Full-Time Faculty and Staff
Benefits Overview
8/1/2014
North Arkansas College
Employee Benefits
1. Health Insurance Plan
2. Prescription Drug Plan
3. Dental Plan
4. Vision Plan
5. Flexible Spending Program
6. Life Insurance
7. Long Term Disability
8. Retirement
9. Tuition Waiver
10. Paid Time Off
11. Other benefits
Health Insurance Plan
I.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
General Information and Plan Features
Northark is self-insured, and belongs to a consortium of Arkansas colleges that pool
resources to buy insurance as a group
Qualchoice is our insurance company that processes our medical claims
Copays:
• $20 Primary Physician, $40 Specialist (before deductible is applied)
• $100 emergency room visit, $100 outpatient hospital, $200-inpatient hospital (then
deductible, then coinsurance is applied)
Annual $750 deductible per person, $1,500 per family, then most claims pay at 80%/20%
coinsurance (In-network)
$2,500 stop loss, no life-time cap (In-network)
Preventative (well-care) services paid at 100%, deductible waived
Prescription drug program is included through Express Scripts
Online access for claims and plan information, go to www.qualchoice.com
For a complete listing of plan features, view the Summary Plan Description on
www.northark.edu, click on the Faculty and Staff tab, then under “Employee Information,
click on “ Employee Benefits” then “Health Plan SPD”
Health Insurance Plan, continued
II. Eligibility
• New employees are eligible to enroll:
• the first day of the month following their date of employment,
• during annual open enrollment in November of each year,
• within 30 days of a qualifying event such as:
• Loss of other benefits
• Loss of spouse’s job with benefits
• Employees may enroll themselves and legal dependents
• Dependents may be added or deleted during the year within 30 days of a
qualifying event such as:
• Birth or adoption of a new baby
• Divorce or marriage
• New legal dependent
• Overage dependent, or dependent no longer needing coverage
• Two plans are offered; Employee only or Employee + Family
Health Insurance Plan, continued
III. Preferred Provider Network
•
•
•
•
•
You must use an in-network provider to receive the largest discount on services
and make the most of your health benefit (including clinics and hospitals)
Using an in-network provider will save you and the college money
You are responsible to make sure the provider you are using is in-network
prior to services
If your favorite provider is not listed in the network, contact Qualchoice and
request that the provider be added to the network. Qualchoice will then
contact the provider to try to get the provider to become part of their network.
Use the website at www.qualchoice.com, or call 855-450-7825 for assistance
Health Insurance Plan, continued
IV. Miscellaneous information
Creditable Coverage
• If you have had prior coverage with another health insurance company within
the last 12 months, ask the former insurance company for a Letter of Creditable
Coverage. This will prevent preexisting condition exclusion during the first
year of your new health plan coverage.
Health Insurance Rates
Tiers
Employee-Only
Plan
Annual
20 Pays
23 Pays
26 Pays
PPO
$594.00
$29.70
$25.83
$22.85
Non-PPO
$645.60
$32.28
$28.07
$24.83
Employee pays:
Northark pays:
Family Plan
PPO
$5,346.00
Non-PPO
$5,810.40
Employee pays:
PPO
$4,021.20
$201.06
$174.83
$154.66
Non-PPO
$4,413.60
$220.68
$191.90
$169.75
Northark pays:
PPO
$10,486.80
Non-PPO
$11,462.40
Please note: Beginning January 1, 2015 additional tiers; employee + spouse
and employee + children will be added.
Open Enrollment
• Each year during the month of November, North Arkansas College conducts an
Open Enrollment period for all benefits. During this time, employees may elect to
make changes to their existing benefits coverage. For Example, if someone has
“employee only” coverage and wishes to change to “family coverage”, they may
make this change during the month of November.
• All Open Enrollment benefit changes will take effect on January 1st.
