Please remember that the City’s 2009 Open Enrollment is scheduled for October 20, 2008 through October 31, 2008. During that time employees will be able to log on to the City’s benefits website at www.baltimorecity.essbenefits.com to make changes to coverage and to sign up for new plans. This year the City will hold three days of Benefit Health Fairs on October 22, 23 and 24, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the War Memorial Building. All of the City’s vendors will be present at the Benefits Fairs to provide valuable information and wellness services. Staff will also be available at the Benefits Fairs with computers to answer questions and assist any employee or retiree who needs help logging onto the online benefits enrollment system.

This year, for the first time, the City will offer a Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA).  A HCFSA is an IRS approved account that helps employees save money by using tax-free dollars to pay for reimbursable health related expenses. The City’s FSA account representative, Rosemary Cardenas of Flexible Benefits Management Company, will give a presentation on the new FSA account to all attendees at the DHR Symposium on October 10, 2008. (Employees of satellite agencies will not be eligible for the HCFSA). Larger agencies have expressed an interest in meetings for their employees and Julie Colucci has arranged those meetings. Please check with Julie Colucci for dates and times if you requested a meeting for your agency. There will also be two smaller meetings at the Human Resources Department on October 17 for any employee who would like more information about the new FSA accounts. The City’s account representative from The Standard will also be present at the meeting to answer questions about the life insurance special enrollment period. (See the enclosure below for detailed information about the open enrollment meetings in DHR).

On October 6, 2008, we completed the second of four email Blasts to employees’ desktops. Please print and display copies of all Open Enrollment Email Blasts for the benefits of any employee who does not have a computer on their desktop. Posters will be mailed to each agency on October 7, 2008. Please display the open enrollment posters in heavily trafficked areas where employees can see them.

In addition, the attached article appears in the October edition of HReSource. Please print and post copies of the article in your lunchroom, locker room or near time clocks.

To download a PDF file of this information, please click here.

To download a PDF file of the flyer for posting, please click here.