From myoebb at listsmart.osl.state.or.us Tue Jul 10 11:10:09 2012 From: myoebb at listsmart.osl.state.or.us (MyOEBB system updates) Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:10:09 +0000 Subject: [MyOEBB] =?windows-1252?q?OEBB=92s_Preferred_Vendor_for_FSAs_=96_?= =?windows-1252?q?Chard_Snyder?= Message-ID: Dear Business Managers, Superintendents & Benefits Administrators: It?s not too late! Although the EE Plan Management period for the 2012-13 plan year has ended, you can still set up a Flexible Spending Account with OEBB?s preferred vendor, Chard Snyder, anytime. Some of the benefits of having an FSA with Chard Snyder are: * Low fees * Excellent online tools and support for administrators and members * Accounts are FDIC-insured * Flexible plan year - can start October 1, January 1, or any other date you prefer Please take a moment to review the attached information about this valuable benefit and consider offering an FSA to your employees through Chard Snyder. If you have any questions, or would like to set up an account, please call Jenny Matthews, Chard Snyder?s OEBB Team Leader at 513-754-3141, or send her an e-mail at: jenny.matthews at chard-snyder.com. If you would like a representative from Chard Snyder to do a special presentation about their FSA plans at an Open Enrollment meeting or to be available at your Benefits Fair and have not yet scheduled a date and time, please e-mail Rose Mann at rose.mann at state.or.us to request more information about scheduling a meeting as soon as possible. Thank you, Jackie Cowsill Communications Coordinator Oregon Educators Benefit Board -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From myoebb at listsmart.osl.state.or.us Wed Jul 18 15:34:47 2012 From: myoebb at listsmart.osl.state.or.us (MyOEBB system updates) Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 22:34:47 +0000 Subject: [MyOEBB] OEBB Open Enrollment Materials Online Message-ID: Dear Business Managers, Superintendents & Benefits Administrators: Samples of the materials to be included in OEBB's Pre-Open Enrollment mailing are now available on the Entity Resources page of the OEBB website: http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OEBB/entity/Pages/eeResources.aspx Just go to this page and look under "2012-13 Benefits: Quick Links". We will continue to post copies of our other member communications (e.g., reminder postcards) as they become available. We have also posted a list of the ODS Value Tier medications for 2012-13 on the member "Tools & Resources" page: http://www.oregon.gov/oha/OEBB/Pages/resources.aspx Under "2012-13 Benefits" the link is labeled "Value Tier Medications List". If you have any questions about these materials or OEBB communications, please contact me directly by sending an e-mail to: jackie.cowsill at state.or.us or calling 503-378-5353. Thank you, Jackie Cowsill Communications Coordinator Oregon Educators Benefit Board Voice: (503) 378-5353 Fax: (503) 378-5832 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From myoebb at listsmart.osl.state.or.us Thu Jul 19 13:08:41 2012 From: myoebb at listsmart.osl.state.or.us (MyOEBB system updates) Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:08:41 +0000 Subject: [MyOEBB] TODAY at 2pm -- OEBB's Benefits Information Exchange (BIE) Meeting Message-ID: Dear Business Managers, Premium Contacts and Benefits Administrators: Please join us at 2:00 this afternoon for our July Benefits and Information Exchange (BIE) Group meeting. Agenda and handouts are attached. We will not be meeting in August or September, so we hope you will be able to join us today for information on this year's Open Enrollment and our new "Informed Enrollment" tool. This meeting will be conducted using an online webinar service, iLinc. Use this link to log into the meeting: https://oregonconnect.ilinc.com/join/bfrysbh/bcrvxvmr After logging in, please follow the instructions and enter your phone number in the iLinc system. The iLinc system will call you so you can participate in the meeting. Starting October 2012, the BIE Group will meet on the fourth Thursday of each month (two weeks following the regular monthly Board meeting), 2pm - 4pm in the OEBB/PEBB Board Room (if attending in person, otherwise log into the webinar). We hope you'll join us! Jackie Cowsill Communications Coordinator Oregon Educators Benefit Board Voice: (503) 378-5353 Fax: (503) 378-5832 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: FINAL Agenda - BIE group 07-19-12.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 176898 bytes Desc: FINAL Agenda - BIE group 07-19-12.pdf URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Printable Report Mart July 19 2012.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 610994 bytes Desc: Printable Report Mart July 19 2012.pdf URL: From myoebb at listsmart.osl.state.or.us Tue Jul 24 14:47:01 2012 From: myoebb at listsmart.osl.state.or.us (MyOEBB system updates) Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:47:01 +0000 Subject: [MyOEBB] FW: OEBB -- EXCITING OPPORTUNITY FOR PLAN SELECTION ASSISTANCE!!!!! Message-ID: From: HALL Denise * OEBB Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 2:46 PM To: 'OEBBSUPERINFO at listsmart.osl.state.or.us'; 'OEBBBUSMAN at listsmart.osl.state.or.us' Cc: OEBB Benefits Subject: OEBB -- EXCITING OPPORTUNITY FOR PLAN SELECTION ASSISTANCE!!!!! Dear Superintendents, Business Managers and Benefit Administrators: OEBB has been working with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a project to assess the past medical plan choices of OEBB enrollees. I would first like to thank all who have provided the requested contribution information in support of this research project. The MIT researchers have found this data invaluable and will soon report back on their findings on how well OEBB employees