• During the course of the year, employees may make changes to their benefits due to
“qualifying events”. Qualifying events may occur due to change in marital status,
the birth or adoption of a child, a change in the spouse’s job, etc. If you have a
qualifying event and would like to make a change to your benefit plan, please
contact the Human Resources Office:
(870) 391-3353 or email Linda Davis at ldavis1@northark.edu
Express Scripts
• Included in price of medical benefit plan
• Must use Express Script network providers – in Harrison, Sullivan
Pharmacy, Walgreens, Walmart, Sam Alexander are currently in-network.
• No deductible
• Generic prescription 100% after $10.00 co-payment
Preferred Brand prescription 100% after $25.00 co-payment
Non-Preferred Brand prescription - 100% after $55.00 co-payment
Specialty Pharmaceutical Drugs - 100% after $200.00 co-payment
• Mail Order Prescription Drug Program is required for maintenance drugs,
designed to save you money – 3 month supply for 2 month co-payment
• Diabetic supplies are covered at 100%
• www.express-scripts.com
Dental
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Northark’s dental insurance carrier is Delta Dental.
Coverage is available for employees and their family.
Twice a year checkups and cleanings are covered at 100%, no deductible.
The plan has a $50 deductible for other services.
Basic dental procedures are covered at 80%
Major dental procedures are covered at 50%
Orthodontics are covered for dependents at 50% with a lifetime
maximum of $1,000 per person
• $1500 annual maximum payment per person per benefit year.
• Carryover rider of $375 per year if eligibility is met, for a total of $3,000
benefit maximum.
• Visit the website for more information. www.deltadental.com
Delta Dental Rates
Tiers
Annual 20 Pays 23 Pays
Employee:
$31.20
Northark pays:
$280.80
Employee/Spouse:
$156.10
26 Pays
$1.56
$1.36
$1.20
$7.81
$6.79
$6.00
Northark pays:
$468.14
Employee/Children:
$228.67 $11.43 $9.94
$8.80
Northark pays:
$577.01
Employee/Family:
$305.66 $15.28 $13.29
Northark pays:
$692.50
$11.76
VSP Vision
Vision coverage is provided by VSP, available for employees and their
dependents. It covers eye exams, lenses, frames and contacts every year
with a $10 or $20 copay, depending on the services. Kilgore is the only
optometrist in Harrison that accepts VSP, however other VSP area
providers can be located on the VSP website. www.vsp.com
Tiers
Annual 20 Pays 23 Pays
$5.54
26 Pays
Employee:
$110.88
$4.82
$4.26
Employee/Spouse:
$221.76 $11.09 $9.64
$8.53
Employee/Children:
$237.36 $11.87 $10.32
$9.13
Employee/Family:
$379.32 $18.97 $16.49
$14.59
American Fidelity Flexible Spending Program
An IRS program, the Flexible Spending Program offers you an opportunity to pay
for certain qualified benefits on a pre-tax basis. These expenses include:
 Dental care
 Eyeglasses
 Out-of-pocket medical expenses, not covered by insurance
 Daycare expenses
• Predict your calendar year healthcare and daycare expenses and payroll will
deduct it from your check on a pre-tax basis saving you money on these
expenses.
• Enrollment for this benefit is done on a yearly basis, in November.
• Elected yearly amounts (limited to $2,500 per year) are deducted from January
through December.
• The elected amount for each year is put on a debit card at the beginning of the
year, for ease of use.
• You may roll over unspent funds, a maximum of $500, into the following year
(beginning 2014).
Life Insurance
Basic Life:
• Northark provides basic life insurance for each full-time employee at no cost.
• The basic life insurance provided is one X the annual salary, (minimum
$20,000-maximum $50,000), at no cost to the employee.
• Basic life insurance can be purchased for dependents for $2.40 per month, and
covers each dependent at $20,000.
Optional Life:
• Employee coverage: additional coverage may be purchased, in $5,000
increments up to $300,000. ($200,000 guaranteed issue.)
• Additional life insurance for spouse is also available with coverage of up to
$100,000 (up to ½ of coverage purchased for employee), in $5,000
increments. ($20,000 guaranteed issue.)
• Rates are based on current age of employee.
• Additional coverage of $10,000 is available for dependent children.
• www.lfg.com
Long-Term
Disability Insurance
• Northark provides long-term disability coverage for full-time employees at
no cost to the employee.
