
  • Significant increases in health plan utilization necessitate benefit plan changes for 2025 under the Cigna plan.  View a comparison chart of the 2024 and 2025 Cigna plans. 
  • No plan changes are occurring to the Kaiser Permanente plan, but both plans will experience premium increases.
• Premium rates for 2025.
  Cigna members will see a 15.5% increase, and Kaiser Permanente members will see a 5.4% increase. View the 2025 Premium Rate Chart.
• Enroll in a flexible spending account (FSA) for 2025!
  If you know in advance about some of your medical and/or childcare needs for 2025, enrolling in a flexible spending account (FSA) can save you money. FSAs allow you to set aside some of your salary on a pre-tax basis and reimburse yourself for expenses, meaning additional tax savings for you! The maximum contribution for a Health Care FSA is $3,300 and the carryover amount is $660. The Dependent Care FSA limit remains at $5,000 ($2,500 if married filing separately). Please note: IRS limits for 2025 have not been released yet. Learn more about the benefits of an FSA. 
  
  Please remember that if you want to participate in a Health Care or Dependent Care FSA for 2025, you must enroll through UConnect during open enrollment. Current FSA participants are not re-enrolled for next year.
• Voya replaces Mission Square for VRS Hybrid Retirement Plan Members, effective January 2025.
• Don't forget to earn your wellness incentives by December 31, 2024!
  The FCPS Wellness Team has partnered with our health plan vendors – Cigna and Kaiser Permanente – to provide you with a Wellness Incentive Program designed to support and reward your wellness efforts with gift cards of up to $100 per year. View your health plan’s wellness incentive details including instructions for getting started.

Benefits Open Enrollment Events

The Office of Benefit Services (OBS) will be hosting open houses to discuss 2025 benefits for active employees. Chat with benefit vendors and OBS staff to get answers to your questions.
 

In-person Open House

Virtual Open Houses

To Register and Attend a Virtual Open House:

1. Click on the session link posted for the open house you would like to attend. You will be asked to create an account using your preferred email and password.
2. Complete registration for the event by entering your name and employment status. A confirmation email with the session link will be sent to the email address you provided. 
3. On the day of the event, use the session link that was emailed to you to access the virtual open house "lobby".
4. Move around the lobby and choose to enter “booths”. When you enter a booth, you have the opportunity to review posted materials and/or chat one-on-one with a representative.

Making Changes to Your 2025 Benefits

Employees can log into UConnect beginning 8:30 a.m. on Monday, November 4, to review their current benefit elections and make any necessary changes. Your login information is your FCPS user ID and password. To access, UConnect, you must be connected to the FCPS network or through VPN. Login instructions are posted on the UConnect website. UConnect provides immediate notification that elections have been completed. Refer to the UConnect Quick Start Guide webpage for step-by-step directions. UConnect is available until Tuesday, November 19, at 4:30 p.m. 

Benefit Plan Vendors

Here's a list of vendors for the medical, dental, and flexible spending accounts (FSAs). Each vendor maintains a website designed especially for FCPS. These sites have a number of tools to help you understand your benefits and provider networks. Additionally, the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) for each health plan can be found on the medical vendors' websites. Please click on the links below for more information about each benefit plan.

Health Plans

Dental Plans

FCPS continues to offer you a choice of two dental plans: Aetna Dental Preferred Provider Organization (DPPO) or Aetna Dental Network Only (DNO).

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) is an IRS tax-favored account you can use for eligible out-of-pocket expenses. FCPS offers two types of FSA: Health Care and Dependent Day Care. FSA accounts will be administered by Optum Bank.

Don't forget about ALEX Benefits Counselor!

When making important benefits decisions, it’s important that you understand and compare your options. If you’d like a deeper look into each of these plans (or your other FCPS benefits options), ALEX® Benefits Counselor can help you! ALEX is an interactive online tool that will walk you through your FCPS benefit options and provide personalized assistance along the way. ALEX can generate a larger side-by-side comparison chart and additional plan details pages that you can print out for easy reference during Open Enrollment. Access ALEX from any computer, tablet, or smartphone.