The University of Texas System Board of Regents has approved the following plans for the Austin area effective Sept. 1, 1999.

MEDICAL PLANS

• United Healthcare Point of Service (POS) -- This is a new plan and will be a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) with an out-of-network option. This means UT employees can use the HMO, or go to any doctor they chose, but they will have to pay a higher price for using a doctor that is not part of the HMO.
• UT Select Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) -- This is the same PPO with out-of-network and out-of- area options employees currently have.
• Humana HMO -- This is the same HMO employees currently have.
• Prudential HMO -- This is the same HMO employees currently have.

The PCS drug program will be the prescription drug company for UT Select PPO and the United Healthcare POS. The cost of prescriptions will increase to $10 for generic and $20 for brand name at both the retail pharmacy and the mail order pharmacy. Humana and Prudential will continue to offer their own prescription services at the same cost. Humana will be $5 for generic and $12 for brand name at a retail pharmacy and $5 for generic and $10 for brand name through the mail order pharmacy. Prudential will be $5 for generic and $10 for brand name at both the retail and mail order pharmacy.

DENTAL PLANS

• Delta Dental Prevent -- This is a new plan that will offer only x-rays, exams, and fluoride treatments at no cost to employees for both the dental services and the employee-only monthly premium.
• Delta Dental Standard -- This plan will offer the same benefits that employees currently have under Delta Dental, but now they will have to pay a portion of the monthly premium for all levels of coverage.
• United Dental Care -- This is the same plan that employees currently have. Employee-only coverage for United Dental Care will still be offered at no cost.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Employees who are currently enrolled in Delta Dental will default into the Delta Dental Prevent plan unless they change to the Delta Dental Standard plan or to the United Dental Care plan during Annual Enrollment. This means employees will have to make an election during annual enrollment if they wish to keep the same level of Delta Dental coverage as they currently have.

LIFE INSURANCE

The life insurance plan will have several important changes effective Sept. 1. The company administering the life insurance plan will be Life Insurance Company of America, a subsidiary of Cigna Corp.

All employees will automatically be given $10,000 basic term life at no cost and the option of purchasing coverage up to six times annual salary, not to exceed $1.5 million.

NOTE: This is the only year that employees will be allowed to increase one multiple of term life insurance (i.e., one to two times annual salary) or from the old maximum up to the new maximum (i.e., four to five or six times annual salary) without an evidence of insurability (EOI).

The amount of life insurance coverage for dependent children will increase from $2,000 to $5,000 for each covered child.

All retirees who receive premium sharing will automatically be given $3,000 term life at no cost.

Employees will need to complete a beneficiary designation form if they do not currently have life insurance coverage or if they increase or decrease their life insurance coverage. The form will be included in the annual enrollment materials packet that should be mailed to employees by July.

For employees who are paid on a nine-month basis, there will be a change in the way their salary is calculated for life insurance only. Currently, their nine-month salary is divided by nine and multiplied by 12 to determine the annual life insurance salary. Effective Sept. 1, employees' nine-month salary will be their annual life insurance salary. Employees who wish to retain the same dollar amount of life insurance coverage that they currently have will need to elect a higher multiple of their salary during the annual enrollment period.

ACCIDENTAL DEATH AND DISMEMBERMENT

All employees will automatically be given $10,000 of accidental death and dismemberment insurance at no cost.

The options to purchase this insurance will remain the same. Employees can buy up to 10 times their annual salary, not to exceed $1 million. Employees also can purchase coverage for their spouses at up to 50 percent of their coverage level and dependent children can be covered for $4,000 each.

LONG TERM DISABILITY AND VISION INSURANCE

There will be no changes in either of these plans. For more information on these plans, visit http://www.utsystem.edu/egi