• This coverage provides income protection should an employee not be able
to work due to serious illness or injury.
• This policy pays up to 60% of base salary starting 90 days after disability
to age 65 or recovery.
• New employees are automatically enrolled in this program when enrolling
in life insurance.
Retirement
North Arkansas College offers two types of retirement plans; the defined
contribution plan and the defined benefit plan.
1. The defined benefit plan offers two choices:
• Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System (APERS)
•
•
Employees contribute 5% of their salary each pay period, and Northark contributes 14.44%.
www.apers.org
• Arkansas Teachers Retirement System (ARTRS)
•
(Only prior ARTRS members can elect this plan)
• Employees contribute 6% of their salary each pay period, and Northark contributes 15%.
• www.artrs.org
2. The defined contribution plan is a 403(b) retirement plan
•
•
•
Offers a choice of 3 companies; Ameriprise, TIAA/CREF, or VALIC
Employees contribute 6% of their salary each pay period, and Northark contributes 10%.
www.ameriprise.com www.tiaa-cref.org www.valic.com
Tuition Waiver
• All full-time Northark employees, as well as their spouse and legal
dependents are eligible for tuition waiver 6 months after hire. Each
family is eligible for up to 18 credit hours each semester under the
tuition waiver program.
• The employee, spouse, or dependent pays only $10.00 per credit
hour, plus any course fees and books.
• Part-time employees, spouse, and legal dependents are allowed one
credited class per semester at the tuition waiver rate, and are eligible
six months after they are hired.
Vacation
Full-time, non-faculty employees receive:
8 hrs/month
1-3 years of employment
10 hrs/month
3-5 years of employment
12 hrs/month
6-12 years of employment
14 hrs/month
13-20 years of employment
15 hrs/month
over 20 years of employment
The maximum number of days that can be carried over on December 31 is
30 days. Vacation time can exceed 30 days (240 hours) during the year but
on December 31 an accrued vacation in excess of 30 days will be removed
from the leave bank.
Full-time faculty employees do not accrue vacation but are allowed 2 nonaccumulative, personal days per full-time contract period for any necessary
leave time that is not covered by other (such as sick or bereavement) leave
provisions.
Sick Leave
All full-time employees accrue 8 hours per month of sick leave.
The maximum number of days accrued on December 31 is 120 days(960
hours). Any extra accrued over the 960 hours well be deducted from sick
leave accrual.
In order to qualify under the above provisions, sickness must be such as to
confine the employee to his or her home, or such absence is due to the
serious illness of employee’s spouse, father, mother, child, brother, sister,
father or mother of spouse, or foster child. Sick leave may also be used for
medical, dental or optical appointments.
Paid Holidays
Northark observes the following paid holidays. Six of the holidays are
used during the 10-day Christmas break, and are indicated with an **.
(Holiday pay does not affect faculty.)
1. New Years Day **
2. Martin Luther King Day
3. President’s Day **
4. Memorial Day
5. Independence Day
6. Labor Day
7. Thanksgiving Day
8. Veterans Day **
9. Christmas Eve **
10. Christmas Day **
11. Birthday **
Additional Benefits
1. As a state employee, you are eligible to belong to the Arkansas Federal
Credit Union. For more information, go to www.afcu.org.
2. Air Evac Lifeteam – you are eligible for a $10 per year discount on this
service. For more information, go to www.lifeteam.net.
3. Numerous local businesses offer discounts to Northark employees and
students. You will receive a wallet card with the participating
businesses during your new-hire orientation.
Additional Information
For additional information on Northark’s benefit plans, follow this link:
https://portal.northark.edu/ICS/Employee_Info/New_Employees.jnz
Additional information from the link includes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Benefit Summary and Insurance Rates
Medical Summary Plan Description
Health Enrollment Form and Designation of Personal Representative
Delta Dental Plan Information and Enrollment Form
Vision Plan Information and Enrollment Form
Life Insurance Plan Information and Enrollment Form
Air Evac Enrollment and Payroll Deduction Form
Website of Benefit Vendors