have done in past years in choosing their insurance plans. In the meantime, OEBB and MIT have expanded this project in an exciting and important direction: investigating whether "decision support" tools can help employees choose the right health insurance plan for them. In recent years outside groups have developed innovative new "decision support" tools that help with plan choice. But we don't yet know how often these tools are used by employees, whether they actually change plan choices, or whether those changes are beneficial to employees. The purpose of this new project is to assess how a decision support tool would be used by OEBB employees and whether it can improve their medical plan choices. Many of the attributes of the OEBB benefits program make OEBB members perfect for a study like this. Most employees have multiple medical plan options available to choose from and receive a defined contribution amount to apply toward purchasing their medical coverage, leaving the employee paying for a portion of the monthly premium. These factors will allow MIT to use the results of this study to determine whether having a tool available will help individuals make a better decision when they have multiple medical plan options available to them through a health exchange or an employer (or multi-employer sponsored medical benefit program like OEBB). And the results of this study will be very informative to OEBB as it considers how to design its medical plan options in the future. To accomplish this, OEBB will have three separate tools available during the upcoming open enrollment period. We will provide access to one of the three tools to your employees and early retirees. The specific tool available to a member will vary by entity, allowing MIT researchers to determine which one is most effective in helping individuals select the medical plan option that is the most cost-effective choice for them. Attached is a listing of the educational entities participating in the OEBB benefits program and the grouping (we refer to each group as an "Arm" of the study) assigned by the researchers at MIT. The spreadsheet also provides a short description of what the Arm assignment will mean to the members in that Arm. We hope this will be helpful if you receive any calls about the study or expectations of the groups, but please feel free to refer calls or emails you receive from your employees to the OEBB Member Services team at: OEBB.benefits at state.or.us or 888-469-6322. We will have staff trained to support employees with questions about each of the tools. We are also planning a training webinar during the week of August 6 that will be open to entity benefit representatives participating in Arms 2 and 3 of the study. The tools used for these two Arms are administered by a third-party vendor and is separate and distinct from the OEBB benefits program. As soon as the training is scheduled, we will notify you of the actual date(s) and time(s). We will send a link to the tool that will be used by entity employees under Arm 1 to those entities' benefit representatives the latter part of the week of August 6 and OEBB staff will be available to answer any questions that come up. On or around August 13, we will send a postcard to each of your active employees and early retirees to provide them with a web address that will include an overview of the study and help them prepare to use the specific tool available to them. The postcard will also contain a link to their specific tool. All employees will need to know what their monthly employer benefit contribution will be for the 2012-13 plan year. We understand most entities communicate this information to employees in preparation for the open enrollment period. If your entity doesn't typically communicate this to employees at this time, we ask that you consider doing so this plan year so your employees can make the best use of the tool available to them. Employees in Arms 2 and 3 will need to know their OEBB E-number (E followed by an eight-digit number), their date of birth and residential zip code, as well as their dependent(s)' E-number(s), if applicable. Most of this information is readily available to an employee, but some may need to inquire about the E-number(s). The webpage will explain how they can find out what their and/or their family's E-numbers are by going out to MyOEBB, but we also anticipate this requirement may generate some telephone calls to both OEBB staff and entity benefit staff. We hope the disruption for you and your staff is minimal. We are excited to provide OEBB members with this opportunity to participate in a study that could very well have an impact on how states prepare to offer health exchanges under health care reform and help develop valuable tools that could be made available to employer groups and benefit sponsors in the future. If you have any questions or concerns about this project, please call me at 503-378-5133. Thank you. Sincerely, Denise L. Hall Denise L. Hall, Deputy Administrator Oregon Educators Benefit Board http://egov.oregon.gov/OHA/OEBB (503) 378-5133 (503) 378-5832 FAX OEBB encourages all members to stay healthy and be happy!!!! Pass it on..... http://www.oregon.gov/OHA/OEBB/WellLinks.shtml *****CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE***** This e-mail may contain information that is privileged, confidential, or otherwise exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the addressee or it appears from the context or otherwise that you have received this e-mail in error, please advise me immediately by reply e-mail, keep the contents confidential, and immediately delete the message and any attachments from your system. ************************************ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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